Accreditation - Civil Engineering

Performance Indicators (i.e., "Student can...")

• Solve problems on the civil engineering FE exam.
• Identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems.

Assessment Measures

• Eleven sections on the FE exam
  • §3. Engineering Economics
  • §4. Statics
  • §5. Dynamics
  • §6. Mechanics of Materials
  • §8. Fluid Mechanics
  • §9. Surveying
  • §10. Water Resources and Environmental Engineering
  • §11. Structural Engineering
  • §12. Geotechnical Engineering
  • §13. Transportation Engineering
  • §14. Construction
• Three-dimensional statics problem from CVEN-2121 Analytical Mechanics I

For each section of the FE exam, the performance target is for the average score for enrolled students over the previous four semesters to be at least 80% of the national average. For example, if the national average for a certain section of the FE exam were 100, the performance target would be ≥80. The rationale for this performance target is two-fold. First, all undergraduates in our program are required to take the FE exam. Assuming that less-qualified students in other programs are less likely to take the FE exam, CU Denver students are competing with more-qualified students in other programs, which will tend to lower their scores compared to national averages. Second, we hope to identify those sections with major deficiencies compared to national averages. For these reasons, we have set the performance target at 80% of the national average. This performance target applies to any FE exam section. Our assessment of Student Outcome 1 includes each part of the civil engineering FE exam, except §2 (Ethics and Professional Practice) which is assessed under Student Outcome 4, §2 (Mathematics and Statistics) is assessed under Student Outcome 6, and §7 (Materials) that is also assessed under Student Outcome 6.

For the three-dimensional statics problem from CVEN-2121 Analytical Mechanics I, the assessment is based on student solutions to a particular homework problem assigned near the end of the semester, after students have developed more sophisticated problem-solving techniques. Solutions will be assessed using a rubric borrowed from Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University (Appendix 1). The performance target is for at least 75% of students to average at least 3 out of 4, corresponding to nominal ratings of good (3) or excellent (4).

Performance Indicators (i.e., "Student can...")

• Formulate the problem and analyze constraints.
• Establish criteria for evaluating potential solutions.
• Generate alternative solutions.
• Design a prototype and predict its performance.

   

  These performance indicators are adapted from a rubric provided by IIT at http://www.ece.iit.edu/~abet/sopi.html on 11/18/2016 (Appendix 2).

   

  Assessment Measures

• IIT rubric for senior design project in CVEN-4067 Senior Design Projects

   

  The performance target is for at least 75% of students to average at least 3 out of 4, corresponding to nominal ratings of proficient (3) or exemplary (4).

   

Performance Indicators (i.e., "Student can...")

• written communication
• Consider audience, purpose, and context.
• Follow the conventions of the technical writing genre for the discipline of civil engineering.
• Employ syntax and mechanics to compose clear, fluent, and error-free prose.
• oral communication
• Make a cohesive presentation through clear, observable, and skillful organization.
• Enhance effectiveness with language that is imaginative, memorable, compelling, and appropriate to the audience.
• Deliver polished and confident presentation using appropriate delivery techniques.
• Support their presentation with a variety of supporting materials.
• Convey a compelling central message.

These performance indicators are adapted from Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education (VALUE) rubrics provided by the Association of American Colleges and Universities. The first group is adapted from the written communication VALUE rubric, while the second group is adapted from the oral communication VALUE rubric (Appendix 3). Although numerous courses in the civil engineering curriculum require written and oral communication—including numerous team projects such as senior design—assessment measures are focused on the two required courses described below.

Assessment Measures

• Written communication VALUE rubric for an essay on the ASCE Code of Ethics in CVEN 4000 Senior Seminar. The performance target is for at least 75% of students to average at least 2 out of 3, corresponding to nominal ratings of proficient (2) or above proficient (3).
• Oral communication VALUE rubric for final senior design presentation in CVEN 4067 Senior Design Projects. The performance target is for at least 75% of students to average at least 3 out of 4, corresponding to nominal ratings of milestone (3) or capstone (4).

