This book is written for engineering faculty and department chairs as a practical guide to improving the assessment processes for undergraduate and graduate engineering education in the service of improved student learning. It is written by engineering faculty and assessment professionals who have many years of experience in assessment of engineering education and of working with engineering faculty. The book reflects the emphasis placed on student outcomes assessment by ABET, Inc., the organization that accredits most U.S. engineering, computer science and technology programs, as well as providing substantial equivalency evaluations to international engineering programs. The book begins with a brief overview of assessment theory and introduces readers to key assessment resources. It illustrates-through practical examples that reflect a wide range of engineering disciplines and practices at both large and small institutions, and along the continuum of students' experience, from first year to capstone engineering courses through to the dissertation-how to go about applying formative and summative assessment practices to improve student learning at the course and program levels. For most institutions, assessment of graduate education is new; therefore, there are readers who will be particularly interested in the chapters and examples related to graduate education. This book concludes with a vision for the future of assessment for engineering education. The authors cover five basic themes: -Use of assessment to improve student learning and educational programs at both undergraduate and graduate levels -Understanding and applying ABET criteria to accomplish differing program and institutional missions -Illustration of evaluation/assessment activities that can assist faculty in improving undergraduate and graduate courses and programs -Description of tools and methods that have been demonstrated to improve the quality of degree programs and maintain accreditation -Identification of methods for overcoming institutional barriers and challenges to implementing assessment initiatives

Blended Learning combines the conventional face-to-face course delivery with an online component. The synergetic effect of the two modalities has proved to be of superior didactic value to each modality on its own. The highly improved interaction it offers to students, as well as direct accessibility to the lecturer, adds to the hitherto unparalleled learning outcomes. "Blended Learning in Engineering Education: Recent Developments in Curriculum, Assessment and Practice" highlights current trends in Engineering Education involving face-to-face and online curriculum delivery. This book will be especially useful to lecturers and postgraduate/undergraduate students as well as university administrators who would like to not only get an up-to-date overview of contemporary developments in this field, but also help enhance academic performance at all levels.

Explores how we judge engineering education in order to effectively redesign courses and programs that will prepare new engineers for various professional and academic careers Shows how present approaches to assessment were shaped and what the future holds Analyzes the validity of teaching and judging engineering education Shows the integral role that assessment plays in curriculum design and implementation Examines the sociotechnical system’s impact on engineering curricula

PBL in Engineering Education: International Perspectives on Curriculum Change presents diverse views on the implementation of PBL from across the globe. The purpose is to exemplify curriculum changes in engineering education. Drivers for change, implementation descriptions, challenges and future perspectives are addressed. Cases of PBL models are presented from Singapore, Malaysia, Tunisia, Portugal, Spain and the USA. These cases are stories of thriving success that can be an inspiration for those who aim to implement PBL and change their engineering education practices. In the examples presented, the change processes imply a transformation of vision and values of what learning should be, triggering a transition from traditional learning to PBL. In this sense, PBL is also a learning philosophy and different drivers, facing diverse challenges and involving different actors, trigger its implementation. This book gathers experiences, practices and models, through which is given a grasp of the complexity, multidimensional, systemic and dynamic nature of change processes. Anette Kolmos, director of Aalborg PBL Centre, leads off the book by presenting different strategies to curriculum change, addressing three main strategies of curriculum change, allowing the identification of three types of institutions depending on the type of strategy used. Following chapters describe each of the PBL cases based upon how they implement the seven components of PBL: (i) objectives and knowledge; (ii) types of problems, projects and lectures; (iii) progression, size and duration; (iv) students’ learning; (v) academic staff and facilitation; (vi) space and organization; and (vii) assessment and evolution. The book concludes with a chapter summarizing all chapters and providing an holistic perspective of change processes.

Engineering education in K-12 classrooms is a small but growing phenomenon that may have implications for engineering and also for the other STEM subjects-science, technology, and mathematics. Specifically, engineering education may improve student learning and achievement in science and mathematics, increase awareness of engineering and the work of engineers, boost youth interest in pursuing engineering as a career, and increase the technological literacy of all students. The teaching of STEM subjects in U.S. schools must be improved in order to retain U.S. competitiveness in the global economy and to develop a workforce with the knowledge and skills to address technical and technological issues. Engineering in K-12 Education reviews the scope and impact of engineering education today and makes several recommendations to address curriculum, policy, and funding issues. The book also analyzes a number of K-12 engineering curricula in depth and discusses what is known from the cognitive sciences about how children learn engineering-related concepts and skills. Engineering in K-12 Education will serve as a reference for science, technology, engineering, and math educators, policy makers, employers, and others concerned about the development of the country's technical workforce. The book will also prove useful to educational researchers, cognitive scientists, advocates for greater public understanding of engineering, and those working to boost technological and scientific literacy.

