Assessment Activities - AY 08-09

IMPORTANT: This year, we will be recording direct metrics on all required classes for CS and CPEG from sophomore through the senior year. Next year will bring in the electives from the senior year.

Recording of Direct Metrics

FAQ

Keep a table of scores such that you can extract at least one (or more) direct measures of a particular course objective. This might be at the level of a quiz, one or more questions on an exam, or a particular homework assignment. The key aspect is that the granularity of the metric should be at a reasonably fine grain, i.e. something less than an entire exam. My recommendation is to do the following:

• Define the metric for success for the course (60%, 70%, etc.). It is up to you as the instructor to decide what constitutes competence in the particular objective.
  • Example Text: All scores are normalized to a percentage score (0-100%) with the number of sample points, the average score, and the standard deviation given. The target is an average score of 70% for all of the objectives taken directly from the syllabus and course objectives.
• Identify at least one direct metric that you will be using for each course objective if possible.
  • The minimum number of metrics is one, feel free to use more.
  • The key is that you record the direct metric and then examine it to verify that indeed the course objective has been met or take appropriate action for the next offering of the course.
• On each exam, have your TA go through and create a matrix of the student scores on each particular question.
  • Example Assessment Matrix
  • This is good practice anyway as it allows you to pinpoint issues with any particular questions on the exam or quiz.
  • Note that you do not have to do the breakdown if you are using the entirety of the instrument (quiz, homework) as a direct metric for a particular objective.
• Once you have this data (the key is making sure to record the data), the end of the semester summary is quite simple. Take the appropriate exam questions and then record the average and standard deviation as mapped to the objectives.
  • Example End of Semester Direct Evaluation
  • Word Template for Evaluation

Sophomore Level Courses

• All courses - monitor / continue assessment

Junior Level Courses

• All courses - monitor / continue assessment

Senior Level Courses (Required Only)

• Measured Courses
  • Capstone Courses - VLSI, Computer System Design
  • Required - Algorithms, Ethics
• All other senior courses courses are exempt from monitoring direct metrics this year.
• If you are unsure, please send me a note.