Weber State University Annual Assessment of Evidence of Learning

Cover Page Department/Program: Department of Engineering/Electrical Engineering Academic Year of Report: 2014 - 2015 Date Submitted: 19 Nov. 2015 Report author: Kirk D. Hagen, Chair Contact Information: Phone: 801-626-6998 Email: khagen@weber.edu

A. Brief Introductory Statement:

Please review the Introductory Statement and contact information for your department

displayed on the assessment site: http://www.weber.edu/portfolio/departments.html -

if this information is current, please indicate as much. No further information is needed.

We will indicate “Last Reviewed: [current date]” on the page.

If the information is not current, please provide an update: The WSU Electrical Engineering (EE) program has just completed its fifth year (2014-2015) of operation. Earlier this year (2015), the name of the program was officially changed from Electronics Engineering to Electrical Engineering to more accurately reflect the identity of the program. This program name change was submitted to and accepted by ABET. As of November 2015, the program has 46 graduates and 237 declared majors. The program received its initial accreditation August 2013 by the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of ABET. This accreditation extends retroactively to the EE students who graduated prior to the accreditation action. ABET accredits engineering programs on a six-year cycle, so the WSU Electrical Engineering program is accredited to August 2019.

B. Mission Statement

Please review the Mission Statement for your department displayed on the assessment site:

http://www.weber.edu/portfolio/departments.html - if it is current, please indicate as much;

we will mark the web page as “Last Reviewed [current date]”. No further information is needed.

If the information is not current, please provide an update:

Revised mission statement (to reflect the name change of the program): The mission of the Electrical Engineering Program, by adherence to the core themes of the mission of Weber State University, is to provide students a high quality undergraduate education in Electrical Engineering. This education, which emphasizes engineering fundamentals bolstered by industrial applications, prepares students for professional engineering practice, advanced education and life-long learning. The program emphasizes basic electronics electrical engineering theory and practice, testing and experimentation, the use of modern engineering tools for solving problems, effective communication of technical information and participation in a team environment. The program enables students to deepen their awareness and understanding of the impact of engineering solutions in a global context and to make significant contributions to society as professional and ethical individuals.

C. Student Learning Outcomes Please review the Student Learning Outcomes for your department displayed on the

assessment site: http://www.weber.edu/portfolio/departments.html - if they are

current, please indicate as much; we will mark the web page as “Last Reviewed [current

date]”. No further information is needed.

If they are not current, please provide an update:

Student outcomes describe what students are expected to know and be able to do by the time of

graduation. The student outcomes of the WSU Electrical Engineering program are identical to

those of Criterion 3 for the 2011-2012 ABET accreditation cycle of engineering programs, the

criterion under which the program received its accreditation. Criterion 3 has not changed, so

the student outcomes remain:

Graduates of the Electrical Engineering Program will have:

a) An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science and engineering.

b) An ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data.

c) An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within

realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and

safety, manufacturability and sustainability.

d) An ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams.

e) An ability to identify, formulate and solve engineering problems.

f) An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility.

g) An ability to communicate effectively.

h) The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a

global, economic, environmental and societal context.

i) A recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in, life-long learning.

j) A knowledge of contemporary issues.

k) An ability to use the techniques, skills and modern engineering tools necessary for

engineering practice.

D. Curriculum

Please review the Curriculum Grid for your department displayed on the assessment site:

http://www.weber.edu/portfolio/departments.html - if it is current, please indicate as much;

we will mark the web page as “Last Reviewed: [current data]”. No further information is needed.

If the curriculum grid is not current, please provide an update: The curriculum grid is current.

E. Assessment Plan Please review the Assessment Plan for your department displayed on the assessment site:

http://www.weber.edu/portfolio/departments.html - if the plan current, please indicate as

much; we will mark the web page as “Last Reviewed [current date]”. No further

information is needed.

