King Abdulaziz University

College of Engineering

Introduction to ABET EC 2000

A Road Map Proposal

AAU
AAU Academic Accreditation Unit
http://engg.kaau.edu.sa/AAU

Workshop for Excel in Engineering Education

Prof. Ali M. Albahi

.
Prof. Reda M. Abdulaal

October 11, 2005

What is ABET?

 Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology

 Accredit degree programs in applied science, engineering,
and technology
 A federation of 31 professional and technical societies
representing these fields
 Since 1932, ABET has provided quality assurance of
education through accreditation
 Accredits 2,500 programs at over 550 colleges and
universities in the U.S
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 Why is ABET accreditation
important for students?
 The accreditation criteria help to define what the degree should
provide the student
 The accreditation process helps the department to continually
analyze and improve its courses and curriculum
 The accreditation process requires that the student’s voice be heard
in evaluating the program
 An Engineering degree must be from an ABET-accredited program
to meet requirements for professional licensure (Engineer In
Training, Professional Engineer)

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How does a degree program
get accredited?
 A panel of ABET experts evaluates the program:
courses, curriculum, people, and facilities
 The degree program must meet General Criteria that
apply to all engineering degrees
 The program must also meet Program Criteria
 The department must demonstrate that it uses a
continual process of evaluating the courses and
curriculum, and makes changes when needed
 The department must even show that it examines and
improves its own evaluation process
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What is EC 2000?

 Set of criteria by which the program is evaluated

 ABET old EC: content based
– Focused on what the students were taught
 ABET EC 2000: outcomes based
– Focuses on what the students have learned or what actually
they can do.

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What is EC 2000?

 ABET EC 2000 requires engineering programs to:

– Define their own objectives and outcomes in
consultation with their constituencies.
– Measure their performance.:
– Introduce program improvement where
appropriate.

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 Terminology
 Objectives: Statement that describe the expected accomplishments
of graduates during the first few years after graduation
 Outcomes: Statements that describe what students are expected to
know and able to do by the time of graduation.
 Assessment: Processes that identify, collect, use, and prepare data
that can be used to evaluate achievements.
 Evaluation: A process of reviewing the result of data collection
and analysis and making a determination of the value of findings
and action to be taken.
 Performance Criteria: Specific, measurable, statements
identifying the performances required to meet the outcome;
confirmable through evidence.
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EC 2000 General Criteria
 An engineering program must demonstrate that the
program meets the following criteria:
1. Students
2. Program Education objectives.
3. Program Outcomes and Assessment.
4. Professional Component (curriculum).
5. Faculty.
6. Facilities.
7. Institutional Support and Financial Resources.
8. Program Criteria.
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EC 2000 General Criteria

 Criterion 1. Students
– Part1: sets requirements for evaluating, advising and
monitoring students to determine success in meeting
program objectives:
1. Evaluation through appropriate grading standards.
2. Advising through faculty advisers.
– Part2: requires institutions to set and enforce:
1. Policies for evaluating transfer courses.
2. Procedures to verify that each student met all program
requirements.

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EC 2000 General Criteria
(continued)

 Criterion 2. Program Educational Objectives

– Each engineering program must have in place:
a) Educational objectives that are:
1. consistent with the institution mission.
2. consistent with ABET criteria.
b) A process for establishing and maintaining the objectives based on
the needs of the program’s constituencies.
c) A curriculum and processes to ensure the achievement of the
objectives.
d) A system of ongoing evaluation to demonstrate achievement of
these objectives and use the results to identify and introduce
improvement where appropriate.
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EC 2000 General Criteria
(continued)

 Criterion 3. Program Outcomes and Assessment

– Engineering programs must demonstrate that their graduates have:
a) an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering
b) an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and
interpret data
c) an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs
d) an ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams
e) an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems
f) an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility
g) an ability to communicate effectively
h) the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering
solutions in a global and societal context
i) a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning
j) a knowledge of contemporary issues
k) 10
an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary
for engineering practice.
EC 2000 General Criteria
(continued)

 Criterion 3. Program Outcomes and Assessment

(continued)
– Each engineering program must have an ASSESSMENT
PROCESS with DOCUMENTED RESULTS:
1. To demonstrate that outcomes are being achieved.
2. And to use the results for further development and improvement
of the program where achievement is weaker than desired.

