Analysis and modeling of learning outcome mappings in engineering education

Engineering institutions have a responsibility to its students to prepare them to address today\u27s global challenges and needs. National priorities, institutional goals, and accreditation standards (such as ABET criteria) are used as professionally as desired outcome qualifications. While the desired outcomes have been described, there is less understanding of the process by which this occurs. From a systems engineering perspective, an understanding of the processes that transform inputs to outputs is critical. This systems engineering lens was focused on engineering education in this study. Purdue University is a leading producer engineering undergraduates; and thus, plays a unique role in the development of future engineers. Courses in the Purdue engineering curriculum must map directly and indirectly to three sets of learning outcome expectations established by multiple stakeholders with different motivations and priorities. Before this study, no one has looked at empirical relationships between the three sets of learning outcomes of interest in this study. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine relationships between direct and indirect mappings of measures of learning outcomes in lower division engineering education, and to see how they relate over time. In this study, the relationships between accreditation standards and courses are identified. Additionally, a new approach is used to determine the alignment between three sets of learning outcomes. Finally, a computer software process model capability is used to model learning outcomes transformations that occur during the first and second year of the undergraduate engineering curriculum. The findings of this study have the potential to impact many assessment processes in engineering education