Curricular Assessment Using Existing On Campus Information Databases

Assessment of engineering program success is critical for continual improvement. While this assessment can take many forms, this work outlines an underutilized method of indirect assessment that takes advantage of already existing campus-wide information databases. Most university campuses have some form of information database which contain student records, course records, and/or faculty records. The methodology of using these databases to assess program performance is motivated by the popular book “Freakonomics” by Levitt and Dubner (William Morrow, 2005). While somewhat limited in depth, the scope of questions which can be answered with the databases are only limited by the creativity of the analyst. Of particular interest to the authors are the trends in student grades for key courses (e.g., statics and thermodynamics) over time, as department personnel have changed significantly. Also, we were curious to see connections between success in a prerequisite course versus a follow-up course. This work outlines some of the obvious and not so obvious assessments that are possible, as well as identifies potential pitfalls the analyst should avoid.