Program Educational Objectives Research Articles

Knowing How, Knowing Why, Knowing Whom: Examining the Alignment of the MBA Programs with the Intelligent Career Theory Framework (ICTF)

This study explored the relationship between the Intelligent Career Theory framework (ICTF) and the MBA’s Program Educational Objectives (PEO). Employing a self-reported questionnaire survey with 11 MBA graduates from the past five years, the research examined graduates’ perceptions of the program’s effectiveness in fostering skills and knowledge aligned with the core ICTF components: Knowing Why (Intrinsic motivation and career goals), Knowing How (Knowledge & skills), and Knowing Whom (professional networks & mentors). Pearson’s correlation coefficients were utilized to analyze the relationship between these ICTF components and the program’s PEOs. The Permutations were employed to deal with the limitations of a small sample. The significant correlation between the ICTF components and PEOs with the relative strength of know-why and weakness of know-whom provide insight into the program’s alignment with career intelligence development. Recommendations for curriculum improvement and ongoing program evaluation based on the ICTF framework are presented. This study highlights the value of ICTF as a tool for enhancing MBA programs and empowering graduates for successful careers.

KAJIAN PENCAPAIAN OBJEKTIF PENDIDIKAN PROGRAM (PROGRAMME EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES – PEO) BAGI PROGRAM DIPLOMA KEJURUTERAAN PERKHIDMATAN BANGUNAN

Education at Malaysian institutes of higher education must be accredited by responsible bodies such as Malaysia Qualification Agency (MQA) and Engineering Technology Accreditation Council (ETAC) to ensure graduates' marketability is guaranteed. Therefore, ETAC asked the program to explain the process for periodic review and review of the Program Educational Objectives (PEO) to determine the extent to which industry is involved in the careers of the graduates who are working with them. There are two objectives to be achieved which are to identify the alumni's perception of the achievement of the Program Educational Objectives (PEO) and to determine the level of achievement of each PEO that has been achieved by the alumni. The target for this study is a total of 35 graduates who followed the Building Services Engineering Diploma program at Kuching Sarawak Polytechnic who have graduated for 5 years. The questionnaire is Google Forms and has been emailed to the graduates involved to be completed. The results of the study found that the students' perception of all PEO programs is very good with an achievement score of 90 and above. Where the level of achievement of PEO 2 which is to be a leader or team member to support their role in the industry is the highest among the four PEOs.

공학교육인증제에서의 프로그램 교육목표 개선에 대한 고찰

In the regular evaluation of engineering education accreditation, there should be almost no deficiencies in the program educational objectives, but they are occurring frequently. From the regular evaluation in 2021, the second deficiency is judged as conditional certification. This paper presents an example of the application of the program education goal adequacy review system considering changes in the social environment with a relatively low understanding of educational goal setting while preparing for the engineering education certification system and certification evaluation. In addition, application cases are presented focusing on the certification criteria, engineering education certification judgment guide, and self-study report form for the linkage application between detailed certification criteria in revising and improving educational goals.

Tracer Study of Graduates in Entrepreneurship through the Lens of Expectancy Theory

This tracer study aims to determine if there is an alignment between the application of learnings in the Entrepreneurship program and the various pieces of training based on the graduates’ present entrepreneurial experience. This paper considers the perspective of Entrepreneurship graduates from 2017-2022. The descriptive correlational method was used. Communication skills are the top competency learned in the program. Specifically, the Spearman partial correlation showed a significant association between the applicability of learning and various training in the program while controlling for the core values and program educational objectives. The study supports the expectancy theory that graduates believed that the learnings and training in the program are essential as entrepreneurs.

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

Application of the ABET Student Outcome Scores to the Advancement of a Power Engineering Program: An Accomplished Experience

Abstract: This article describes the application of a systematic approach to an electric power technology engineering (EPTE) program that ensured highquality (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology - ABET) preparation. It describes how the Electrical Engineering Department at Palestine Polytechnic University (PPU), in Palestine, prepared for the EPTE program by defining and reviewing objectives and outcomes through a well-designed quality improvement process, and then implementing these evaluation results to develop the program. By obtaining results from courses delivered in two consecutive semesters, which could be more widened to a cycle of two consecutive academic years, it was possible to identify all student outcomes (SOs) with performances that either improved or deteriorated against a set threshold level of 80%. The final scores showed a mixed performance. While some SOs fell shortly below the set 80% threshold to an average level of 70%, others either met or exceeded threshold expectations. A deterioration in student outcome SO1 score related to ability of students to formulate and solve complex engineering problems. The SO2 score would require the laboratory and theoretical instructors to provide more discussion lectures and homework, in regard to circuit, system or process design, implementation and verification. The SO5 score showed that students needed to function more effectively as a team, while SO6 score indicated that students needed to improve their skills in experimentation, interpretation and analysis of data. The good scores; SO3, SO4 and SO7 related to ability of students to communicate effectively, recognize professional ethics and acquire and apply new knowledge. Keywords: Academic accreditation; Program educational objectives; Student outcomes; Quality assurance; Electrical engineering.

