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09.11

Now Available –Assessment Exam for Electrical/Electronics Engineering Technology Programs

Wondering if your 2- or 4-year university program is actually developing the desired knowledge, skills and abilities in graduates? More important, are you giving your graduates the knowledge the technical community expects? If yours is an electrical or electronics engineering technology (or related) program, the Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology Departments Heads Association (ECETDHA) has a tool that can help you answer those questions.

The ECETDHA, with the support of the test development group at the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and funding from the IEEE, has developed a normative assessment exam covering topics that should form the core [1] of all electrical and electronics engineering technology curricula. The exam is designed to help you quantify students’ knowledge along the complete spectrum from basic to advanced topics in each of the core areas, and with that information, to help you identify strengths and weaknesses in knowledge development. Further, with repeated use, the exam can provide you with longitudinal tracking data to monitor program evolution. Also, as more programs take advantage of the exam, aggregate data from a wide range of institutions and programs will be available for comparison to help you evaluate how your program is doing with respect to the broader Electrical & Electronics Engineering Technology (EET) community.

An obvious question at this point is, “What is the pedigree of the core topics covered by the exam and what is the source of the questions that test student knowledge about those topics?” The answer to both questions lies in the approach taken by the ECETDHA in developing the exam. That approach was to assemble from its membership a group of over a dozen experienced practitioners representing the full range of electrical, electronics, and computer disciplines and to ask them each to identify the major topic areas in their field of endeavor, and further to develop a detailed ‘body of knowledge’ identifying the specific material represented by each topic. With the full range of topic information in hand, the group was then asked collectively to identify, from among all the topics, those that would be expected to be part of any program in electricity or electronics, regardless of a specialized focus or emphasis the program might have. That list, and the associated body of knowledge information, became the core topics and the basis for development of exam questions.

Creation of questions for the exam followed a similar process but with an even larger group of volunteer subject matter experts from the ECETDHA. These experts, with the body of knowledge as reference, and with guidance from SME test development staff, drafted questions to explore all elements of the core topics in their areas of expertise, and to do so at levels ranging from basic to advanced. However, questions were not simply accepted as submitted. Each was subjected to two levels of independent review for accuracy, clarity, relevance, importance, and appropriate level of difficulty before being accepted. Only then was a question deemed suitable for use.

In the final analysis, more than 300 questions representing the seven core topic areas were created, and those have been assembled into a 120 question, 3-hour, multiple-choice exam that, we believe, provides an accurate and comprehensive assessment of students’ knowledge in these areas. The exam, we believe, is suitable for either 2- or 4-year programs, and may be used to assess knowledge at the time of program completion or used periodically through a program to monitor knowledge development.

The test is available online or in traditional paper form, and it is available for use at any time. Students taking the exam are provided with a complete description of their results, including total score and a detailed breakdown of their scores within each topic area. If the test is taken online, these results are available immediately upon completion of the test. Program administrators receive the individual student scores and also aggregate scores by topic area for their entire test group. Upon request, administrators can also receive comparison statistics representing aggregate results for all programs taking the exam, and when available, results representing select groupings of tested programs. Programs may use the results in many ways, including assessment for ABET purposes. Results from questions related to subject areas that are not emphasized or covered in a particular program may be ignored.

The EET assessment exam has been available since the spring of 2010. Since its release, 14 baccalaureate and 5 associate programs, representing 14 different states and one foreign country, have used the test. Several have used it multiple times. Reactions have been very positive. Some comments from users:

• The EET Assessment Test …[w]e definitely believe it is beneficial to our Continuous Improvement Program and accreditation rubric.  – Kim Gaines, Augusta Technical College

• I felt the exam itself was a fair and balanced assessment tool for measuring the basic knowledge that all EET students should have. – Dr. Carl Spezia, Southern Illinois University

• We recognize the value of this exam and will continue offering it in the future. – Dr. Ilya Grinberg, Buffalo State University

If you are interested in more information, visit the SME’s website at www.sme.org/eet where you can find details on the entire body of knowledge, samples of test questions and samples of test result reports, a full history of the test development process, and most important, how to sign up to use the test.

[1] Core topics include basic electricity, basic circuit analysis methods, digital and analog electronics, AC circuits, microprocessors/microcontrollers, and instrumentation and measurement.

Ronald Land is an Associate Professor in the College of Engineering at Penn State University.

Comments may be submitted to todaysengineer@ieee.org.