College of Engineering
2000-2001 Engineering Coop or Intern Supervisor Assessment Survey
by
Robert Gustafson
Ed McCaul
October 2001
BACKGROUND
During the academic year 2000-2001 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 of 2001 (391 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 were returned.
SURVEY RESULTS
The first four 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 data for the same questions from 15 th Year alumni/supervisors and the mean of Senior, 2 nd , 6 th and 15 th year alumni surveyed earlier in the same year. (A separate report 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 Survey Data |
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|
Co-op/Intern Data |
Difference from Other Alumni Surveys |
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|
Importance |
Ability on the job |
Difference |
15 th Yr |
All Alumni |
|
An understanding of and ability to apply knowledge of: |
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Math |
3.03 |
3.70 |
0.67 |
0.61 |
0.45 |
|
Chemistry |
2.25 |
3.26 |
1.00 |
0.86 |
0.73 |
|
Physics |
2.95 |
3.32 |
0.37 |
0.10 |
0.14 |
|
Eng Sciences |
3.78 |
3.49 |
-0.30 |
0.10 |
0.06 |
|
Comp Sciences |
3.46 |
3.64 |
0.18 |
-0.51 |
-0.53 |
|
Humanities |
2.37 |
3.20 |
0.84 |
0.79 |
0.79 |
|
Business/finance |
2.72 |
2.77 |
0.06 |
-0.68 |
-0.66 |
|
An understanding of and ability to: |
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Design & conduct experiments |
3.56 |
3.29 |
-0.27 |
-0.14 |
0.16 |
|
Analyze & interpret data from experiments |
3.84 |
3.42 |
-0.43 |
-0.35 |
-0.45 |
|
Design a system, component, or process |
3.74 |
3.25 |
-0.49 |
-0.63 |
-0.58 |
|
Function on multi-disciplinary team |
4.11 |
3.42 |
-0.68 |
-0.77 |
-0.71 |
|
Identify, formulate, & solve eng prob |
4.27 |
3.33 |
-0.94 |
-0.44 |
-0.51 |
|
Recognize prof & ethical responsibility |
4.23 |
3.47 |
-0.76 |
-0.74 |
-0.42 |
|
Communicate orally
|
4.17 |
3.30 |
-0.87 |
-1.17 |
-0.89 |
|
Communicate in writing |
4.05 |
3.29 |
-0.77 |
-1.36 |
-0.84 |
|
Stay current technically & professionally |
3.82 |
3.34 |
-0.48 |
-0.47 |
-0.42 |
|
Use techniques, skills, & tools in eng practice |
4.07 |
3.50 |
-0.57 |
-0.17 |
-0.41 |
|
An understanding of and ability to: |
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Function diverse environments |
3.91 |
3.52 |
-0.40 |
-0.19 |
0.05 |
|
Use comp tech in communications |
4.05 |
3.76 |
-0.30 |
-0.30 |
-0.39 |
|
Use comp tech in eng analysis/design |
4.00 |
3.59 |
-0.41 |
-0.70 |
-0.65 |
|
Synthesize & integrate knowledge |
3.66 |
3.20 |
-0.46 |
-0.56 |
-0.47 |
|
Use of experimental apparatus |
2.83 |
3.09 |
0.25 |
0.43 |
0.01 |
|
An understanding of: |
||||||
Environmental aspects of eng practice |
3.11 |
2.99 |
-0.13 |
0.03 |
-0.19 |
|
The practice of eng on a global scale |
2.76 |
2.95 |
0.19 |
0.09 |
-0.19 |
|
Relation of eng to soc & cultural issues |
2.77 |
2.92 |
0.15 |
0.30 |
-0.05 |
|
For the Co-op/Intern Survey there were three questions for which the difference between our students' ability and the importance placed on the topic was greater than positive 0.5. Those three questions were: An understanding of and ability to apply
• knowledge of chemistry + 1.00
• knowledge of humanities/social sciences + 0.84
• knowledge of mathematics (calculus and above) + 0.67
There were six questions where the difference was larger than -0.5, implying a gap between Preparation and Importance. Those questions were: An understanding of and ability to
- identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems - 0.94
- communicate orally: informal and prepared talks - 0.87
- communicate in writing: letters, technical reports etc. - 0.77
- recognize professional and ethical responsibility - 0.76
- function on multi-disciplinary or cross-functional teams - 0.68
- use techniques, skills, and tools in engineering practice - 0.57
CO-OP/INTERN SURVEY COMPARED TO ALL ALUMNI AND 15 th Year/SUPERVISOR'S SURVEYS
It is important to recall that the 15 th year alumni were asked to respond as to their perceptions of recent graduates whom they supervise, while other groups responded regarding a self-evaluation.
