National Electrical Engineering Department Heads Association

Special Committee on Criteria 2000

In September 1996, NEEDHA established a working committee to investigate how department heads could deal with the requirements of ABET Engineering Criteria 2000. These criteria, to be introduced into the accreditation process between 1996 and 2001, are designed to foster educational innovations by universities.

These criteria are supplemented by program criteria developed by the member societies. The Program Criteria for Electrical, Computer, and Similarly Named Engineering Programs (revised March 8, 1997) are being developed by the IEEE EAB Committee on Engineering Accreditation Activities (CEAA). IEEE is also responsible for the Program Criteria for Bioengineering and Similarly Named Engineering Programs (revised February 3, 1997).

Criteria 2000 call for programs to be evaluated according to assessments of their effectiveness. Universities must demonstrate that their graduates have certain skills. It is no longer adequate to document the courses in a program.

At the NEEDHA Annual Meeting held in Orlando, FL, March 14 - 18, 1997, a brainstorming session was held, in which attendees, members of NEEDHA, listed several techniques that might be considered to document the effectiveness of their programs. These were in response to the eleven items in Criterion 3:

Engineering programs must demonstrate that their graduates have

1. an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering
2. an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data
3. an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs
4. an ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams
5. an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems
6. an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility
7. an ability to communicate effectively
8. the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context
9. a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning
10. a knowledge of contemporary issues
11. an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice.

At this brainstorming session, Tuesday, March 18, 1997, the following techniques were suggested as possible ways of demonstrating these skills and attributes. No attempt was made to judge the merits of any of these ideas.

(a) an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering

• Required sophomore exam; no credit units; students must pass.
• Senior design experience; explanation of how knowledge applied.
• Normal courses.
• Senior exit examination.

(b) an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data

• No cookbooks: throw out laboratory manuals and allow ambiguity.
• Design projects with reports throughout curriculum.
• Design competitions, with videotapes, portfolios.
• Senior design project, with models, storyboards, slide presentations; outside jury to evaluate storyboards.

(c) an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs

• RFP or need statements from industry.
• Senior design project with preliminary design, written specifications, and critical design review to meet customer need.
• Oral and written reports by students, reviewed by faculty for adherence to original specifications.
• Contract between student and faculty to document need.

(d) an ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams

• Interdepartmental design course with multidisciplinary teams.
• Senior level lab with experiments from many disciplines; student leads the team in part dealing with his or her major.
• Control laboratory with team from EE, CpE, ME, and ChE.
• Course material on team dynamics, metrics of team participation; essay on their contribution.
• Cooperative program assignment in industry with a team.
• Inherently multidisciplinary problems (note: different aspects of EE are not considered multidisciplinary).

(e) an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems

• Any of the ideas from category (a) above that include modeling and multiple solutions.
• Story problems.
• Homework as documented by transcript.
• Assigned problems with tradeoffs.
• Demonstrated progressive development of design content throughout curriculum, with increasing ambiguity.

(f) an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility

• Grades in assignments on ethics in professional courses.
• Case studies including codes of conduct report, including tradeoffs between ethical, profit, product quality, etc.
• Required senior course on professional ethics and responsibility; use grade to document outcomes.
• Course in philosophy.

(g) an ability to communicate effectively

• Videotape of presentation and written report of any project.
• Required writing requirement.
• Reports graded jointly by engineering and communications faculty.

(h) the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context

• Humanities requirement.
• One-day special all-university seminar.
• Senior seminar with outside speakers.
• Field trips to observe engineering projects in situ.
• Integrative materials throughout curriculum, demonstrated with course notes.

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

• Problems requiring students to identify resources on their own, demonstrated by bibliography in the project report.
• Demonstrate exposure to continuing education needs.
• Alumni/ae testimonials.
• Senior questionnaire.
• Statistics of students pursuing advanced degrees.
• Number of subscriptions to journals by alumni/ae.
• Professional society membership statistics.
• FE (Fundamental of Engineering) exam participation.
• Independent study participation by alumni/ae.

(j) a knowledge of contemporary issues

• Informal meetings (e.g., brown-bag) on current issues.
• Participation in public service extracurricular activities.
• Required HSS course on contemporary issues.

(k) an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice.

• Require use of at least two modern software or hardware tools appropriate to program's goals.
• List modern design tools on course syllabi.
• Demonstrated proficiency in software or hardware tools.

Related pages: 1996-97 Archives | 1997 Program and presentations
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Scribe: Sherra E. Kerns | Created: Mar 18, 1997 | Modified: Feb 8, 1999
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