National Board Of Accreditation Research Articles

Outcome-based assessment in India: A method for quantifying course outcome attainment

<p>The National Board of Accreditation (NBA), India was established by the AICTE (All India Council of Technical Education) to assess the qualitative competence of the programs offered by engineering institutions. NBA focuses on outcome-based education (OBE). The main principles of OBE are to provide concluding significant outcomes, to expand the opportunities for success, to set high expectations to succeed. Each course is defined with a set of course outcomes. One of the key aspects of OBE is the attainment of course outcomes (CO). At the end of each course, the CO needs to be calculated and evaluated, to verify whether outcome expected has been attained or not. The attainment of the CO proves the efficiency of the teaching and learning process of the course. The course outcome attainment enables the faculties to plan and develop appropriate tools, materials and methodologies to improve the teaching learning process as well as to provide a measure for quality assurance. This paper shows the method to quantify the course outcomes with their target level. Assessment methods and tools are used to identify, collect and prepare data to evaluate the attainment of CO. This method can be applicable to all engineering programs in the line of accrediting their program to the NBA.</p>

Impact of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) on Learners' Performance in Business Courses

Purpose: The study aims to introduce a new format of education called outcome-based education (OBE), its importance, and its impact on learners' performance in business courses. Theoretical framework: Outcome-based education (OBE) ensures that new learners enter the classroom exceptionally prepared with the skills, mindsets, and values required to grow into successful adults after they leave the educational system. Outcome-based education (OBE) is a teaching approach that concentrates on how novices will perform in the future and how to use knowledge to accomplish objectives after instruction. Methodology: The qualitative method was chosen as the content is theoretical, for outcome-based education has been compared with conventional education. This study begins by tracing the evolution of outcome-based education (OBE) and introducing crucial implementation criteria. Following the discussion of impacts, it is covered how the concept of repercussions necessitates a paradigm shift in evaluation and evaluation methodologies. The study then goes through the crucial effects of implementing the exercise and methods for rating and evaluating learners' success in business school. These repercussions are closely related to discussing the four critical philosophies of outcome-based education (OBE). Based on that, results are drawn. Results and conclusion: It is confirmed that OBE develops a learner's Fundamental knowledge, problem-solving skills, research skills, technical skills, social skills, ethical values, communication skills, project management skills, and life-long skills that have a significant impact on one's career. Originality/Value: Outcome-based education (OBE), which directs learners in building their professional careers and increases their knowledge and creativity, is the newest education trend. In the context of their workplace, OBE might support their healthy development. The National Board of Accreditation (NBA) requires the application of the appropriate evaluation strategies for learners to acquire the skills indicated for outcome-based education. Outcome-based education (OBE) is attractive because it can improve coaching, the educational system, and learners' performance, which primarily rely on evaluating graduates' skills. Through this process, the learner will learn how to bridge the gap between tutoring and results-based mastering techniques. No one in South Asia didn't undertake any research on the subject; as a result, the fresh information would help to enhance management, encourage innovation, and boost performance. Contribution: The suggested methodological model, one of the most fundamental advances in business education, would improve scientific capabilities in the training process at the business school and permit a widespread incidence in the academic environment.

Curriculum Compliance Improvement Model for Addressing Program Outcomes in Engineering Education