The three positive differences (Preparation score above Importance) are very consistent with the results of all surveys of the same year. The three areas being understanding of and ability to apply knowledge of chemistry, humanities and mathematics.
The coop/intern survey had six questions with high negative differentials (greater than -0.5), however results were not totally consistent across all three groups for negative differentials. The following are observations about the differences.
- The gap for "skills in problem solving" for the coop/intern (-0.94) is larger than that for either all alumni (-0.51) or 15 th yr alumni/supervisors (-0.44).
- In the area of "recognize professional and ethical responsibility", the co-op/intern gap (-0.76) was consistent with 15 th year alumni (-0.74) but more negative than for all alumni (-0.42).
- "Use of modern engineering tools" was slightly more negative for co-op/intern
(-0.57) than for all alumni (-0.41) and significantly lower that for 15 th year alumni (-0.17).
The area of understanding of business/finance was notable in that the gap for the co-op/intern survey was positive (0.06) while the other two surveys showed significant negative gaps (all alumni (-0.66), and for15th year alumni (-0.68)).
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 . There were many positive comments. For example, 23 of the 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
- Academically well prepared (7)
- Eager to learn (7)
- Good computer skills (2)
Suggestions
- Need better oral and written communication skills (9)
- Need better leadership skills (5)
- Need more teamwork (4)
- Application of a new tool is more critical than knowing the formula (3)
- Need to understand social skills (etiquette) for business environment (4)
- Need more experience with experiments/labs (3)
- Need to have a knowledge of Autocad/drawing (2)
Question 2: Do you have suggestions you could make that would be helpful in the improvement of the education of our students?
Positive Comments
- Keep current curriculum (2)
- Encourage co-op participation (2)
Suggestions
- Need to be able to apply of knowledge (10)
- Need better oral and written communication skills (10)
- Need to have a knowledge of Autocad (6)
- Need more team work (5)
- Need to understand social skills (etiquette) for business environment (3)
- Need better leadership skills (1)
A full set of the data and comments, sorted by program, has been distributed to all programs.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
- Current activities of the College are addressing some of these issues. Examples would be:
- The recently revised engineering core addresses the amount of chemistry taken by various program and Chemistry 125 content has been adjusted to meet engineer's needs.
- The revised core also allows programs to adjust the math courses taken to be appropriate to the discipline, consistent with ABET program requirements.
- The College of Engineering is participating in a University-wide review of the general education requirements of the engineering programs.
- The freshman engineering programs have put increased focus on the three areas of communications, teamwork and ethics.
The Outcomes Assessment Committee will need to decide if this survey is of such value that it should be continued. Both the 15 th year alumni/supervisor survey and the co-op/intern survey focus on evaluation of the student by employers. Although the focus of the co-op/intern survey is on students who have not yet completed their degree while the 15 th year alumni survey is on recent graduates, there is a high degree of correlation between the two. If gaps (Ability - Importance) for the two surveys are rank order from largest negative to largest positive, only five of the twenty-five parameters have a rank order of more that three different between the two surveys. They were:
- Understanding and ability to apply knowledge of computer science, where co-op/intern (19/25, Gap = 0.18) was less negative that 15 th year (9/25, Gap = -0.51)
- Understanding and ability to identify, formulate and solve engineering problems, where co-op/intern (1/25, Gap = -0.94) was more negative that 15 th year (11/25, Gap = -0.44)
- Understanding and ability to use techniques, skills, and tools in engineering practice , where co-op/intern (6/25, Gap = -0.57) was more negative than 15 th year (15/25, Gap = -0.17)
- Understanding and ability to apply knowledge of engineering sciences, where co-op/intern (13/25, Gap = -0.30) was more negative than 15 th year (19/25, Gap = 0.10)
- Understanding of and ability to use computer technology in engineering analysis and design, where co-op/intern (11/25, Gap = -0.41) was more less negative than 15 th year (5/25, Gap = -0.70)
Programs are encouraged to consider the data presented in this study as one input to further development of their own quality improvement strategies. Spreadsheets of the data collected, by program, and a listing of all responses have been distributed to Outcomes Assessment Committee members and will be available through the College office.
