Standard I-3. Data relative to the objectives must be routinely collected and documented, and used in program assessments.
Standard I-4. The extent to which each program objective is being met must be periodically assessed.
Standard I-5. The results of the program's periodic assessment must be used to help identify opportunities for program improvement.
C. Assessments. Describe your procedure for periodically assessing the extent to which each of the above objectives is being met by your program.
Include:
- frequency and timing of assessments
- what data are collected
- (should include information on initial student placement and subsequent professional development)
- how data are collected
- from whom data are collected
- (should include students and computing professionals)
- how assessment results are used and by whom
Attach copies of the actual documentation that was generated by your data collection and assessment process since the last CSAC visit (or for the past three years if this is the first visit).Include survey instruments, data summaries, analysis results, etc.
Informal
Our department consists of 13 full-time faculty members working in close cooperation to deliver the various programs in our department. All of our offices are in one suite and there is regular communication concerning all aspects of the department. In addition to the informal discussion that takes place between faculty members, we have a meeting every Monday of all full-time faculty members, department advisor and department secretary where issues are discussed. In scheduling our classes we maintain a block of time on Mondays and Wednesdays where no full-time faculty are assigned to a class and that insures that all are available for the discussion of department issues. The block of time on Wednesday is reserved for the discussion of curriculum issues. We have created curriculum subcommittees for each of the areas of specialization and one faculty member has been designated to coordinate the efforts of those committees for the entire department. Because of the communication that takes place in and out of the meetings, faculty members are aware of deficiencies that exist in the curriculum and efforts are put in place to correct those deficiencies as soon as they appear.
As a result of the communication that takes place during the process described above, we have implemented a three semester sequence of courses that terminate in a capstone project. All areas of specialization are required to take a semester of Software Engineering where design specifications are introduced. The second semester of the sequence varies according to the area of specialization. For those in the Software Engineering specialization the students examine various software engineering methods and determine a project for their capstone assignment. These assignments may be completed as a group project with up to three students in each group. During the third semester of the sequence the Software Engineering students complete the coding, testing and documentation and present their projects in a seminar setting.
For those students in the Computer Science area of specialization, the second semester focuses on:
- Software Specification - How to do it and what it means
- Object-Oriented Analysis - Finding classes
- Object-Oriented Design - Finding Data, Method Chasing, & Expansion/Elimination of Classes
- Rapid Application Development - Designing User Interfaces & Determining Classes
- Object-Oriented Programming - Fleshing out the methods
- Testing
in preparation for the third semester where they are required to write a compiler.
Formal
Our major assessment procedures include:
- student course evaluations
- Community Advisory Committee.
Student Course Evaluations are required for each course, every semester. Faculty members are provided with the option of administering a Formative Evaluation in their classes at the middle of each instructional term. The results of the Formative Evaluations are seen only by the faculty member and are intended to give early direction for improvement of the course. A Summative Evaluation is administered by each faculty member in each course during the final four weeks of the term. The Summative Evaluation consists of eight questions and room for two questions created by the instructor. Comments are also encouraged. The results of the Summative Evaluation are provided to the Department Chair who discusses the results with each faculty member after the term has ended Formative and Summative Evaluations forms are standard forms used on the entire campus. The Summative Evaluations are used to evaluate faculty members.
An Advisory Board, consisting of representatives from various business and educational institutions in Utah County, meets once a semester to discuss the curriculum. Changes in the curriculum recommended by this board are given serious consideration.