Abstract - The teaching-learning methodology in the engineering education system is moving from a teacher-centric model to a student-centric model. The student-centered learning model is a method of learning or teaching that keeps the learner at the center. Outcome-Based Education (OBE) is an education model that focuses on the student-centric model which equips the students with the desired knowledge, skill, attitude, and behavior at the time of graduation. The National Board of Accreditation (NBA) is an accrediting body in India and its norms ensure that professional programs adopt OBE, and as an initiative, it has defined twelve Program Outcomes (POs). These POs are to be demonstrated by the graduates upon completion of the program. Professional programs curriculum will play a vital role in the attainment of POs. Therefore, the curriculum has to be designed in such a way that all the POs need to be addressed. The majority of the courses in the curriculum address the first five POs and are called disciplinary outcomes. The rest seven POs i.e PO6 to PO12 are generally named as professional outcomes and to address these POs, the department has to put in additional effort. In this paper, aCurriculum Compliance Improvement Model (CCIM) is proposed that performs the gap analysis of the existing curriculum and aid to enhance the curriculum compliance for PO attainment by suggesting suitable actions. These actions can be implemented by fine-tuning the curriculum design and teaching-learning process which will provide an environment for the students to attain all the graduate attributes (POs), the proposed model is illustrated through a case study. Overall, the model proposed is useful for the Tier-1 institutions that are keen on their students attaining all the graduating attributes, and also, ensures to meet the objectives of the accreditation procedure. Keywords— Accreditation, Course Outcomes, Disciplinary Outcomes, Engineering education, Outcomes-Based Education, Program Outcomes, Gap Analysis, Curriculum Design.

A new model based on the extended COPRAS method for improving performance during the accreditation process of Indian Higher Educational Institutions

AbstractThe standard of any country in the global world is dependent highly on the intellect content of the people. This intellect content is in turn dependent exclusively upon the quality of the higher education in the country. The aim of this research work is to perform an empirical evaluation to rank various quality parameters suggested by the National Board of Accreditation. This national board was established in India in 1994 by the All India Council for Technical Education with the main motive of assessing the quality of various Higher Educational Institutions. It provides marks to institutions out of 1000 on the basis of 10 parameters, which are further subdivided into 75 subparameters. This research work helps to guide educational institutions to access their weak points during and before applying for this accreditation to recover from them timely and in the most effective manner. An extended model of fuzzy COPRAS (COmplex PRoportional ASsessment) is proposed as an improved multicriteria decision‐making approach to first identify and then set preferences to help institutions improve their data related to accreditation key indicators. The work is divided into four steps. First, all the critical evaluation factors for the accreditation process are identified in consultation with senior, experienced and qualified academicians. They are then converted into fuzzy triangular numeric values and crisp weights. Lingual values and corresponding fuzzy weights of various preference key indicators are then identified and converted into crisp weights. Further critical factors are divided into price and profit values. Finally, key indicators are ranked using extended fuzzy COPRAS. A comparative ranking analysis is generated as end result through fuzzy COPRAS, TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) and WASPAS (Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment) approaches, which shows that the proposed model generates better ranking results. The proposed model is applicable to any accreditation process with a varied set of parameters and their subparameters.

OBE Framework for Assessing Laboratory / Practical Courses in Engineering Programmes

Abstract : Irrespective of the branch of study, practical/laboratory courses are integral parts of engineering curriculum. These courses develop the knowledge, skill and attitude of the graduates. It is thus necessary to frame the laboratory experiments, to create a student centric learning environment and to have suitable assessment methodologies to enhance the cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills of the engineering students. This paper proposes a framework of the above three from the authors' perspective for a software laboratory. The proposed framework can be extended to the laboratory/practical with suitable modifications in the Course Outcomes. Also in this paper, a methodology is proposed for converting the scales into marks and also the formula for calculating the marks under various heads (record, viva voce and experiment) is given. Rubrics are defined for the Performance Indicators (PIs) as specified in the Examination Reform Policy of AICTE for the Program Outcomes (POs defined by National Board of Accreditation (NBA), India). Keywords : Laboratory/practical courses, OBE, Rubrics, Course Outcomes (COs), Program Outcomes (Pos)

