Program assessment in undergraduate acoustics at Kettering University

Abstract

Kettering University has been teaching acoustics as part of undergraduate engineering for decades, and the senior-level acoustics laboratory course has assumed a critical role in the continuous improvement process for our ABET-accredited programs in Applied Physics and Engineering Physics. This project-based course addresses learning objectives focused on transferable skills in test and measurement, literature and theoretical foundations, and computational modeling. These are set in the context of two modules, on sound source directivity and modal testing. The assessment structure is built around rubrics, used for both formative and summative evaluation of student performance on authentic tasks including recording activity in lab notebooks and scientific writing. A 32-question multiple choice instrument is deployed as a pre-test and post-test to assess gains in content knowledge from the course. Finally, we discuss specific examples of assessment for effective teamwork (ABET EAC Outcome 5) and developing and conducting experiments and analyzing and interpreting data (ABET EAC Outcome 6).