Direct Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes by Analysis of Performance Evaluation of Student Employees

Published in: Innovation in Engineering, Technology and Education for Competitiveness and Prosperity: Proceedings of the 12th Latin American and Caribbean Conference for Engineering and Technology
Date of Conference: July 21-24,2014
Location of Conference: Guayaquil,Ecuador
Authors: Edward Hensel
Risa Robinson
Refereed Paper: #193

Abstract:

Experiential learning provides opportunities for engineering students to engage in the engineering workforce prior to completion of their studies and provides employers with an opportunity to assess the suitability of a particular student for employment as an engineering upon graduation. The assessment conducted by employers of student workers may also be used to provide a quantifiable direct assessment of student achievement of the standard outcomes required for accreditation of bachelor of science degree programs in engineering by the engineering accreditation commission of ABET. The objective of this work is to demonstrate the manner in which employer assessment of student work may be used to assess student learning and document the continuous improvement of engineering curricula. Exemplar results are presented to illustrate a statistical process for student learning outcomes assessment. The work concludes that analysis of employer assessment of student employee performance provides valuable insight for curricular design. Future work is recommended to study the correlation between observed performance metrics and key factors influencing student performance and to study the cross correlation between employer assessment and student self-assessment.