Competency Evaluation using Graduate Attributes – A comparative study

The reformation in the education system is inevitable with the growth and advancement in the society. Thus, towards the end of the 20th century, there is a pedagogical transformation from the output-based education system to the outcome-based education system. Outcome based education is a student centric learning approach in which learning is set around specified goals (outcomes). It gives importance to the knowledge and skills acquired by students than what or how something is taught. The role of the faculty is as facilitator to help students in achieving desired outcomes. In this method, the purpose of any program is clearly specified in terms of Course Outcomes, Program Outcomes, Program Specific Outcomes, and Program Educational Objectives. The attainment of these outcomes is a measure of effectiveness of the program and the assessment of the same is monitored by various accreditation agencies in different parts of the world. After a series of discussions among these agencies, a set of graduate attributes are set forth as parameters for the assessment of the quality of education. In India, the accreditation agency is known as the National Board of Accreditation and the graduate attributes are named as program outcomes. A student graduating from an accredited program is considered a competent graduate. In this study, the competency of Civil Engineering graduates of selected institutes in Kerala state is compared in terms of these graduate attributes. The opinion of academicians and industry professionals regarding the preparedness of the current undergraduate civil engineering curriculum to develop “industry-ready engineers” is also discussed in the study. Keywords—attainment; competency; civil engineering curriculum; graduate attributes

Active and collaborative learning approach in Unit Operations laboratory by Open-ended experiments using the concept of Design of Experiments (DOE)

Unit Operations is the hallmark course of Chemical Engineering and allied disciplines. This involves the separation of products by physical means such as Distillation, Extraction, Gas absorption, Crystallization, Evaporation, Filtration, etc. Unit Operations course is usually offered in the second year of the undergraduate program in Biotechnology. The conventional pedagogy practiced to date was not so effective in the attainment of certain Program Outcomes (PO). To address this issue, categorization of the laboratory was done into four types: Demonstration, Exercise, Structural inquiry, and Open-ended experiments was made. The experiments were carefully designed to address some of the major Technical and Professional outcomes. Assessment criteria for each kind of experiment were mapped to Program outcomes, Outcome elements, and Performance Indicators. This helps in the evaluation of the attainment of Program Outcomes more accurately. The present study deals with an active and collaborative learning approach in the Unit Operations laboratory by framing Open-ended experiments using the concept of Design of Experiments (DoE). Full Factorial Design(FFD) and Response Surface Methodology(RSM) concepts were used to study the effect of various parameters on Liquid-Liquid Extraction operation. The study helped in addressing the Program Outcome-4 defined by the National Board of Accreditation, which is related to conducting investigations of complex problems. The evaluation of the students’ performance was done using rubrics-based methodology, and attainment of the graduate attributes addressed were documented. Quality students’s feedback was taken to identify scope for further improvement in the teaching-learning process. Keywords—Collaborative learning; Design of experiments; Open-ended experiment; Program outcome

Awareness on Accreditation of Diploma Engineering Programmes

Background: The provision of graded accreditation and autonomy of colleges has been made in the national education policy (NEP) 2020 which will be applicable for all types of higher education institutions in the country. The authors have noticed that there are very few diploma engineering programmes having accreditation and that too will expire for the majority of the programmes in June 2022. Purpose: To ascertain the awareness of faculty members on the accreditation process was the main purpose of the study. Apart from it, reasons for a very low number of programme accreditation were inferred and suggestions are made for the national board of accreditation (NBA), state government and polytechnics to improve and innovate the quality of diploma engineering programmes to satisfy the future needs of students, employers and society and implement the provisions of NEP 2020. Method: A descriptive research study was undertaken using the structured and semi-structured instrument designed by the researchers. The responses were collected from 525 principals, heads of departments and faculty members of the polytechnics of the country using Google Form. Results: It is found that on 95 parameters of the accreditation process the cumulative weighted mean level of awareness of faculty members is more than 60 percent. That clearly indicates that teachers are having in-depth awareness ofthe requirements of the accreditation process but they are achieving the minimum expectable level on various pre-qualifiers, criteria and sub-criteria because of various reasons. Conclusions: There is a number of other reasons which are abstracting the polytechnic and programmes to qualify for the accreditation. These reasons should be identified and addressed using well-designed quality improvement and innovation interventions at state, polytechnic and faculty members levels.

