INNOVATIVE ASSESSMENT OF CEAB GRADUATE ATTRIBUTES IN LARGE CLASS: LAW AND ETHICS IN ENGINEERING PRACTICE

Abstract

Four CEAB graduate attributes were assessed in a fourth-year common engineering course. The graduate attributes assessed were: professionalism, impact of engineering on society and environment, ethics and equity, and lifelong learning. The course addressed the legal and ethical aspects of engineering practice. The learning objectives were assessed in the midterm and final exams for the entire class (446 students) using multiple choice questions. An innovative method to assess the learning objectives was developed. Each learning objective was divided into a number of knowledge elements or case-study behavioural elements. A question was then developed for each element. The group of questions was used as the basis for establishing scales to measure student performance. Three scales were defined: poor, average, and excellent based on the number of questions the students answered correctly. Based on the assessment results, program improvements related to the learning objectives were identified.