Report of Outcomes Assessment Committee
College of Engineering
Engineering Coop or Intern Supervisor Assessment Survey
2000-2001 and 2001-2002
by
Robert Gustafson
Ed McCaul
December 2002
During the academic years 00-01 and 01-02 the Outcomes Assessment Committee with collaboration of the Career Services Office, arranged to distribute surveys to employers of co-op and intern students on placement during Summer (01 - 391 students, 02 – 300 students). Surveys were given to the supervisor by the student at the beginning of their employment period. The survey used was the same as the General Outcomes segment of the alumni and senior exit surveys with the addition of two open-ended questions. Supervisors, via a cover letter, were instructed that the purpose of the survey was for programmatic improvement and not to evaluate individual students. A copy of the survey cover letter and instrument is appended. A total of 97 surveys from the Summer 01 and 28 from the Summer 02 were returned.
The first seven columns of Table A is a summary of the results of the Educational Outcomes questions used in this survey. For comparison, the last two columns are the two-year average data for the same questions from 15th Year alumni/supervisors and the mean of surveys (Senior, 2nd, 6th and 15th year alumni) in the same two years. (Separate reports of this data is available from the Outcomes Assessment Committee). In the difference column, a positive number means that the students’ ability was greater than the importance while a negative number means that the importance was greater than the students’ ability.
Table A. Educational Outcomes with Comparison to Other Surveys
|
|
2000-2001 Co-op/Intern Survey Data (n =97) |
2001-2002 Co-op/Intern Survey Data (n = 28) |
Diff. from Other Alumni Surveys |
|||||
|
|
Importance |
Ability |
Diff. |
Importance |
Ability |
Diff. |
15th Yr |
All Alumni |
|
An understanding of and ability to apply knowledge of: |
||||||||
|
Math |
3.03 |
3.70 |
0.67 |
2.79 |
3.67 |
0.88 |
0.77 |
0.45 |
|
Chemistry |
2.25 |
3.26 |
1.01 |
2.13 |
3.00 |
0.87 |
0.96 |
0.74 |
|
Physics |
2.95 |
3.32 |
0.37 |
2.96 |
3.50 |
0.54 |
0.26 |
0.15 |
|
Eng Sciences |
3.78 |
3.49 |
-0.29 |
3.36 |
3.61 |
0.25 |
-0.01 |
-0.06 |
|
Comp Sciences |
3.46 |
3.64 |
0.18 |
3.46 |
3.58 |
0.12 |
-0.63 |
-0.57 |
|
Humanities |
2.37 |
3.20 |
0.83 |
2.27 |
3.05 |
0.78 |
0.60 |
0.72 |
|
Business/finance |
2.72 |
2.77 |
0.05 |
2.44 |
2.85 |
0.41 |
-0.76 |
-0.78 |
|
An understanding of and ability to: |
||||||||
|
Design & conduct experiments |
3.56 |
3.29 |
-0.27 |
3.48 |
3.39 |
-0.09 |
-0.23 |
-0.27 |
|
Analyze & interpret data from experiments |
3.84 |
3.42 |
-0.42 |
3.84 |
3.54 |
-0.30 |
-0.49 |
-.049 |
|
Design a system, component, or process |
3.74 |
3.25 |
-0.49 |
3.84 |
3.55 |
-0.29 |
-0.76 |
-0.72 |
|
Function on multi-disciplinary team |
4.11 |
3.42 |
-0.69 |
3.65 |
3.56 |
-0.09 |
-0.99 |
-0.82 |
|
Identify, formulate, & solve eng prob |
4.27 |
3.33 |
-0.94 |
3.92 |
3.44 |
-0.48 |
-0.50 |
-0.58 |
|
Recognize prof & ethical responsibility |
4.23 |
3.47 |
-0.76 |
3.89 |
3.42 |
-0.47 |
-0.91 |
-0.66 |
|
Communicate orally |
4.17 |
3.30 |
-0.87 |
3.96 |
3.50 |
-0.46 |
-1.31 |
-1.01 |
|
Communicate in writing |
4.05 |
3.29 |
-0.76 |
3.89 |
3.50 |
-0.39 |
-1.19 |
-0.83 |
|
Stay current technically & professionally |
3.82 |
3.34 |
-0.48 |
3.67 |
3.20 |
-0.47 |
-0.55 |
-0.64 |
|
Use techniques, skills, & tools in eng practice |
4.07 |
3.50 |
-0.57 |
3.88 |
3.58 |
-0.30 |
-.044 |
-0.52 |
|
An understanding of and ability to: |
||||||||
|
Function diverse environments |
3.91 |
3.52 |
-0.39 |
4.08 |
4.00 |
-0.08 |
-.046 |
-0.10 |
|
Use comp tech in communications |
4.05 |
3.76 |
-0.29 |
3.89 |
3.88 |
-0.01 |
-0.59 |
-0.50 |
|
Use comp tech in eng analysis/design |
4.00 |
3.59 |
-0.41 |
4.19 |
3.71 |
-0.48 |
-0.76 |
-0.73 |
|
Synthesize & integrate knowledge |
3.66 |
3.20 |
-0.46 |
3.32 |
3.27 |
-0.05 |
-0.74 |
-0.63 |
|
Use of experimental apparatus |
2.83 |
3.09 |
0.26 |
3.24 |
3.26 |
0.02 |
-0.04 |
-0.24 |
|
An understanding of: |
||||||||
|
Environmental aspects of eng practice |
3.11 |
2.99 |
-0.12 |
3.04 |
3.05 |
0.01 |
-0.28 |
-0.41 |
|
The practice of eng on a global scale |
2.76 |
2.95 |
0.19 |
2.52 |
2.94 |
0.42 |
-0.18 |
-0.38 |
|
Relation of eng to soc & cultural issues |
2.77 |
2.92 |
0.15 |
2.56 |
3.35 |
0.79 |
-0.12 |
-0.25 |
Comparison of the two years shows more positive numbers overall in the second year. In summary, difference values between the two years shows the second year average response 0.23 more positive than the first year. Cause of this shift is not clear at this time.