Quality Management System Practices Performed in ISO 9001 Certified Engineering Educational Institutions: A Critical Analysis of Indian Universities

Abstract: This study aims to analyse the quality management system (QMS) practices performed in ISO 9001 certified engineering educational institutes of India. The literature divulged that QMS in engineering education mainly engrossed on teaching, learning, examinations, student results and infrastructure. Very few studies mentioned QMS in terms of organizational effectiveness. Thus the author has conducted the QMS analysis in forty-five engineering educational institutions (EEIs) of Delhi NCR area in India and selected two groups of institutions based on years of existence. Group-a consists of twenty institutions less than fifteen years old, and group-b consists of twenty-five institutions over fifteen years old. Data were collected using a questionnaire from forty-five engineering educational institutions. The questionnaire was prepared using QMS constructs (ten factors) followed by the institutions and the quality measures followed by the national board of accreditation-NBA in India. Data analysis was done using SPSS 26.0 software to conclude the student t-test and p-value. The author found that the group-b institutions received substantially higher scores in variables that had topmanagement commitment, systemic management approach, customer satisfaction, employee involvement, training, teamwork, continuous improvement, corporate social responsibility, academic culture and knowledge audit compared to group-a institutions. The study also revealed the strong and weak points of the institutional QMS, and there is a strong need to incorporate ISO 9001:2015- based QMS practices for the continuous improvement of institutions. Keywords: National Board of Accreditation, Quality Management, Customer Satisfaction, ISO 9001:2015 QMS

Implementing an Application for Attainment Calculation of Program Outcomes and Course Outcomes for Courses of University Affiliated Engineering Programs

The main goal of outcome-based education (OBE) is the achievement of program outcomes in a 4-year program. To achieve this, program outcomes need to be properly mapped with the course outcomes of courses of a particular program. Program Outcomes are the statements that describe what knowledge students will achieve by the time of graduation. OBE ensures that a graduate student not only possesses knowledge in a specific program but can also be globally accepted. The curriculum is designed in such a way that students get trained in all 12 program outcomes set by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA). Students gain knowledge through various teaching-learning methodologies like classroom lectures, laboratory experiments, workshops, guest lectures, and projects (mini project & megaproject). For each course, course outcomes are been designed by the university which gets mapped with program outcomes. The assessment of CO’s & PO’s is done by assessing the performance of students [1] using MS Excel software. This paper automates the manual excel work done for CO-PO attainment calculations [3]. After attainment calculations, it shows whether the program outcome has been achieved or not. For calculations, the system collects data such as CO-PO mapping, attainment level. The system also collects direct assessment data such as marks of each student for assignments, experiments, class tests, university marks, and indirect assessment data such as course exit survey. After calculations, it also generates a summary sheet that shows course outcome attainment for each course outcome. The system also generates program outcome attainment in the observation sheet.

Effective Implementation of Outcome-based Education: The Role of Faculty Awareness

Accreditation of technical institutions is very important to guarantee the quality of technical education that is being offered. Outcome based education (OBE) is followed in the delivery of technical education across all Institutions in India and the National Board of Accreditation (NBA), which is the nodal accreditation body for technical institutions in India follows outcome based accreditation (OBA) in the accreditation of technical programs. In the OBE and OBA, faculty constitutes the most important component and plays an important role in facilitation of the same. In this regard, the authors felt that there is a need to understand the level of awareness of faculty about the same and accordingly a survey was conducted among the faculty of the authors’ institution, which is an autonomous Institution and comes under Tier I scheme of NBA accreditation process. From among 285 faculty members, about 96 participated in the survey. This paper discusses the significance of faculty’s awareness and involvement in the accreditation process and implementation of OBE. The results of the survey indicate some interesting findings, which is discussed in detail. Some suggestions and guidelines are given at the end to increase the level of awareness and their involvement in the OBE and OBA processes respectively.

Outcome Based Assessment of Engineering Programs for Achieving the Quality Assurance – A Case Study

Abstract: In the dynamic world knowledge without skills is worthless. In earlier times the education program focused on imparting knowledge alone. But presently along with knowledge transfer, skills should be developed in graduates to meet the demands of technical profession and emerging job markets across the world. As a result the engineering education system was transformed from input - output model to outcome based education model. ABET, NBA, ENQA, and AAAC etc were some of the accreditation agencies established to monitor and implement quality in professional education. This paper outlined the procedure for the assessment and attainment of outcomes defined by National Board of Accreditation (NBA), the accreditation body of India. A case study of attainment of program outcome (PO) and program specific outcome (PSO) process was discussed for tier II under graduate engineering program in the country. A comparison of PO & PSO attainments among different programs in an institute was also presented in the paper. From the study it had seen that only fewcourses in an engineering program contributed in accomplishing professional competencies defined by NBA. Also, various engineering programs exhibited medium level of correlation with program outcomes and program specific outcomes. Keywords: Competence, Course Outcome, Program Articulation Matrix, Program Outcome, Program Specific Outcome.