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 EC 2000 General Criteria
(continued)

 Criterion 3. Program Outcomes and Assessment (continued)

 Does a program need to demonstrate that each and every graduating student has
achieved each and every element listed in (a) through (k)?

1. Programs must have a curriculum and other requirements that provide students
opportunities to learn, practice and demonstrate each element in (a) through (k).

2. Programs must show, even by appropriate sampling, that there is convincing evidence
to assume that all students by graduation time have demonstrated achievement, to a
level acceptable to the program, of every item listed in (a) through (k).

3. The assessment process should include direct and indirect measures and does not rely
only on self-report surveys and evidence that the material is “covered” in the
curriculum. Student self assessment , opinion surveys, and course grades are not by
themselves or collectively, acceptable methods for demonstrating achievement of
outcomes.
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 EC 2000 General Criteria
(continued)

 Criterion 3. Program Outcomes and Assessment (continued)

 ABET Guidelines on Interpreting and Meeting Standards Set

Forth in Criterion 3

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 Required Features Possible Evidence
of Criterion 3
Demonstration of Evidence must be directly linked to the specific
Student Outcomes outcome being assessed. A limited set of
performance indicators have been developed that
define each of the outcomes to be assessed. Data
collection methods are focused on the indicators
and can include such things as: student portfolios;
subject content examinations; performance
evaluation of work/study, intern or co-ops; and/or
performance observations. Surveys and other
indirect measures provide secondary evidence
and should be used in conjunction with direct
measures such as those above.
Map of outcomes to the curriculum or associated
 Outcomes program activities (student professional groups);
linked to the course syllabi that indicate the desired program
curriculum learning outcomes that are ‘covered’ in the
course.
Assessment Process Schematic drawing of the assessment process
with a timeline that reflects systematic processes.
Documentation of how the process is being
sustained and what multiple assessment methods
are being used to assess the various outcomes.
Generally not acceptable
Student learning outcomes that have not been
defined (e.g., What is “effective communication
skills?” How will you know “effective
communication skills” when you see it?) Student
self-assessments and surveys are used as the only
evidence of student outcomes. Using course
mapping as an indicator of student learning.
Making the assumption that students achieve all
outcomes by merely completing the curriculum.
Collecting information that is not used to evaluate
outcomes.; inappropriate use of assessment
methods; no direct measures of student learning,
overuse of surveys; data collection is irregular;
inefficient process; inordinate faculty program
assessment load; faculty not involved in the
decision making process.
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 Summary of results are available that
 With reflects evidence of systematic outcomes
documented assessment. Summaries, evaluation of
results results and action taken is presented
outcome by outcome.
Data must be evaluated by the faculty or a
 Results group of faculty and recommendations for
applied for action documented. For those institutions
program that have had multiple cycles of
improvement assessment, documentation should reflect
the results of previous improvements.
Documentation that does not focus
directly on the process; presentation of
raw data or charts of raw data instead of
brief summaries of findings and action
taken (i.e., “data dump”).
Ad hoc consideration of program
improvement; “traditional” course
evaluations & student “satisfaction”
surveys used as basis for improvements.
Failure to document how the changes that
are made relate to the evaluation of the
assessment data

Outcomes are measurable, in that there are
 Measurement performance indicators for each outcome,
of outcomes which enable direct measurement.
Faculty not involved in decisions about
assessment; assessment is done by
external parties; use of methods that do
not align with program’s own definition of
its outcomes

Outcomes Clear linkages between the after No clear distinction between objectives
related to graduation program objectives and student and outcomes. Terms are used
Program learning outcomes. interchangeably throughout the document,
Educational and it is not clear that a distinction has
Objectives been made between how they are assessed
and evaluated.
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EC 2000 General Criteria
(continued)

 Criterion 3. Program Outcomes and Assessment (continued)

 Courses has to be redesigned to address and assess the achievement of the

outcomes (a) through (k).

