ABET EC 2000: Developing assessment tools for continuous improvement

Mechanical Engineering Department faculty and staff at Iowa State University have introduced significant curriculum changes over the past few years. In addition, they have introduced a comprehensive program for the assessment of program outcomes. Desired program outcomes were defined, course objectives were outlined and aligned with specific outcomes, assessment tools were developed, and a process for continuous quality improvement was implemented. This paper focuses on our development of assessment tools, which includes fives components: design panels to judge reports from design-oriented courses; targeted assessments in all core and technical elective courses; student assessments to receive feedback from students in our courses; graduating senior surveys to allow students completing our curriculum to provide an overall program assessment; and alumni surveys of former students who are three years into their professional careers.