A Case-Study on Leveraging the Policies on Outcome-Based Education

Abstract: India has a broad, varied, and multifaceted technical and higher education system and is behind China and the United States in terms of the world's largest system of higher education. Accreditation is a mechanism intended to assess whether an educational institution or program satisfies the specified academic standards. While in the US the accreditation body is Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc. (ABET), in India, it is the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) and National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). NBA accreditation model is linked to ABET via Washington Accord. The task in front of these authorities is introducing the policies to ensure that students receive the type of education they require in today's complicated and volatile world. This paper demonstrates a case-study on how the Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering Department of Fr. C. Rodrigues Institute of Technology (FCRIT) leveraged the policies and models adapted by NBA for Outcome Based Education (OBE) for raising the quality of theBachelor of Engineering Program. It reviews the history and role played by ABET and NBA in continuously evolving the criteria for the accreditation of engineering courses. It presents thesystems and processes established by the Department as per the NBA-OBE model for enhancing students' Course Outcome (CO) and Program Outcome (PO) attainments. There has been increase of 4.1% and 5% in averaged CO and PO attainments, respectively, for the 2016-20 passed out batch compared to 2014-18 batch. In conclusion, the NBA-OBE model can be leveraged further for enhancement in outcomes in the proposed autonomy model at FCRIT. Keywords: Outcome Based Education, National Board of Accreditation, Education, Quality

Comparison of Indian Quality Assurance Model and Accreditation Parameters of Higher Education with International Standards

Abstract: The globalization of higher education has become one of the most significant factors for the academic, social, and political promotion of a country. Quality human resources and knowledge workforce plays a vital role in the emerging environment and digital economy. Assessment and Accreditation (AA) of education ensures the quality of education and make the system more responsive to demand and accountability. This paper explores international quality assurance models and compares the significant quality parameters of higher education with the Indian accreditation system. India's accreditation bodies, National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and National Board of Accreditation (NBA) maintain the quality of higher education in India which evaluates the institutional and programme standards respectively. The research mainly adopted generic quality parameters identified by the global accreditation agencies for the survey and feedback from the educational experts in higher education. The paper aims to propose a qualityassurance framework model that matches with global standards. Keywords: Quality Assurance, Higher education, Accreditation, Quality framework

