August 23, 2002

NC State University Assessment Program a Success

— New Website Makes Data Organization Easier

Student learning is never easy to assess. Tests, homework, evaluations and projects are traditional methods of assessing learning. Part of the mission of a university is to look for ways to improve the process of evaluating learning.

The assessment program in the College of Engineering at NC State University, led by Dr.Joni E. Spurlin, director of assessment for the College, is working to do just that. The program’s unique approach to assessment includes a website in which data are stored by outcomes and are accessible to faculty. The newly developed website has been the subject of recent presentations by several members of the program to the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) and the American Association for Engineering Education (AAEE).

Members of the AAHE and AAEE presentation team were Spurlin; Dr. Sarah A. Rajala, professor of electrical and computer engineering and associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Engineering; Dr. Jerome P. Lavelle, assistant dean for academic affairs in the College of Engineering; and O. Jerome Hoskins, a junior double-majoring in applied mathematics and computer science at NC State.

According to Spurlin, “Traditionally assessment data are stored by the methodology by which they were collected. Our program, in which data are stored by outcomes, allows faculty to make decisions for student learning based on hard data, not on impressions.” The faculty do the work of gathering data about their students’ learning, while Spurlin coordinates organizing the data and making it available on the Web. “Data are collected all the time in the classroom, from surveys and other sources,” said Spurlin. “The website provides a filter for the mass of all possible data, to synthesize the most important aspects and allow faculty to access the data conveniently and effectively.”

The impetus for the program, and the near goal, is to coordinate with the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc. (ABET) Accreditation Programmatic Assessment guidelines. ABET has redirected its evaluation focus toward outcome assessments, so NC State’s new database will be a good fit with the ABET assessment program.

The information gathered will assist professors in designing courses to help students learn more effectively, with the ultimate goal of improving education at NC State.

For a closer look at the College of Engineering’s assessment website, visit www.engr.ncsu.edu/assessment.

— rudd —

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