Process to Draft the Program Educational Objectives for Undergraduate Engineering Degree Programs

Process to Draft the Program Educational Objectives for Undergraduate Engineering Degree Programs

Civil Engineering Program Compliance of SUCs in Western Visayas to Philippine Technological Council – Washington Accord Standards

This descriptive study determined the institutional status of the Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering (BSCE) program of State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) in Western Visayas in terms of years of implementation, AACCUP level of accreditation, the total number and educational qualification of the faculty, and level of practice of the program to the Philippine Technological Council – Washington Accord (PTC-WA) based on the nine (9) criteria. Data gathered through a survey questionnaire were presented in tabular and narrative presentations and were confirmed through triangulation using comparative analysis and review questions. Results revealed that the majority of the SUCs in Western Visayas had offered the BSCE program for 5-10 years, with Level II accreditation. Most of the faculty members are full-time and have master’s degrees, and the average passing percentage of the graduates in the board examination for the last three years was 75.55% as against the national passing percentage of 41.05%. As an entire group, SUCs in Western Visayas offering the BSCE program had ‘Very Highly Practiced’ the PTC-WA criteria on students and ‘Highly Practiced’ on all the other eight criteria of PTC-WA. As a whole, they had ‘Highly Practiced’ the nine criteria of PTC-WA. Consequently, respondents recommend to the SUCs management to pursue the development of the BSCE program by empowering its heads of units, faculty members, and support staff to cope with the improvement needed in terms of program educational objectives, faculty and support staff, continuous quality improvement, community-oriented programs, and industry-academe linkages.

Competency-Based Frameworks in Medical School Education Programs: A Thematic Analysis of the Academic Medicine Snapshots, 2020.

Educational program objectives (EPOs) provide the foundation for a medical school's curriculum. In recent years, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) endorsed an outcomes-based approach to objectives, to embrace the movement toward competency-based medical education (CBME). The purpose of this study was to explore the CBME frameworks used by medical schools in formulating their EPOs. A secondary aim was to determine factors related to the selection of specific frameworks. The authors performed a quantitative content analysis of entries to the 2020 Academic Medicine Snapshot. Publicly available data gathered included demographic features of each program (e.g., year founded, accreditation status, affiliation, etc.), participation in national medical education consortia, and presence of specific CBME frameworks identified in EPOs. Descriptive statistics were used to examine trends in frameworks used by medical schools. Bivariate comparisons between factors and frameworks were conducted using chi-square tests. Logistic regression was used to examine factors predicting use of more recently developed CBME frameworks. A total of 135 institutions submitted Snapshots (RR = 88%). All institutions endorsed 1 or more CBME frameworks, with 37% endorsing 2 and 20% endorsing 3 or more. The most common was the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education core competencies (63%). In addition to published frameworks, 36% of institutions developed their own competencies. Schools with pending LCME visits were 2.61 times more likely to use a more recently developed curricular framework, P = .022. Medical schools in the United States have embraced the CBME movement through incorporation of competency-based frameworks in their EPOs. While it is encouraging that CBME frameworks have been integrated in medical school EPOs, the variability and use of multiple frameworks identifies the pressing need for a unified CBME framework in undergraduate medical education.

Development of Course Learning Outcomes and Measurement in Higher Education

The purpose of this research was to investigate and develop an effective assessment tool to measure and evaluate course learning outcomes. Course learning outcomes from four different departments in the Faculty of Humanities at a private university in Lebanon were examined and revised according to Bloom’s Taxonomy. The learning outcomes were mapped with the program learning outcomes which were also linked to the program educational objectives of the appropriate majors. After which, the assessment process took place. This paper used a case study approach with accumulation of the data dating back to the 2014/2015 academic year, as well as survey methodology to further understand the Faculty instructors’ attitudes and experience in utilizing an assessment guide that was prepared by the Faculty Outcomes Assessment Committee. This article details the aforementioned processes in three phases, establishing criteria, setting an assessment strategy, and testing the implementation of such strategies in courses. Findings are not only significant to this university, but coincide with the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) accreditation requirements.

Doctor of Public Health-Crisis Management and COVID-19 Prevention and Control: A Case Study in China.