In order to better focus efforts, the Outcomes Assessment Committee has generally focused on questions have a difference value greater than 0.5 (+ or -). Those questions with greater than 0.5 positive difference in either year were:
|
|
2000-2001 |
2001-2002 |
|
An understanding and ability to apply: |
|
|
|
- knowledge of mathematics |
0.67 |
0.88 |
|
- knowledge of chemistry |
1.00 |
0.87 |
|
- knowledge of physics |
0.37 |
0.54 |
|
- knowledge of humanities/social sciences |
0.84 |
0.78 |
Those questions with greater than 0.5 negative difference were:
|
|
00-01 |
01-02 |
|
An understanding and ability to apply: |
|
|
|
- function on multi-disciplinary teams |
-0.69 |
-0.09 |
|
- identify, formulate, & solve eng prbl |
-0.94 |
-0.48 |
|
- recognize prof & ethical responsibility |
-0.76 |
-0.47 |
|
- communicate orally |
-0.87 |
-0.46 |
|
- communicate in writing |
-0.76 |
-0.39 |
|
- use techniques, skills, & tools in eng |
-0.57 |
-0.30 |
It is important to recall that the 15th year alumni were asked to respond as to their perceptions of recent graduates whom they supervise, while other groups responded regarding a self-evaluation. In general, correspondence between the data sets is quite good. Notable exceptions might be 1) computer sciences and 2) business and finance. In both these cases differences for alumni were negative (>-0.5) while coop/intern supervisors tended to be somewhat positive. Part of the reason for these differences could be due to what is expected of a co-op or intern student versus a newly hired engineer.
RESPONSE TO OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS
Fifty-one (57) of the ninety-seven (97) surveys had written comments in 00-10 and nineteen (19) of twenty-eight (28) in 01-02. There were many positive comments. For example, twenty-eight (28) of the seventy (70) responses to Question 1 contained positive comments about our students. Shown below is a summary of both positive responses and suggestions for improvement.
Question 1: Do you have comments you would like to make regarding the preparation of our students as exhibited during their Coop or Internship experience with you?
|
Positive Comments: |
00-01 |
01-02 |
|
- academically well prepared |
7 |
6 |
|
- eager to work and learn |
7 |
6 |
|
- good computer skills |
2 |
- |
|
Suggestions: |
|
|
|
- need better oral and written communication skills |
9 |
1 |
|
- need better leadership skills |
5 |
- |
|
- need more teamwork |
4 |
- |
|
- application of new tool is more critical than the formula |
3 |
- |
|
- need to understand social skills (etiquette) for business |
4 |
- |
|
- need more experience with experiments/labs |
3 |
- |
|
- need to have knowledge of Autocad/drawing |
2 |
- |
|
- need improved computer skills |
- |
2 |
|
- need to understand lean manufacturing |
- |
1 |
|
- need cost estimating |
- |
1 |
|
- emphasize real world situations |
- |
1 |
Question 2: Do you have suggestions you could make that would be helpful in the improvement of the education of our students?
|
Positive Comments: |
00-01 |
01-02 |
|
- keep current curriculum |
2 |
- |
|
- encourage co-op participation |
2 |
1 |
|
Suggestions: |
|
|
|
- need to be able to apply knowledge, critical thinking |
10 |
3 |
|
- need better oral and written communication skills |
10 |
1 |
|
- need to have knowledge of Autocad |
6 |
1 |
|
- need more teamwork |
5 |
- |
|
- need to understand social skills (etiquette) for business |
3 |
- |
|
- need better leadership skills |
1 |
- |
|
- need more statistics, design of experiments |
- |
3 |
|
- use professional engineers as speakers |
- |
1 |
|
- more computer training |
- |
1 |
|
- more on safety aspects of engineering |
- |
1 |
|
- business courses for engineers |
- |
1 |
|
- work in ethics and ethics courses |
- |
1 |
|
- have personal finance classes or seminars |
- |
1 |
A full set of the data and comments, sorted by program, has been distributed to all programs. Programs are encouraged to consider the data presented in this study as one input to further development o