 Course-files have to be reformatted and student’s portfolios are to become

mandatory to prove achievement of program outcomes by each student.

 Attention must be given to non-technical outcomes (6 out of 11).

 Teamwork has to be Multi-disciplinary to satisfy outcome (d).

 To satisfy outcome (b), courses involving experimental work should be

reorganized such that students learn and practice how to design experiments 16
instead of only learning how to perform an experiment.
Evaluation and Assessment Loops (Criteria
2 & 3)

Determine
educational
objectives Determine Outcomes
Required to Achieve
Objectives
Determine How
Outer Evaluate/Assess Outcomes will be
Loop Achieved

Inner
Loop
Determine How
Input from Formal Instruction
Outcomes will be
Constituencies Student Activities
Assessed

Establish Indicators
Course evaluations that Objectives are
and other surveys Being Achieved 17
EC 2000 General Criteria
(continued)

 Criterion 4. Professional Component (Curriculum)

– The curriculum must include:
1. One year of a combination of college level mathematics and basic
sciences (some with experimental experience) appropriate to the
discipline.
2. One and one-half years of engineering topics , consisting of engineering
sciences and engineering design appropriate to the student's field of
study.
3. A general education component that complements the technical content
of the curriculum and is consistent with the program and institution
objectives.
– Students must be prepared for engineering practice through a major
design experience. (Capstone Design Project)

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EC 2000 General Criteria
(continued)

 Capstone Design Project:

The engineering design must include most of the following
features
– Development of student creativity.
– Use of open-ended problems.
– Development and use of design theory and methodology.
– Formulation of design problem statements and specifications.
– Consideration of alternative solutions.
– Feasibility considerations.
– Production processes.
– Concurrent engineering design.
– Detailed system descriptions.
– It is essential to include a variety of realistic constraints, such as
economic factors, safety, reliability, aesthetics, ethics and social
impact.
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 EC 2000 General Criteria:
(continued)

 Capstone Design Project: (continued)

 A capstone design experience should better involve, in addition to the
"establishment of objectives and criteria, synthesis, and analysis", a room for
"construction, testing, and evaluation."

 Currently our B.Sc. projects are designs on papers and does not involve any
construction, testing, or evaluation.

 MIT and other leading institutions are following now a new widely spreading
approach to satisfy ABET Design requirement.

 The approach is based on asserting that graduating engineers are able to:
Conceive, Design, Implement & Operate (CDIO) complex value-added
engineering systems in a modern team-based environment.

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EC 2000 General Criteria
(continued)

 Criterion 5. Faculty
– The program faculty:
1. must be of sufficient number to accommodate adequate levels of
student-faculty interaction, student advising ,… e tc.
2. must have the competencies to cover all of the curricular areas of
the program.
3. must have appropriate qualifications and sufficient authority to:
– ensure the proper guidance of the program
– to develop and implement processes for the evaluation, assessment,
and continuing improvement of the program, its educational
objectives and outcomes.

