Using Engineering Competency Feedback to Assess Agricultural Engineering Curriculum
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Since 1905, the Department of Agricultural Engineering, now the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ABE), has been a leader in providing engineering solutions to agricultural problems in the United States and the world. The department’s original mission was to mechanize agriculture. That mission has evolved to encompass a global view of the entire food production system–the wise management of natural resources in the production, processing, storage, handling, and use of food fiber and other biological products.
History
In 1905 Agricultural Engineering was recognized as a subdivision of the Department of Agronomy, and in 1907 it was recognized as a unique department. It was renamed the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering in 1990. The department merged with the Department of Industrial Education and Technology in 2004.
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1905–present
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- Department of Agricultural Engineering (1907–1990)
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- College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (parent college)
- College of Engineering (parent college)
- Department of Industrial Education and Technology, (merged, 2004)
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Abstract
In order to adequately address ABET Outcomes, Iowa State University’s (ISU) College of Engineering (COE) is using a competency-based assessment program that provides semester-tosemester feedback from students and employers engaged in cooperative education. The ISU Engineering Career Services (ECS) office collects these data for the fall, spring, and summer school terms. The average data by department is available for use by departmental committees to assess students’ competency levels and program outcomes. The Agricultural Engineering (AE) program at ISU is using this data, along with cooperative education student focus group feedback, to assess our curriculum. This process is ongoing and is very valuable in meeting ABET expectations for continuous improvement based on constituent feedback. This paper will describe the competency-based assessment program in the COE at ISU, present the data provided by the ECS office and the AE student focus groups, and show how this feedback is being used in our continuous improvement initiative.
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This paper is from Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition.