Assessment and Evaluation of Objectives and Outcomes for Continuous Improvement of an Industrial Engineering Program

Abstract

<p>In recent years, ABET accreditation has placed a heavy emphasis not only on the assessment of objectives and outcomes, but also on the evaluation of them and subsequent efforts for continuous improvement based on such an evaluation. Currently, a plethora of assessment tools and conceptual frameworks notwithstanding, there exists a relative paucity of documented efforts on the actual evaluation and subsequent continuous improvement. In this paper, we first concretely (1) show how such assessment and evaluation can be deliberately and systematically conducted in the context of an Industrial Engineering program. We then (2) show how the results of the objectives evaluation lead to the efforts towards continuous improvement through the student outcomes. Through (1) and (2), we enable others to specifically identify and prepare for the critical stages necessary to advance beyond a display of assessment tools and conceptual frameworks and to actually close the loop for a continuous improvement cycle.</p>