One of the most critical aspects of the new ABET Engineering Criteria 2000 (EC-2000) is the existence of an outcomes assessment plan for program evaluation and continuous improvement. Outcomes assessment requires the generation of assessment tools or instruments to gather data that will document if a program's stated goals and objectives are being met and if students have acquired identified skills. In 1994, a partnership of universities-called the Manufacturing Engineering Education Partnership (MEEP)-initiated the design and implementation of a novel undergraduate manufacturing program, better known as the Learning Factory 1,2. This paper describes how MEEP designed the assessment strategy to evaluate the curricular innovation project outcomes, and presents some of the assessment instruments/tools designed. The tools developed, some in collaboration with industrial partners, were utilized for assessing overall and specific qualitative aspects of the program as well as student performance (e.g., teamwork skills and oral presentation/written skills). A total of 9 assessment instruments are presented. We believe that the Learning Factory as well as the project's assessment strategy and tools used comply with the new ABET Engineering Criteria 2000 (EC-2000).
Some faculty members are not satisfied with the way they teach and develop professionals. They perceive through the media, their students, the newspapers and, other social indicators that there is a need to develop a complete professional.National and international organizations such the National Science Foundation (NSF), the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE), the National Research Council (NRC), and the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) have emphasized that there is a need to approach education from an interdisciplinary perspective.
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