The site should contain an up-to-date assessment plan with planning going out a

minimum of three years beyond the current year. Please review the plan displayed for

your department at the above site. The plan should include a list of courses from which

data will be gathered and the schedule, as well as an overview of the assessment strategy

the department is using (for example, portfolios, or a combination of Chi assessment data

and student survey information, or industry certification exams, etc.)

Please be sure to include your planned assessment of any general education courses

taught within your department. This information will be used to update the General

Education Improvement and Assessment Committee’s planning documentation.

The assessment plan is current and is described in the 2013-2014 assessment report. As

described in the 2013-2014 report, the EE program uses three assessment instruments:

1. Course rubrics

2. Graduate surveys

3. Internship employer surveys

Since the next ABET accreditation review will not be conducted until fall 2018, the assessment

plan contained herein will remain in force for at least another three years.

F. Report of assessment results for the most previous academic year: 2014 - 2015

There are a variety of ways in which departments can choose to show evidence of learning. This is one example. The critical pieces to include are 1) what learning outcome is being assessed, 2) what method of measurement was used, 3) what the threshold for ‘acceptable performance’ is for that measurement, 4) what the actual results of the assessment were, 5) how those findings are interpreted, and 6) what is the course of action to be taken based upon the interpretation. Course Rubric Results Course rubrics are used by EE faculty to assess the student learning outcomes in paragraph C above. This assessment is conducted on two levels, the department level and course level. Course rubrics results for these two levels are summarized below.

1. Department Level

Continuous improvement records are spreadsheets that aggregate results from individual course rubrics. The continuous improvement records for fall 2014 and spring 2015 semesters are given below. Note that a new trigger point of 2.67 (discussed in the 2013-2014 assessment report) was used for these two semesters.

2. Course level At the course level, a rubric score of 1 or 2 on any given performane indicator (PI) triggers action at the course level by the instructor. There were three EE courses in fall 2014 and two EE courses in spring 2015 that experienced triggers. The actions are summarized in the table below.

Semester Course Instructor PI Action Taken Fall 2014 EE 3000 Seminar Brown Students shall explain

ethical responsibilities in engineering. Students shall define engineeering professionalism. Students shall understand interviewing techniques. Students shall summarize a major engineering failure. Students shall explain the role of gen ed as it pertains to engineering. Students shall understand the role of professional societies and publication.

Use a worksheet that asks how ethics applies. Use a worksheet that asks how professionalism relates to them. Use a worksheet to assess interviewing skills. Add discussion and assignment of engineering failures. Use a worksheet that asks how gen ed applies. Modify the rubric so that more appropriate articles are used.

Fall 2014 EE 4010 Senior Project I

Brown Develop a project plan. Devote some time in first lecture explaining project plans. Do not rely on written explanation.

Fall 2014 EE 4020 Senior Project II

Brown Write a test plan. Stress the importance of test plans ner the end of the semester when tests plans are due.

Spring 2015

EE 2260 Fund. Of Electrical Circuits

Naik Construct simple passive filters.

Design a laboratory that allows students to build a second-order filter.

Spring 2015

EE 4010 Senior Project I

Brown Manage a budget. Place more emphasis on budgets in lectures.

Graduate Survey Results The graduate survey instrument was administered to the Fall 2014 graduates and the Spring 2015 graduates. The mean values of the responses for each of the 11 student learning outcomes are given in the table below.

Student Learning Outcome

Fall 2014 Spring 2015 Mean Value

Action Initiated?

Mean Value

Action Initiated?

a 4.9 no 4.8 no b 5.0 no 4.8 no c 5.0 no 4.4 no d 5.0 no 4.4 no e 5.0 no 4.6 no f 4.9 no 4.4 no g 4.9 no 4.3 no h 4.9 no 4.2 no i 5.0 no 4.6 no j 4.9 no 3.8 no k 5.0 no 4.3 no

* Action initiated if mean value falls below 3.5. Internship Employer Survey Results The internship employer survey was administered to the employers of interns during the spring 2015 semester. The results are summarized in the table below.