Preface

The 6th biennial International Conference on Emerging Trends in Engineering Science and Technology; ICETEST 2020 has been organized by Government Engineering College Thrissur, Kerala, India, from 17 to 19 December 2020. The three sub-conferences organized under the aegis of ICETEST 2020 are; International Conference on Civil engineering Advances for Sustainable Infrastructure Development & Environment (CEASIDE 2020), International Conference on Recent Advances in Materials Processing and Technology for Sustainability (RAMPTS 2020) and International Conference on Power Instrumentation Control and Computing (PICC 2020) sponsored by IEEE.Government Engineering College Thrissur (GEC Thrissur), Kerala, is an ISO 9001: 2015 QMS certified institution and also one of the most prestigious and reputed technical education institutions in India. The College was established in the year 1957 with under graduate programs in Civil, Mechanical and Electrical engineering disciplines. From the humble beginning in 1957, the institution has made substantial progress in all areas and, at present, offering eight undergraduate programs, twelve post-graduate programs and doctoral programs in various engineering disciplines and architecture with an intake of more than 1000 students per annum. Most of the UG and PG programs offered by the college have been accredited by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA), India.Government Engineering College Thrissur has been organizing the biennial International Conference on Emerging Trends in Engineering, Science and Technology (ICETEST) from the year 2009 onwards. The conference was then organized with the title theme ‘Materials for the Future’, focusing on research and development in the field of advanced metallic, ceramic, refractory, polymer, and composite materials and their processing. In the fourth edition of the biennial conference, organized during 2015, the title theme have been revised to a more broader ‘Emerging Trends in Engineering, Science and Technology’ and introduced multiple tracks with the track, Power Instrumentation Control and Computing (PICC) sponsored by IEEE. Ever since the first edition, the conference has received overwhelming response from academicians, scientists, researchers and scholars all over the world and has become a global platform to present, share and discuss their research findings in various fields of science, engineering and technology.Though, ICETEST 2020 has been organized under the shadow of Covid 19, the conference has received overwhelming response from scientific community all over the world. Altogether there were nearly five hundred contributory paper submissions to the conference. All the submitted papers have been subjected to stringent closed peer review by at least two reviewers and subsequently, ICETEST 2020 features more than two hundred contributory oral presentations in addition to eighteen Keynote and Invited Lectures. All the accepted full length contributory papers of CEASIDE 2020 and RAMPTS 2020 have been published in the journal, Materials Science and Engineering published by IOP Publishing, United Kingdom. Whereas, the accepted papers of PICC 2020 being published in the IEEE Xplore digital library.On behalf of the Organizing committee and Government Engineering College Thrissur, we would like to place on record our sincere gratitude to the patrons, advisors, coordinators, various committee members, faculty and staff members, reviewers, session chairs, speakers, delegates and publishers for their whole hearted support and cooperation for the successful conduct of the conference including the publishing of contributory papers. Conference Chairs: Dr. Haris Naduthodi & Dr. K K RamachandranList of titles Conference Secretariat, Organizing Committee, Editorial Board are available in this Pdf.

Prioritizing NBA quality parameters for service quality enhancement of polytechnic education institutes – A fuzzy Kano-QFD approach

This objective of study is to identify and prioritize the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) quality parameters by incorporating the influence of service quality factors in students’ perspectives. In this context, “service quality factors have been identified and selected through a literature review, interview with students and educational experts of PEIs”. Further, the service quality factors have been categorized into different Kano categories through the Fuzzy Kano approach. Moreover, NBA quality parameters have been prioritized based on the service quality factors using quality function deployment (QFD). This case study was conducted in six polytechnic education institutes located in “Madhya Pradesh, India”. The result of the study helps to provide a clear guidance about the priority list of quality parameters for “service quality” improvements of PEIs. The present study also facilitates education planners, decision-makers, and administrative peoples of institutions to develop an effective strategy and design a system to enhance the “service quality” of Indian PEIs.

An Approach to the Evaluation of Program Outcomes and Consideration of Activities beyond Curriculum for Improvement of Program Outcome Attainment

Abstract: Current global scenario demands outcome based education to develop graduates with universal acceptability. Program Outcomes (POs) laid by NBA (Table 1) are the assessable components indicative of graduate potential to demonstrate competencies to practice at appropriate levels. Program Outcomes (PO) can be defined and calculated by assessment of various Course Outcomes (CO) which can further be evaluated from Learning Outcomes (LOs). Blooms Taxonomy classifies LOs into the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains based on their level of complexity. Each LO maps to CO and hence contributes to PO. The direct and indirect assessment tools can be used to obtain course outcome attainment level. Performance at the prerequisite subject and attainment of the outcomes for previous year are the factors determining defined CO attainment. The attainment of Program Outcomes POs is an indicator of the graduate’s potential to demonstrate competencies and practice at appropriate levels. POs are derived from the Graduate Attributes (GA) specified by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA). Curriculum designed by University is not enough for a graduate to achieve the desired level of PO attainment. PO attainment is calculated by considering co-curricular and extracurricular activities in addition to the curriculum specified by the affiliating University for a programmer. GA like Pharmacy Knowledge, Thinking Abilities, Planning Abilities, Professional Identity, Environment and Sustainability, Pharmacist and Society are achieved through regular curricular activities whereas other GA like Leadership Skills, Ethics, Communication and Life Long Learning can be better attained through participation in extracurricular and co-curricular activities. This paper describes a module for defining and calculating attainment of Program Outcomes. It also demonstrates how of Activities beyond Curriculum for improvement of Program Outcome attainment. Key words: Blooms Taxonomy, Program Outcomes, Graduate Attributes, Program Educational Objectives, Co-curricular, Extracurricular.

