Achieving Student Learning Outcomes
April 2012
What do employers say about Mines’ graduates?
Thanks to Jean Manning-Clark in the Career Center for contacting employers so that we could obtain
feedback about the attainment of program objectives. Results (from 267 employers) in response to the
question “Compared to graduates at the same level of experience from other engineering programs, the
CSM Engineering graduates that you have observed are well prepared to…” are below.
Very well
prepared
Understand the broad fundamentals of mathematics,
science, and engineering
Have a mastery of the fundamental knowledge
necessary for continual learning
Find new information and use it effectively
Assume positions of responsibility in industry or to
enter graduate school
Understand their professional and ethical
responsibilities as engineers.
Specify, analyze, design, prototype (when
appropriate), and test electrical, mechanical, civil, or
environmental engineering sub-systems
Work in teams to specify, analyze, design, and
integrate interdisciplinary engineering systems
Effectively share information with a diverse audience,
through written and verbal communications
Be active in professional and service organizations
Appreciate the impact of engineering in global and
societal contexts
Understand sustainability issues in the context of
engineering systems development, deployment, and
retirement
Well
Not well
prepared prepared
No opportunity
to observe
67%
20%
0%
13%
60%
57%
26%
27%
0%
1%
14%
15%
52%
29%
0%
19%
49%
28%
3%
20%
47%
23%
1%
28%
45%
36%
1%
19%
39%
37%
43%
29%
5%
4%
13%
29%
36%
32%
0%
32%
27%
41%
0%
32%
The Meaning and Measuring of Students’ Success
The meaning and measures of college students’ success have recently been debated in/by the American
Society for Engineering Education, the Chronicle of Higher Education and the New York Times:
Why They’re Leaving: To Retain Students, Help Them Feel They “Belong”
For Student Success, Stop Debating and Start Improving
Re-Engineering Engineering Education to Retain Students
Trying to Find a Measure for How Well Colleges Do
Assessment and Core Curriculum Committees: Status Reports
Thank you to the members of the assessment and core curriculum committee’s for their outstanding
work. Both committees’ commitments to improving student learning are demonstrated by the
accomplishments made during the 2011-12 academic year.
The Assessment Committee website includes a summary of activities for the year.
The Core Curriculum Committee website includes a summary of activities for the year.
Examples of Best Practices: Lyles College of Engineering at CSU-Fresno
CSU-Fresno refers to student outcomes assessment plans as SOAPs. Despite that, several departments
within the Lyles College of Engineering demonstrate best practices in assessing student learning
outcomes:









Most importantly, faculty use assessment information to analyze and improve students’ learning.
For example, the biology department faculty determined that undergraduate students’
participation in research project(s) outside the classroom resulted in measurable improvements in
critical and independent thinking skills.
Faculty use multiple assessment methods to measure students’ attainment of objectives and
outcomes.
Each assessment method is mapped to the outcomes to ensure that all outcomes are being
assessed.
Most assessment tools measure multiple learning outcomes.
Courses are mapped to outcomes, to facilitate discussion of courses that are not addressing
critical outcomes and to identify how extensively the outcomes are being addressed in the
curriculum.
Faculty have established performance standards for each outcome. For example, “On a scale of
1 (poor) to 5 (excellent), the faculty members consider a rating of 3.75 or higher to be
satisfactory. An overall rating below 2.75 for any of the outcomes requires immediate attention,
and a rating between 2.75 and 3.75 requires further observation as a “carry over item” in the next
evaluation cycle.”
Faculty assess existing assignments, projects, field experiences, etc. rather than create new
assessment methods, when possible.
Efforts are ongoing, not episodic. Departments have developed schedules that describe when
each assessment tool will be implemented.
Faculty have developed rubrics to assess learning outcomes. (Some of the rubrics used at CSU
are less well developed than others, however.)
CSU-Fresno’s assessment plans are online at
http://www.csufresno.edu/oie/assessment/SOAP/prsoaps.shtml
A checklist of best practices in assessing student learning outcomes at Mines is at:
http://inside.mines.edu/Assessment-Best-Practices_1
This newsletter is published by the assessment office:
Kay Schneider, Director
kmschnei@mines.edu or 3087
http://inside.mines.edu/assessment