Question Mean Value *Action Initiated?

3 4.8 no 4 4.7 no 5 4.8 no 6 4.6 no 7 4.5 no 8 4.8 no 9 4.5 no

* Action initiated if mean value falls below 3.5.

Please respond to the following questions.

1) Reflecting on this year’s assessment(s), how does the evidence of student learning impact your faculty’s confidence in the program being reviewed; how does that analysis change when compared with previous assessment evidence? [To answer this question, compare evidence from prior years to the evidence from the current year. Discuss trends of evidence that increases your confidence in the strengths of the program. Also discuss trends of concern (e.g. students struggling to achieve particular student outcomes).] That the WSU Electrical Engineering program is accredited by ABET gives the faculty and our industrial partners a high degree of confidence that the program is headed in the right direction and that our graduates gain the knowledge and skills required to make significant contributions to the engineering industry. Another clear trend in this direction is the increase in enrollments and graduates. The number of graduates in the 2014-2015 academic year (23) equaled the number of graduates in all previous years combined. We believe that the trigger points for the three assessment instruments are set at reasonable thresholds. With only one exception (EE 3000), the course rubrics suggest that student outcomes are being met in all courses. The graduate surveys indicate that EE graduates believe that they have been prepared in all the student learning outcomes defined by the program. Furthermore, the internship employer surveys indicate a high level of satisfaction of engineering employers with WSU EE interns.

2) With whom did you share the results of the year’s assessment efforts?

An electronic version of assessment results are kept by the department chair. Assessment results are also kept in written form in an ABET binder in the department office. The written record will be disclosed to ABET when the program has its next accreditation on-site visit in fall 2018. Furthermore, results of assessment are shared with the EE program industrial advisory board consisting of members of local engineering firms. This group convenes every spring semester.

3) Based on your program’s assessment findings, what subsequent action will your program take?

As shown in the rubrics for EE 2260, EE 4010, and particularly EE 3000, some performance indicators fell below the specified thresholds, initiating action by the instructors of these courses. Measures are being taken this year by the instructors

of these three courses to improve the performance indicators. More concerning is that the average performance indicator of EE 3000 fell below the threshold, triggering actions at the department level. EE 3000 Seminar is one of the most difficult courses to meet ABET learning outcomes because the outcomes reflect the so called “soft skills” of engineering such as ethics, professionalism and lifelong learning. Not only is the instructor of EE 3000 taking corrective measures, but the department as a whole is striving to emphasize the importance of the soft skills across the entire curriculum, even though the curriculum grid does not necessarily require it. The course rubric for EE 3000 will be carefully scrutinized during the 2015-2016 academic year.

Appendix A (Not applicable) Appendix B Please provide the following information about the full-time and adjunct faculty contracted by your department during the last academic year (summer through spring, 2014 - 2015). Gathering this information each year will help with the headcount reporting that must be done for the final Five Year Program Review document that is shared with the State Board of Regents.

Faculty Headcount

With Doctoral Degrees (Including MFA and other terminal degrees, as specified by the institution)

Full-time Tenured 4

Full-time Non-Tenured (includes tenure-track) 2

Part-time 0

With Master’s Degrees

Full-time Tenured

Full-time Non-Tenured

Part-time 3

With Bachelor’s Degrees

Full-time Tenured

Full-time Non-tenured

Part-time

Other

Full-time Tenured

Full-time Non-tenured

Part-time

Total Headcount Faculty

Full-time Tenured 4

Full-time Non-tenured 2

Part-time 3

Appendix C Assessment Instruments Example Course Rubric Shown below is the course rubric for EE 3000 Seminar. This rubric was chosen because it has the most instances of triggers of any of the rubrics for the 2014-2015 academic year.