In the fields of public health policy and public health care, advanced educational programs are an important strategy in dealing with public health crises. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the global need for skilled public health leaders and managers to address complex public health challenges, which requires the strengthening of public health education at the highest levels. This paper is a qualitative case study of a special educational program for doctors of public health in China. The program's educational objectives are in line with epidemic prevention and control. With the goal of developing the world's leading national public health management system, the Chinese government established an advanced academic program for public health crisis management. The program offers doctoral students a multidisciplinary degree based upon the theoretical knowledge of crisis management, supported by advanced training in the foundational concepts, theories, and practices of public health, and the study of basic medicine which provides the theoretical support for developing essential clinical skills. Program graduates develop the theoretical, practical, and leadership-related capabilities required for the management of national emergencies. The program introduced in this paper meets current epidemic prevention and control needs and should be considered by public health policy makers, leaders, and scholars in the discussion of advanced public health policy and health care education in China, including the development of an internationally recognized Doctor of Public Health program.

A Global Program-Educational-Objectives Comparative Study for Malaysian Electrical and Electronic Engineering Graduates

Outstanding academic achievement in the field of higher education is a source of pride for the university. The success of the university is measured not only by academic performance but also by the quality of graduates produced. In Malaysia, three major categories in higher learning are identified: public, private, and foreign-branch universities. All engineering programs follow the requirements set by the Engineering Accreditation Council (EAC) on behalf of the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM). The programme educational objectives (PEOs) make up one of the elements that needs assessment for ensuring its continuity in line with the university’s mission and vision. A PEO comparative study on selected reputable electrical and electronic (EE)-engineering department universities was carried out based on the mapping of PEO attribute keywords. These attributes were then classified into either cluster, sharing, or uniqueness groups. The study compared the relevancy of each PEO statement suggested by stakeholders and other interested parties. The results from the PEO comparative study suggested that attributes on competency, ethics, professionalism, and leadership are given high priorities. However, the increase in demand for entrepreneurship-, multidisciplinary-, and soft skills should also be considered when reviewing the institution’s engineering curriculum. The uniqueness of such attributes will distinguish the EE-engineering graduates’ profession, marketability, and employability. PEO statements reflect the credibility and sustainability of a well-balanced graduate equipped with the right knowledge, skills, and values.

Short Text Mining for Classifying Educational Objectives and Outcomes

Most of the international accreditation bodies in engineering education (e.g., ABET) and outcome-based educational systems have based their assessments on learning outcomes and program educational objectives. However, mapping program educational objectives (PEOs) to student outcomes (SOs) is a challenging and time-consuming task, especially for a new program which is applying for ABET-EAC (American Board for Engineering and Technology the American Board for Engineering and Technology—Engineering Accreditation Commission) accreditation. In addition, ABET needs to automatically ensure that the mapping (classification) is reasonable and correct. The classification also plays a vital role in the assessment of students’ learning. Since the PEOs are expressed as short text, they do not contain enough semantic meaning and information, and consequently they suffer from high sparseness, multidimensionality and the curse of dimensionality. In this work, a novel associative short text classification technique is proposed to map PEOs to SOs. The datasets are extracted from 152 self-study reports (SSRs) that were produced in operational settings in an engineering program accredited by ABET-EAC. The datasets are processed and transformed into a representational form appropriate for association rule mining. The extracted rules are utilized as delegate classifiers to map PEOs to SOs. The proposed associative classification of the mapping of PEOs to SOs has shown promising results, which can simplify the classification of short text and avoid many problems caused by enriching short text based on external resources that are not related or relevant to the dataset.

A Systematic Approach for Assessment of Attainment in Outcome-based Education

The capabilities expected to be attained by learners, after learning a course or programme, are called course outcomes (CO) and programme outcomes (PO), respectively. The objectives of outcome-based education (OBE) are to ensure realization of grooming graduates with all the theoretical, practical and soft skills required to make them competent and industry-ready professionals. This article discusses the implementation of an assessment system for analysing the attainment of outcomes in OBE. It is a web-based application for evaluating the attainment of COs, POs and programme educational objectives (PEOs) in institutions of higher learning. Recently, OBE and choice-based credit system (CBCS) have become prevalent in institutions of higher learning. The significance and benefits of OBE and CBCS are recognized by all stakeholders, including accrediting agencies. The process for establishing and refining, the vision and mission of the institution, vision and mission of the department offering the programme, COs, POs and PEOs are discussed. The procedure and rubrics for assessing the attainment of the outcomes are also discussed. Accreditation is an honouring mechanism used to assess the standards and quality of the education offered by a programme to a student at an institution of higher learning. The article discusses a systematic approach for assessment of attainment of outcomes by graduates of a programme in an autonomous engineering college following OBE with CBCS.