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EC 2000 General Criteria
(continued)

 Criterion 6. Facilities
– Classrooms, laboratories, and associated equipment must be adequate
to:
 accomplish the program objectives
 provide an atmosphere conducive to learning.
– Appropriate facilities must be available to:
 foster faculty-student interaction.
 create a climate that encourages professional development and
professional activities.
– Programs must provide opportunities for students to learn the use of
modern engineering tools.
– Computing and information infrastructures must be in place to support
the scholarly activities of the students and faculty and the educational
objectives of the program and institution.
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EC 2000 General Criteria
(continued)

 Criterion 7. Institutional Support and Financial

Resources
– Institutional support, financial resources, and constructive leadership
must be adequate to assure the quality and continuity of the
engineering program.
– Resources must be sufficient to attract, retain, and provide for the
continued professional development of a well-qualified faculty.
– Resources also must be sufficient to acquire, maintain, and operate
facilities and equipment appropriate for the engineering program.
– In addition, support personnel and institutional services must be
adequate to meet program needs.

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EC 2000 General Criteria
(continued)

 Criterion 8. Program Criteria

– Each program must satisfy applicable Program Criteria derived from
the requirements set forth by the corresponding professional societies
(e.g. AIAA, IEEE, ASME, ……)
– For example the Criteria for Aeronautical Engineering Programs
include:
1. Curriculum : Aeronautical engineering programs must demonstrate that
graduates have a knowledge of aerodynamics, aerospace materials,
structures, propulsion, flight mechanics, and stability and control.
Programs must also demonstrate that graduates have design competence
that includes integration of aeronautical topics.
2. Faculty: Program faculty must have responsibility and sufficient authority
to define, revise, implement, and achieve program objectives. The
program must demonstrate that faculty teaching upper-division courses
have an understanding of current professional practice in the aerospace
industry.

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 Some Urgent tasks
 Preparing a roadmap with a timeline for the self-study process

 Setting up a web site for ABET-related activities in the

department.

 Preparing course-level documentations

 Preparing program-level documentations

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Keys to successful implementation of
ABET EC 200O

 Well-laid-out process
 Involvement of the entire faculty in the
process

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Proposed Plan

 COURSE ASSESSMENT FLOW CHART

 OUTCOME ASSESSMENT FLOW CHART

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Proposed Departmental Plan
 ABET and Senior Project Committee
 Alumni Committee
 Educational Improvement & Development Committee
 Student’s Advising Committee
 Workshops & Labs Committee
 Outcome Champions (one for a set of outcomes a-k)
 Courses Coordinator (one for each discipline)
 Meetings are to be documented (agendas & minutes or
minutes summaries in English)

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Some Concluding Points
1. There is no unique way to satisfy ABET EC2000 requirements.

2. Creativity is essential for such open- ended or DESIGN project.

– The project brief is: “to Conceive, Design, Implement, & Operate a learning
based education system to satisfy ABET EC2000.”

– Our customers are:

1. ABET Evaluators 2. Our Students 3. Our Society.

– Our design specifications are: “ABET EC2000.”

– Existing similar products: A limited number of products exists on the market

(ABET accredited programs), satisfying the requirements in different ways and
to different extends.

– Constraints: include not only time limits (3 years and 2 cycles) but also new
challenging competitive products implemented by top ranked international 31
universities.
Some Concluding Points
(continued)
3. ABET does not accredit colleges or universities, it accredits programs.
Each program is evaluated by a separate ABET body.

4. The relation between ABET and a program is a direct one.

5. The College has to support different programs but does not have to do
their work.

6. Each program could have its unique approach, unique solution and
even, to some extend, unique format.

7. Academic Accreditation Unit is the ”guide at the side” not the “sage
on the stage.”

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 Conclusion
 To get the accreditation we need to demonstrate to ABET evaluators
that:
1. WE KNOW WHAT WE DO.
2. WE KNOW WHY WE DO IT.
3. WE KNOW HOW TO DO IT.
4. WE DO IT WELL.
5. WE CAN PROVE IT.
6. WE RECEIVE INPUT AND FEEDBCAK.
7. WE HAVE A PROCESS TO MAKE CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENTS.

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ROAD MAP

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Important Links

• ABET WEB SITE : http://abet.org

AAU WEB SITE : http://engg.kau.edu.sa/aau

AAU E-MAIL : aau.eng@kaau.edu.sa

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Q&A

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