PO Assessment and Attainment through POGIL Based Classes

This paper describes the development of POGIL based instructional design classes for complex engineering problems described in the Program Outcomes (PO) of National Board of Accreditation (NBA), India accreditation criteria. Embedded system Design course in Electronics and Communication Engineering course (ECE) is considered for experimentation. Subsequently it aims at providing students and interested fresh faculty an opportunity to design and build the project on their own. The aim of the project is to design a round robin based embedded system where the tasks are of their choice. To structure and complete their design part, both students and faculty were posed with a large number of questions. They were asked to refer literature and data sheets for their work. Once the design part was reviewed to avoid critical errors, students built their project and compared solutions to theoretical predictions. Feedback was collected and analysed to determine the effectiveness of POGIL in PO attainment. The reflections given by both faculty and students were positive, in particular students found that solving complex engineering problems are quite difficult and challenging compared to other prescribed book end exercises but POGIL helped them to be more constructive to build their knowledge.

Government Engineering Colleges in Assam: Current Status and Steps for Improvement

The State Government has well understood the demand of technical education in the state and attention is focused on rapid development in this field, with global professional standards and international accreditation being recognised as the benchmarks for quality assurance. In this regard, it is important to understand an accord called “The Washington Accord”. This is an international agreement to ensure consistent quality of undergraduate engineering program across the World. Programs recognised by accrediting authorities in countries that are signatories are considered to be equivalent in terms of quality and the graduate attributes. In 2014, the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) India joined as a signatory for programs accredited by NBA offered by education providers accepted by NBA as Tier 1 institutions. In February 2015, the Government of Assam appointed an expert team from the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Curtin University Australia to conduct an audit of technical education in the public sector. The purpose of the audit was to find the gaps that may exist in governance, curriculum, policies, guidelines and community engagement in relation to those to be required and found in a Washington Accord approved programme. This paper summarises some of the gaps. This is followed by recommendations to improve the technical education sector in Assam. The findings in the gap analysis are the first in a series of steps toward the long-awaited restructuring of the technical higher education sector in the state of Assam. It is now up to the Government of Assam to take the necessary steps in addressing the issues to re-energise the technical higher education sector and bring the public technical colleges to the forefront of quality Indian institutions offering international standard engineering education and infrastructure.

Accreditation of Engineering Education: A Comprehensive Assessment Plan

Considerable expansion of technical education has taken place in India. However, the quality of technical education graduates of the country is a matter of concern. To enhance the quality and standard in technical education, NBA accreditation, a process of benchmarking of academic quality of an engineering education program or diploma engineering education program by an accreditation agency, has been introduced. India is a signatory nation of Washington Accord through National Board of Accreditation. Now, accreditation has become compulsory for quality assurance, recognition of graduates globally, recognition by the stakeholders, for branding and for expansion of the program. However, very few programs have been accredited so far in India. Outcome Based Education is the central feature of accreditation which focuses on outcomes. It is a student centered approach which measures student performance or outcomes in terms of knowledge, skills, and attributes. The institutions intending to apply for accreditation are facing difficulty in preparing Self Assessment Report (SAR), especially CO- PO attainment. The purpose of this paper is to share our experiences of NBA accreditation process, especially assessment of CO and PO attainment. CO attainment is solely measured by direct measurement methods (internal and external assessments). Program Outcome attainment is calculated by both direct attainment method and indirect attainment method (various surveys). Various boards and committees formed for the preparation for accreditation are also outlined in this paper. The accreditation of two programs of our institute by NBA is an important indication of the appropriateness of the methods applied to achieve this goal. Since NBA is a member of the Washington Accord, this study may help not only local readers but also international readers having similar accreditation systems.