There has been a remarkable growth of interest in the assessment of student learning and its relation to the process of learning in higher education over the past ten years. This interest has been expressed in various ways – through large scale research projects, international conferences, the development of principles of assessment that supports learning, a growing awareness of the role of feedback as an integral part of the learning process, and the publication of exemplary assessment practices. At the same time, more limited attention has been given to the underlying nature of assessment, to the concerns that arise when assessment is construed as a measurement process, and to the role of judgement in evaluating the quality of students’ work. It is now timely to take stock of some of the critical concepts that underpin our understanding of the multifarious relationships between assessment and learning, and to explicate the nature of assessment as judgement. Despite the recent growth in interest noted above, assessment in higher education remains under-conceptualized. This book seeks to make a significant contribution to conceptualizing key aspects of assessment, learning and judgement.

Engineering education is emerging as an important component of US K-12 education. Across the country, students in classrooms and after- and out-of-school programs are participating in hands-on, problem-focused learning activities using the engineering design process. These experiences can be engaging; support learning in other areas, such as science and mathematics; and provide a window into the important role of engineering in society. As the landscape of K-12 engineering education continues to grow and evolve, educators, administrators, and policy makers should consider the capacity of the US education system to meet current and anticipated needs for K-12 teachers of engineering. Building Capacity for Teaching Engineering in K-12 Education reviews existing curricula and programs as well as related research to understand current and anticipated future needs for engineering-literate K-12 educators in the United States and determine how these needs might be addressed. Key topics in this report include the preparation of K-12 engineering educators, professional pathways for K-12 engineering educators, and the role of higher education in preparing engineering educators. This report proposes steps that stakeholders - including professional development providers, postsecondary preservice education programs, postsecondary engineering and engineering technology programs, formal and informal educator credentialing organizations, and the education and learning sciences research communities - might take to increase the number, skill level, and confidence of K-12 teachers of engineering in the United States.

This book is open access under a CC-BY license. The volume presents papers on vocational education, project-based learning and science didactic approaches, illustrating with sample cases, and with a special focus on Central Asian states. Thematically embedded in the area of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET), the book examines the following main topics: project-based learning (PBL), specific didactics with a linkage to food technologies and laboratory didactics, media and new technologies in TVET, evaluation of competencies including aspects of measurement, examination issues, and labour market and private sector issues in TVET, and research methods with a focus on empirical research and the role of scientific networks. It presents outcomes from TVET programmes at various universities, colleges, and teacher training institutes in Central Asia.

A synthesis of nearly 2,000 articles to help make engineers better educators While a significant body of knowledge has evolved in the field of engineering education over the years, much of the published information has been restricted to scholarly journals and has not found a broad audience. This publication rectifies that situation by reviewing the findings of nearly 2,000 scholarly articles to help engineers become better educators, devise more effective curricula, and be more effective leaders and advocates in curriculum and research development. The author's first objective is to provide an illustrative review of research and development in engineering education since 1960. His second objective is, with the examples given, to encourage the practice of classroom assessment and research, and his third objective is to promote the idea of curriculum leadership. The publication is divided into four main parts: Part I demonstrates how the underpinnings of education—history, philosophy, psychology, sociology—determine the aims and objectives of the curriculum and the curriculum's internal structure, which integrates assessment, content, teaching, and learning Part II focuses on the curriculum itself, considering such key issues as content organization, trends, and change. A chapter on interdisciplinary and integrated study and a chapter on project and problem-based models of curriculum are included Part III examines problem solving, creativity, and design Part IV delves into teaching, assessment, and evaluation, beginning with a chapter on the lecture, cooperative learning, and teamwork The book ends with a brief, insightful forecast of the future of engineering education. Because this is a practical tool and reference for engineers, each chapter is self-contained and may be read independently of the others. Unlike other works in engineering education, which are generally intended for educational researchers, this publication is written not only for researchers in the field of engineering education, but also for all engineers who teach. All readers acquire a host of practical skills and knowledge in the fields of learning, philosophy, sociology, and history as they specifically apply to the process of engineering curriculum improvement and evaluation.

Education is a hot topic. From the stage of presidential debates to tonight's dinner table, it is an issue that most Americans are deeply concerned about. While there are many strategies for improving the educational process, we need a way to find out what works and what doesn't work as well. Educational assessment seeks to determine just how well students are learning and is an integral part of our quest for improved education. The nation is pinning greater expectations on educational assessment than ever before. We look to these assessment tools when documenting whether students and institutions are truly meeting education goals. But we must stop and ask a crucial question: What kind of assessment is most effective? At a time when traditional testing is subject to increasing criticism, research suggests that new, exciting approaches to assessment may be on the horizon. Advances in the sciences of how people learn and how to measure such learning offer the hope of developing new kinds of assessments-assessments that help students succeed in school by making as clear as possible the nature of their accomplishments and the progress of their learning. Knowing What Students Know essentially explains how expanding knowledge in the scientific fields of human learning and educational measurement can form the foundations of an improved approach to assessment. These advances suggest ways that the targets of assessment-what students know and how well they know it-as well as the methods used to make inferences about student learning can be made more valid and instructionally useful. Principles for designing and using these new kinds of assessments are presented, and examples are used to illustrate the principles. Implications for policy, practice, and research are also explored. With the promise of a productive research-based approach to assessment of student learning, Knowing What Students Know will be important to education administrators, assessment designers, teachers and teacher educators, and education advocates.