Appendix 1 - Survey Instrument
12 December 2003
Dear Engineering Coop/Intern Supervisor:
First let me thank you for investing your time and energy to work with OSU engineering students and your commitment in this way to our programs. I am sure you can appreciate that the quality of preparation of our students is very important to us. As part of our efforts to continuously improve, we are seeking input from employers of our students during their cooperative education and internship experiences. As a person who has worked directly with our students, we feel you are in a unique position to give us feedback on their preparation in comparison to your expectations. Our goal is to use your input to improve the preparation we provide for our students.
We would greatly appreciate your taking some time to complete and return the attached survey. If you have supervised more than one of our students in the recent past, you may receive more than one of these requests; however we are only asking you to complete one form. We are not using this to evaluate individual students. Rather, our goal is gaining information that may help us in programmatic improvement. If you have questions about this survey or current programs of the College of Engineering , I hope you will feel free to contact us with those questions. For a quick update on the College you might want to visit our website at http : //www.eng.ohio-state.edu/ Thank you for your assistance in this very important task.
Sincerely
Robert J. Gustafson
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Student Services
Enclosures
The Ohio State University
College of Engineering
122 Hitchcock Hall
2070 Neil Avenue
Columbus , OH 43210-1278
Engineering Coop or Intern Supervisor Assessment Survey
The questions in this survey are related to the educational outcomes of our B.S. engineering programs. The survey asks you to rate the "Importance of "skills, abilities & attributes" to your organization and then to rate Ohio State students' "ability on the job". This comparison will allow us to determine how we are measuring up against your expectations. Since we would like to be able to distinguish between our various engineering programs at OSU, we are asking you to indicate the program(s) (Civil, Mechanical, etc.) for students you supervise if you know this information. If you are supervising students from multiple programs and you feel you would like to give different inputs by program, please feel free to copy the survey. Each response is important to us.
A page with open-ended questions is also supplied for your convenience in giving us more specific observations about the abilities (positive or negative) of our students. If you have any questions or suggestions, please add those and indicate how we can respond to you if this is desired.
Please return the survey in the enclosed addressed envelope by October 1. Please note that no postage is required.
The names of our current undergraduate degree producing programs are shown below. Please mark indicate the program in which the student(s) working for you is enrolled.
Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering |
Food, Agricultural & Biological Engineering |
Aviation |
Geomatics Engineering |
Ceramic Engineering |
Industrial & Systems Engineering |
Chemical Engineering |
Material Science and Engineering |
Civil Engineering |
Mechanical Engineering |
Computer Science and Engineering |
Metallurgical Engineering |
Electrical and Computer Engineering |
Welding Engineering |
Engineering Physics |
|
I. Education Outcomes - General
Please rate the following skills, abilities, and attributes generally expected of engineering students. First rate how important each has been relative to your needs as an employer. Second rate each item relative to Ability of the OSU students on the job. Please take into consideration their current level in the program (So, Jr, Sr). If a question is not applicable, please leave it blank.
Skills, Abilities, and Attributes Importance Students Ability on the job
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
A. An understanding of and ability to apply knowledge of:
1. mathematics (calculus and above) 
2. chemistry 
3. physics 
4. engineering sciences 
5. computer science 
6. humanities/social sciences 
7. business/finance 
B. An understanding of and ability to:
1. design and conduct experiments 
2. analyze and interpret data from experiments 
3. design a system, component, or process to meet a desired need 
4. function on multi-disciplinary or cross-functional teams 
5. identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems 
6. recognize professional and ethical responsibility 
7. communicate orally: informal and prepared talks 
8. communicate in writing: letters, technical reports, etc. 
9. stay current technically and professionally 
10. use techniques, skills, and tools in engineering practice 
C. An understanding of and ability to:
1. function in culturally and ethnically diverse environments 
2. use computing technology in communications 
3. use computing technology in engineering analysis/design 
4. synthesize and integrate knowledge across disciplines 
5. use a wide range of experimental apparatus 
D. An understanding of:
1. environmental aspects of engineering practice 
2. the practice of engineering on a global scale 
3. the relation of engineering to societal and cultural issues 
Please comment on the following:
A. 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?
B. Do you have suggestions you could make that would be helpful in the improvement of the education of our students?
Please return the survey in the envelope provided by the 1st of October.