Sequential Course Outcome Linkage: A Framework For Assessing An Environmental Engineering Curriculum Within A Ce Program

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has recently adopted an expanded set of fifteen program outcomes identified in the American Society of Civil Engineers Body of Knowledge and conducted work leading to development of common course goals with appropriate levels of cognitive achievement based on Bloom’s taxonomy. In addition, the department has adopted a holistic process for investigating and analyzing the linkage of individual course goals in various discipline-specific areas of concentration within the curriculum. Sequential course outcome maps or “threads” have been developed, or are under development, for each of the department’s major discipline tracts (structural, environmental, site development, and transportation engineering). A major objective in developing this framework for assessment was to evaluate the effectiveness of how well course goals are linked within the undergraduate curriculum and provide a basis for incremental improvement. Creation of course goals, outcomes, and cognitive level linkages yielded additional curriculum assessment benefits including: • Allowing faculty to check and develop prerequisites which are more consistently linked to a student’s actual learning objectives. • Providing a means for faculty to identify and analyze potential discontinuities in learning goals of core concepts across the curriculum and within a disciplinespecific area of concentration. This paper presents and describes the process being used to develop outcome threads, includes an example outcome thread for the environmental engineering curriculum, and contains a summary of the analysis and potential changes initiated as a result of developing course threads as a framework for assessment. In addition, the paper presents future assessment possibilities utilizing the thread approach to curriculum evaluation. Introduction/Background Initiated by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) publication “Engineering Criteria 2000”, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) developed and adopted the Policy Statement 465 entitled “Academic Prerequisites for Licensure and Professional Practice.” This document establishes a framework for some major changes in the education of civil engineers with the long-term goal that, at some unspecified time in the future, civil engineering candidates for professional registration would be required to obtain a baccalaureate degree plus 30 additional hours of gradate work (B+M/30) prior to obtaining licensure [1]. Due to the considerable impact this implementation of policy statement would have on engineering education, ASCE established the first Body of Knowledge (BOK) committee to help develop and refine the idea presented in the policy statement and to provide guidance for engineering programs regarding what should be P ge 11119.2 taught and learned, how it should be taught and learned, and who should teach and learn it [2]. The ASCE-BOK promulgates a wide variety of academic ideas and philosophies, two of which are most directly addressed within the context of this paper. The committee suggests that in addition to eleven program outcomes identified via ABET Criteria 3 a-k, four additional outcomes should be addressed through the instructional process including: specialized areas of civil engineering; project management, construction, and asset management; business and public policy; and leadership. Table 1 includes a list of all 15 program outcome criteria identifying both ABET and corresponding ASCE-BOK designations. For the purposes of this paper, program outcome criteria will be referenced based on ASCE-BOK designations (1-15). In addition to program outcomes, ASCEBOK promotes adoption of six levels of Bloom’s cognitive taxonomy to establish levels of competency students should attain across specified program outcomes. The six levels of Bloom’s taxonomy are summarized as follows [3]: • Knowledge consists of facts, conventions, definitions, jargon, technical terms, classification, categories, and criteria. • Comprehension the ability to understand and grasp the meaning of material, but not necessarily to solve problems or relate it to other material. • Application the use of abstract ideas in particular concrete situations. • Analysis consists of breaking down complex problems into parts. • Synthesis involves taking pieces and putting them together to make a new whole. • Evaluation a judgment about a solution, process, design, report, material and so forth using expertise/experience in the area. Table 1 ABET/ASCE-BOK Comparison [4]