Performance Indicators (i.e., "Student can...")

• Recognize ethical dilemmas.
• Convey a global perspective on the situation.
• Propose a win-win resolution to the dilemma.

These performance indicators are adapted from Sindelar, M., Shuman, L., Besterfield-Sacre, M., Miller, R., Mitcham, C., Olds, B., Pinkus, R., and Wolfe, H. (2003) Assessing Engineering Students' Abilities to Resolve Ethical Dilemmas, Proceedings, 33rd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Boulder, Colorado, November 5-8, 2003.

Assessment Measures

• FE Exam §2. Ethics and Professional Practice

• Sindelar et al. (2003) rubric for essay on ASCE Code of Ethics in CVEN 4000 Senior Seminar

For the FE exam section, the performance target is 80% of the national average. For the essay, the performance target is for at least 75% of students to average at least 2 out of 3 on the rubric (Appendix 4), corresponding to nominal ratings of proficient (2) or above proficient (3).

Performance Indicators (i.e., "Student can...")

• Contribute to the team's work.
• Interact with teammates.
• Keep the team on track.
• Expect quality.
• Have related knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs)

  These performance indicators have been borrowed from the Comprehensive Assessment for Team Member Effectiveness (CATME), a National Science Foundation-sponsored website designed to teach and evaluate team skills (http://info.catme.org/).

   

   

Assessment Measures

• Custom survey in ENGR 1200 Fundamentals of Engineering Design Innovation
• Custom survey in CVEN 4067 Senior Design Projects

For the custom survey in ENGR 1200 (Appendix 5), the performance target is for at least 75% of students to average at least 4.0 on questions 2, 4, and 5 corresponding to Likert ratings of “agree” or “highly agree”. These three questions were chosen because agreement indicates student awareness of the elements of good teamwork.

For the custom survey in CVEN 4067 (Appendix 5), the performance target is for at least 90% of students to earn an average score of at least 4 on question 2. That is, we expect the vast majority of students to perform well enough to avoid the additional penalties assigned for scores below 4.

Performance Indicators (i.e., "Student can...")

• Design an experiment
• Acquire data on appropriate variables.
• Compare data to appropriate theory.
• Evaluate any differences in data and model.

   

  These performance indicators are borrowed from a rubric provided by the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) at http://www.ece.iit.edu/~abet/sopi.html on 11/18/2016 (Appendix 6)

   

  Assessment Measures

• FE exam §1. Mathematics and Statistics
• FE exam §7. Materials
• IIT rubric for laboratory report in CVEN-3141 Introduction to Structural Materials

   

  For the FE exam sections, the performance target is 80% of the national average, as above. For the laboratory report, the performance target is for at least 75% of students to average at least 3 out of 4 on the rubric, corresponding to nominal ratings of proficient (3) or exemplary (4).

Performance Indicators (i.e., "Student can...")

• Indicate interest in professional development.
• Demonstrate the ability for self-directed learning.

The second of these performance indicators is borrowed from ASCE (2008), Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge for the 21st Century: Preparing the Civil Engineer for the Future, 2nd edition, American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, Virginia, page 112.

Assessment Measures

• Likert survey on life-long learning in CVEN-4067 Senior Design Projects
• Extracurricular participation survey in CVEN-4067 Senior Design Projects

Both of these surveys appear on a combined instrument (Appendix 7). For the Likert survey, the performance target is for at least 75% of students to answer likely (4) or certainly (5) on at least one of questions 1-4. That is, we expect that at least 75% of students are likely or certainly planning at least one of the following:

1. Pursue licensure as a professional engineer
2. Enroll in one or more graduate course after graduation.
3. Acquire additional education and obtain new professional skills.
4. Enroll in a professional development or continuing education course.

For the extracurricular participation survey, the performance target is for at least half the students to indicate participation in at least one professional organization during their undergraduate career at the CU Denver. The faculty feel this is a reasonable target, considering CU Denver undergraduates comprise many students with part- or full-time employment.