Graduate Survey Electrical Engineering Graduate Survey This survey is to be administered to senior EE students just prior to graduation. The information gathered by this survey is for ABET accreditation purposes only and will not be publicly disclosed. Today’s Date _______________ Graduation Date _______________ The WSU Electrical Engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Council (EAC) of ABET. ABET requires engineering programs to assess 11 student learning outcomes. Please answer the following question for each outcome: The WSU Electrical Engineering program prepared you to achieve the following outcomes: a. An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science and engineering. strongly agree ___ agree ___ neither agree nor disagree ___ disagree ___ strongly disagree ___

b. An ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data. strongly agree ___ agree ___ neither agree nor disagree ___ disagree ___ strongly disagree ___

c. An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability and sustainability. strongly agree ___ agree ___ neither agree nor disagree ___ disagree ___ strongly disagree ___ d. An ability to function on multidisciplinary teams. strongly agree ___ agree ___ neither agree nor disagree ___ disagree ___ strongly disagree ___

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e. An ability to identify, formulate and solve engineering problems.

strongly agree ___ agree ___ neither agree nor disagree ___ disagree ___ strongly disagree ___ f. An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility. strongly agree ___ agree ___ neither agree nor disagree ___ disagree ___ strongly disagree ___ g. An ability to communicate effectively. strongly agree ___ agree ___ neither agree nor disagree ___ disagree ___ strongly disagree ___ h. The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental and social context.

strongly agree ___ agree ___ neither agree nor disagree ___ disagree ___ strongly disagree ___ i. A recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in, life-long learning. strongly agree ___ agree ___ neither agree nor disagree ___ disagree ___ strongly disagree ___ j. A knowledge of contemporary issues. strongly agree ___ agree ___ neither agree nor disagree ___ disagree ___ strongly disagree ___ k. An ability to use the techniques, skills and modern engineering tools necessary for

engineering practice. strongly agree ___ agree ___ neither agree nor disagree ___ disagree ___ strongly disagree ___

What are the strengths of the WSU Electrical Engineering program? What are the weaknesses of the WSU Electrical Engineering Program? What changes would you recommend for the WSU Electronics Engineering program? Thank you! Rev: Nov. 2015

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Internship Survey

Confidential

Internship Employer Survey Electrical Engineering

Instructions to employer The purpose of this survey is to provide the Electrical Engineering faculty at Weber State University an employer’s evaluation of student interns. This survey is to be completed by the employer, not the intern. Please answer the questions to the best of your knowledge. The results of this survey and the intern’s self assessment will be used to issue a grade to the student for EE 3890 Internship. In addition, the results of the survey will be used as part of the assessment process of the WSU EE program for ABET accreditation. Date ____________ Name of intern ___________________________________________ Intern’s work period: Start date __________ End date __________ Approximate total number of hours worked by the intern __________ Supervisor or manager of intern: Name _________________________________________ Phone ________________________ Email _________________________________________ 1. Briefly describe the primary duties and responsibilities of the intern. Use additional

sheets if needed. A. B. C. D.

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2. The intern set goals at the beginning of the internship and reported them to the EE 3890 instructor. To the best of your knowledge, did the intern accomplish these goals?

Yes ___ No ___ Comments ________________________________________________ 3. The intern performed his/her duties on schedule. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Comments _________________________________________________________________ 4. The intern reported to work on time. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Comments _________________________________________________________________ 5. The intern demonstrated professionalism and ethical behavior. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Comments _________________________________________________________________ 6. The intern demonstrated an ability to learn new concepts, skills, procedures, policies,

etc. that are pertinent to the job. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Comments _________________________________________________________________ 7. The intern was an effective communicator. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Comments _________________________________________________________________ 8. Overall, I am satisfied with the performance of the intern. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Comments _________________________________________________________________ 9. If there was a full time engineering position open at my company, I would hire this

intern. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Comments _________________________________________________________________ 10. If you were to issue a letter grade to the intern for his/her work, what would it be? A A− B+ B B− C+ C Fail Comments _____________________________________________________________