Machine Learning Techniques for Enhancing Student Learning Experiences

Outcome-based learning (OBL) is a tried-and-true learning technique based on a set of predetermined objectives. Program Educational Objectives (PEOs), Program Outcomes (POs), and Course Outcomes are the three components of OBL (COs). Faculty members may adopt many ML-based advised actions at the conclusion of each course to improve the quality of learning and, as a result, the overall education. Due to the huge number of courses and faculty members involved, harmful behaviors may be advocated, resulting in unwanted and incorrect choices. The education system is described in this study based on college course requirements, academic records, and course learning results evaluations is provided for anticipating appropriate actions utilizing various machine learning algorithms. Dataset translates to different problem conversion methods and adaptive methods such as one-versus-all, binary significance, naming power set, series classification and custom classification ML-KNN. The suggested recommender ML-based system is used as a case study at the Institute of Computer and Information Sciences to assist academic staff in boosting learning quality and instructional methodologies. The results suggest that the proposed recommendation system offers more measures to improve students' learning experiences.

Information Systems Outcomes based Assessment at Jouf University for ABET Accreditation

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) Criteria for Computing Accreditation Commission Programs are based upon knowledge, presentation skills, communication skills, team work and leadership skills that the students gain through the curriculum in a program. The student outcomes (SOs) are the procured skills and knowledge which the student accomplishes through the curriculum. Each program needs to have its own SOs and to evaluate it as per defined assessment cycle, just as to accomplish program educational objectives (PEOs). The continuous improvement plan depended on assessment and evaluation of the program SOs and PEOs. In this paper, an advancement cycle for continuous improvement, for Information systems (IS) program at College of Computer and Information Sciences (CIS), Jouf University, Sakaka, Aljouf, Saudi Arabia, to accomplish the accreditation is discussed. The proposed cycle is appropriate to get the accreditation for bachelor program in information systems discipline and to fulfill the ABET criteria. In result, we will show how the SOs and PEOs were surveyed and assessed through curriculum accordingly. Based on these processes, ABET team has visited CIS college, which had accomplished extraordinary achievement and all of the programs have completely accredited on August 2018 and the next visit to the computing and engineering programs will be on 2026.

Decision tree for PLOs of undergraduate computing program based on CLO of computer programming

ABSTRACT Outcome-based education (OBE) is uniquely adapted by most of the educators across the world for objective processing, evaluation and assessment of computing programs and its students. However, the extraction of knowledge from OBE in common is a challenging task because of the scattered nature of the data obtained through Program Educational Objectives (PEOs), Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) and Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs). Computer programming correctly is the most demanded skill in the computing industry for which it is included in the CLOs of many computing courses at diverse levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. This study is typically aimed to develop a decision tree classifier for the comprehensive assessment of PLOs in direct correlation with the CLOs related to computer programming. The PLOs of a computing program defined by Seoul Accord are correlated by using Spearman ranked correlation with the programming-related CLOs and mapped on a C4.5 decision tree to rank the importance of different metrics for objective learning. For the testing of the method the data were collected for two semesters of the academic BSCS program of Fall-2016 and Fall-2017 intake. The results obtained through decision tree classifier are more accurate than the conventionally practiced method.

Undergraduate sustainability education programs and national security

Sustainable development directly aligns with local, regional, national, and global security. In the last decade, much progress has taken place in graduate sustainability education and research. However, undergraduate sustainability education programs have not shown the same levels of achievement. Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver) is one of the pioneer universities to have established its Sustainable Systems Engineering Program at the undergraduate level. Since 2016, the Program has been revised and improved upon. This article details the relationship between undergraduate sustainability education and national security, and explores the undergraduate sustainability education practices at MSU Denver as a model. The authors emphasize the development of program educational objectives (PEO), curriculum design, and assessment. The recently developed course, “Leadership in Sustainable Design,” is discussed, illustrating the university’s introduction of general sustainability concepts to interdisciplinary undergraduate students.

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.

Analysis of Graduates Performance Based on Programme Educational Objective Assessment for an Electrical Engineering Degree

Programme Educational Objectives (PEOs) are specific goals that are aligned with the vision and mission of an institution of higher learning. The PEOs describe the expected achievements of the graduates in their career and professional accomplishment after graduation. At Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, the PEOs of undergraduate programmes are particularly designed to ensure that the graduates are well-equipped with a broad foundation of theoretical and practical knowledge in various electrical engineering areas of interest and to prepare them for the rapidly changing engineering technology. These PEOs are carefully aligned with the vision and mission of the university and faculty and should be achieved by the graduates 3 to 4 years after graduating. These PEOs must be assessed and evaluated to determine the PEOs’ attainment of the programme. Therefore, assessment and evaluation activities must be available to plan and organize the process of obtaining the PEOs’ attainment. Surveys on graduate attributes need to be conducted to gain feedbacks from stakeholders 3 to 4 years after graduation. In this study, anonymous online questionnaire survey was created to obtain the feedbacks from the alumni. These feedbacks are then analysed to assess the PEOs’ attainment. In order to evaluate the performance of the PEOs, performance indicators are developed and used in the evaluation. Outcomes from this study are used to determine the achievement of PEOs and to propose the improvement as part of continuous quality improvement (CQI).