Computer engineering
Achievement of Program Educational Objectives
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- Alumni Survey
- Employer Survey
- CRITERION 3. PROGRAM OUTCOMES
Achievement of Program Educational ObjectivesThe PEOs were implemented in the COE program in the academic year 2006-2007. It is reasonable to allow three years or more before we carry out an assessment of these PEOs. It can be reasonably assumed that when the PEOs meet the needs of alumni and employers, then students will be satisfied. A copy of employer and Alumni surveys will be presented as part of the display material. Apart from the address information, the alumni survey form is basically the same as the employers counterpart. Alumni Survey We have deployed the Alumni Survey in T062 and T082 to get feedback on how the COE program is successful in addressing the PEOs in the views of the COE alumni who completed their COE BSc degree before implementing the new PEOs. The latest graduating alumni survey was performed on graduate in 2007-2008. Our PEOs were developed in 2006-2008 and it reasonably takes no less than 6 years to relate the alumni survey to our current PEOs. For this reason the current alumni survey is useful in relating the success of alumni who graduated prior to establishing our current PEOs. Although this limits the validity of using the survey for PEOs assessment we use the alumni concerns and compare to curricular corrections that were made in past two years. Table 2.6 -11 shows the PEOs in first column, and the survey questions that map to each PEO in second column. The percentage of responses alumni were very satisfied, satisfied, neutral, dis-satisfied, and very dis-satisfied, are shown in columns 3 to 7. The combined percentages of responses for “Very satisfied or Satisfied” (VSS) and “Very Satisfied, Satisfied, and Neutral” (VSSN) are shown in columns 8 and 9, respectively. Both the VSSN and VSS alumni satisfaction percentiles are summarized in Figure 2.6 -3 and Figure 2.6 -4. In T062 and T082, 50 and 90 Alumni responded to the survey, respectively. Referring to the VSSN score, the alumni satisfaction level for all PEOs exceed 74%. The least rated program aspects questions which received a score below 80% were the same for both terms. In the following we list the least rated program aspects (top is the least achieved):
We note that all of the above questions fall in PEO-1. The curricular actions taken in the last two years addressed the above concerns. In T081 and T082, we conducted corrective actions to improve the (1) Engineering Design aspects including teamwork and other personal skills and (2) the Communication Writing Skills (see Section on Criterion 3). We noticed an improvement in T082 for the first action. The COE program and curriculum is now aligned with ABET 2008-2009 Criterion in order to provide globally competitive education. Several COE elective courses were added in the Networking Area (five courses) and Computer Architecture and Embedded Systems (2 courses) to enhance technical depth in the program.
Figure 2.6 3. VSSN Alumni satisfaction percentile vs PEO-1(1.1-1.6), PEO-2 (2.1-2.2), and PEO-3 (3.1-3.3) 
Figure 2.6 4. VSS Alumni satisfaction percentile vs PEO-1(1.1-1.6), PEO-2 (2.1-2.2), and PEO-3 (3.1-3.3) The next least rated program aspects for both surveys marginally which achieve the 80% level for both terms T062 and T082 are the following:
We have added a core course on Ethics (IAS 212) to the COE Program and emphasized the application of ethics within the framework of culminating design experience courses like the COE 485 “Senior Design Project” and COE 400 “Embedded Systems”. A course on Database was recommended prior to engaging in the COOP program. Also Engineering Design Aspects are currently emphasized to the students through the COOP to improve student training through the COOP. We have also consulted the IAC on the PEOs in 2007 and 2009. They all approved our PEOs. All the IAC members indicated that we have adequate PEOs. We collected the following input on the COE PEOs:
It is clear that the curricular actions taken in addressing the Alumni concerns are also addressing the IAC recommendations. Minutes of the IAC meetings and discussion sessions will be part of the display material. Employer Survey We have deployed the Employer Survey in T082 to get feedback on how the COE program is successful in addressing the PEOs. We used the employer electronic addresses available at the University Student Affairs. We received a number of employer replies stating that they do not employ COE graduates. Only four survey were filled. We plan to ask our alumni in Term 091-092 to identify their employers to overcome the above inconvenience. 
Figure 2.6 5. Employer satisfaction percentile vs PEO-1(1.1-1.6), PEO-2 (2.1-2.2), and PEO-3 (3.1-3.3)
We note that all of the above questions fall in PEO-1. PEO-1-2 was previously addressed based on the Alumni feedback. For PEO-1-3 and PEO-1-5. The COE program has four areas: (1) computer networks and communication, (2) computer architecture and embedded systems, (3) VLSI, and (4) computer applications. Moreover, the COE program has been revised in 2008-2009 (not approved yet) to allow three COE elective courses to provide depth and breadth. New courses were introduced: Computer System Performance COE 402, Inter-network Design and Management COE 444, Mobile Computing COE 446, Network Security Engineer COE 449, Data Management COE 499, Introduction to Robotics COE 484, Parallel Computing COE 420, and Advanced Microprocessor Systems COE 403. The faculties are also discussing improving the COE program in the following directions: (1) Practice of Engineering Design, (2) Problem solving with some emphasis on Mathematical Analysis, (3) Business Analysis, (4) Advanced Database systems (specifically multi-dimensional databases), (5) Business Management and Finance to better prepare the COE graduates for the local industry. Conclusion In conclusion, the alumni and employer surveys proved useful in relating the success of alumni who graduated prior to establishing our current PEOs. Although the PEOs were developed in 2006-2008, the Alumni survey allowed us to carry out a number of corrective actions to enhance our program with respect to achievement of the PEOs. Based on the assessment results, it is clear that all of surveyed COE Alumni have rated the achievement of the COE PEOs favorably. Their rating exceeds a satisfaction level of 74.4%. We feel this process will facilitate the achievement of the PEOs though taking corrective curricular actions over time. CRITERION 3. PROGRAM OUTCOMES The ABET Engineering Accreditation Commission Criteria for 2008-2009 defines the Program Outcomes as statements that describe what students are expected to know and be able to do by the time of graduation. They are related to skills, knowledge and behavior that students will acquire through the program. The Program outcomes support the Program Educational Objectives and the mission of the University, the college and the department.
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