Continuous Improvement


Curriculum Assessment and Continuous Improvement Process

In this section we describe the processes we use for assessing and updating the objectives, outcomes, and curriculum associated with an ECE program, as well as the improvement process used to modify the assessment/updating process.

Figure 1 depicts a high-level overview of the integrated process used for determining and evaluating the educational objectives, strategies, and outcomes for the ECE programs. The figure shows the feedback loops that lead to continuous refinement of program objectives and curricular improvements to achieve the standards set for each outcome. The loop shown in "green" is executed less frequently, in consultation with the ECE Advisory Board. This loop assures periodic evaluation and redefinition (if necessary) of the current educational objectives and strategies, and consideration of the current ABET outcomes that we tend to follow. The loop shown in "blue" is executed more frequently, and focuses primarily on outcomes assessment and leads to curricular improvements to achieve the stated outcomes and educational objectives of the ECE program.

Figure 1: The integrated process for de ning, evaluating and assessing a program's educational objectives and outcomes (ABET Criteria 2 and 3).

Assessment Process and Assessment Improvement Process

The ECE Department's curriculum assessment is based upon the model suggested by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). The model is outcomes-based, and relies upon a continual assessment of the department's programs. The current outcomes for ECE programs are provided here.

The Undergraduate Committee has the responsibility for implementing changes in the outcomes assessment plan upon recommendation from:

  • students,
  • industry,
  • ECE Advisory Council members, and
  • faculty members.

    • Any recommendations for curriculum and program objective changes coming out of the outcomes assessment process must go through the normal channels for approval as described next. The historical minutes of Undergraduate Committee meetings can be found at: http://www.ece.unm.edu/ABET2010/Minutes.htm.

    Any proposed changes/modifications to the curriculum and the program objectives are first evaluated by the undergraduate committee, with input from students, prior to bringing the proposal forward to the full faculty. Once changes are agreed upon, the Advisory Council is asked to provide feedback. Requests are also forwarded to some key industry partners that meet with the Chair and the two Associate Chairs once per semester. The Advisory Council meets at least once per year.

    Application of the Improvement Process

    Prior to our department's previous ABET review in 2004, and continuing until 2007, the department implemented the assessment process on every undergraduate course in a program's curriculum on a semester-by-semester basis. The overhead associated with this process, and the demands that it placed on instructors' time meant that the process met with significant faculty resistance. Based on suggestions obtained at a ABET workshop, and lighter-weight assessment process was phased in during 2007 and 2008. This process is described in the following.

    Current Assessment Process

    The current ECE assessment process is outcomes-based as mentioned above; however, we now assess these outcomes across multiple courses. More specifically, for every course in a program, a faculty course coordinator is responsible for creating a document describing the objectives of the course, and how these map to our program outcomes. The current list of faculty course coordinators is provided in Appendix I, an a sample document is provided in Appendix I. The documents are reviewed by the Undergraduate Committee, and updated only if a course is modified, or if a course coordinator wishes to update a class. A mapping of how all of the courses in a program map to program outcomes in provided in Table 1.

    Using Table 1, the Undergraduate Committee is able to determine how every course in a curriculum addresses a particular outcome. This knowledge is used to construct knowledge probes that are administered every semester in selected classes, in order to assess how outcomes are being attained by the students in our programs. Note that a knowledge probe conducted in a give class will typically probe for knowledge in a number of courses that precede that class. For example, Appendix I shows the knowledge probes that are associated with outcome A in the Computer Engineering program. The red circles in this appendix show knowledge probes that are conducted in a given class, and the specific topics associated with the outcome that are examined in the probe (KP(B) and KP(E) denote beginning and end-of-semeter probes, respectively). A sample knowledge probe is shown in Appendix I, along with the analysis of the probe that was supplied to the Undergraduate Committee. Based upon these analyses, and deliberations on the part of the Undergraduate Committee, changes to a program's curriculum are suggested and implemented according to the process described above.

    Table 1: How the ECE outcomes map to the ECE courses.

    Results of Assessing Student Learning

    Below we list the changes that have occurred in both the Computer and Electrical Engineering programs' curricula since our last ABET visit in 2004. These changes have been implemented according to a continually improving assessment process, that current state of which is described above.

    Computer Engineering

    Changes Post ABET Review. In order to update our curriculum and address changes suggested during our ABET accreditation review in 2204, the following changes were made to the undergraduate Computer Engineering program in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE). These changes were discussed/evaluated by Computer Engineering Faculty over the past year, brought forth to the ECE graduate Committee, where they were approved, and ultimately they were also approved by the full faculty of the ECE Department. Summary of Changes:
    1. Removal of ECE 322 { Electronics II from the curriculum. Reason: most of our digital electronics instruction has been moved to ECE 321 (still taken by Computer Engineering students, and the analog electronics has been moved to ECE 322).
    2. Removal of ECE 327L { Electronics Laboratory from both the Electrical and Computer Engineering programs. Reason: This lab had ECE 321 and 322 as prerequisites. Now the lab hours are associated with ECE 321 and 322, and both of these courses are now four credit hours.
    3. Removal of Phys 262 and 262L { General Physics II and Laboratory from the curriculum, replacing them with approved technical elective hours. Reason: We had four more hours of basic sciences than were required by ABET. Note that this course was previously removed from the Electrical Engineering curriculum. Now both programs have the same number of basic sciences hours.
    4. Removal of Chem 121L { General Chemistry I and Laboratory from the curriculum, replacing this with an approved basic sciences course. Reason: This change allows students to take a basic sciences course that more closely matches their best interests with respect to Computer Engineering. E.g., a biology course would be more appropriate for a student interesting in pursing a biomedical engineering degree at the graduate level.
    5. Addition of ECE 330 { Software Design to the curriculum. Reason: Computer Engineering students lacked knowledge in this fundamental area. By freeing up some hours, we now can add this very important class to our curriculum. This is a required course for all Computer Engineering students.
    6. Addition of ECE 335 { Integrated Software Systems to the curriculum. Reason: Computer Engineering students lacked knowledge in this fundamental area. By freeing up some hours, we now can add this very important class to our curriculum. This course was added to the Software Emphasis track in Computer Engineering described below.
    7. Addition of ECE 419 { Senior Design I and ECE 420 { Senior Design II to the curriculum as capstone design courses. Reason: These are the capstone design courses (required by ABET) taken by students in our department's Electrical Engineering program. By having Computer Engineering take them too, we can now form interdisciplinary teams, more similar to what students will encounter in the workforce.
    8. Removal of capstone design courses ECE 447L and ECE 435. Reason: See previous item.
    9. Change in the name of ECE 435 from \Computer Engineering Design Projects" to \Software Engineering". Reason: Important software engineering topics, required for anyone to become a Computer Engineer, have been taught in this class. Since students are not taking ECE 419 and ECE 420, we were able to name this course more appropriately.
    10. Creation of two tracks, Hardware Emphasis and Software Emphasis. The Software Emphasis track requires ECE 335 and ECE 435, while the Hardware Emphasis requires ECE 338 and ECE 438. Reason: Consistent with the Electrical Engineering program in our department, and with national trends allowing students to specialize a bit at the undergraduate level. Based on our review, more changes have been implemented to the following courses.

    ECE 131 Programming Fundamentals Course.

    Ethics Course. Starting in the 2009/2010, Professional Ethics will be taught as a module within our year-long sequence of Senior Design courses.

    ECE 321 and 322 Electronics I and II.

    ECE 441 Communications.

    Energy/Power Track Creation.

    ECE 445 and ECE 446 Control Systems.