Progress in Graduate Attribute Assessment in Mechanical Engineering at McMaster University M.F. Lightstone February 2012

Organizational Structure Faculty of Engineering Grad. Attributes Comm. – Formed in early 2010 to develop strategy/guidelines for graduate attributes assessment – Fall 2010: set of ‘indicators’ for each attribute were developed Mech Eng Departmental Grad Attributes Comm. – Formed in early 2011 (4 members) – Mandate: assist faculty with curriculum mapping, measurement of indicators, continuous improvement, rubric development and to document results.

Mechanical Engineering Progress Early 2011: – Curriculum mapping of indicators was performed based on 2010/11 calendar – Revealed areas for continuous improvement: Technical communications Professionalism Ethics Teamwork Conflict resolution sustainability

Mechanical Engineering Progress: Continuous Improvement (2011/12) Major changes made to curriculum (2011/12): – New course MECH ENG 2A03 (“Design Communication”): has module on technical communication. Also added AUs for CEAB input based assessment. – ENGINEER4A03 (“Engineering & Social Responsibility”): includes professionalism and ethics. Now a required course.

Mechanical Engineering Progress Continuous Improvement (2011/12) Capstone design course (MECH ENG 4M06): Incorporated additional lectures on: – Professionalism and ethics (Ross Judd) – Library research (Andrew Colgoni, McMaster Library) – Teamwork/conflict resolution/emotional intelligence (Sonia Hawrylyshyn, Manager, Employee Career Services, Human Resources McMaster) – Success in the Workplace (Dr. John Mackinnon, Vice- President Engineering, AMEC-NSS) – Students were tested on lecture content.

Progress in Measurement MECH ENG 4M06 – Capstone design: – Rubrics will be used for assessment of presentations (2 per year) and final report (April 2012). – Rubrics were carefully written to incorporate ‘indicators’ associated with: engineering design communication sustainability economics and project management – Have developed web-based survey to assess indicators associated with “individual and team work”

Measurement (2011/12) (con’t) Knowledge base for engineering: (Indicator: “competence in engineering fundamentals”) Measure in core courses, span years 2-4: MECH ENG 4V03 “Thermo-fluids Sys. Des”(fall – 2011) MECH ENG 3F04 “Numerical Methods” (fall – 2011) MECH ENG 2W04 “Thermodynamics”(winter – 2012) MECH ENG 4R03 “Control Systems” (winter – 2012) Method for measurement: performance on specific questions on tests/exams

Current Status Measurement of “Competence in Engineering Fundamentals” was performed for MECH ENG 4V03 and 3F04. Instructors are writing short reports up. Rubrics for MECH ENG 4M06 for reports and presentations are complete. Documents drafted: – Action plan for graduate attributes assessment for Mechanical Engineering (2011/12) – A methodology for measuring “competence in engineering fundamentals in Mechanical Engineering”

Next Steps Perform analysis of results for 2011/12 measurements and document. Incorporate ‘lessons learned’ on measurement methodology into revised document for instructors Assess continuous improvement that is required (based on measurement outcome) Incorporate continuous improvement into 2012/13 curriculum 2012/13: measure 6 attributes (action plan for this to be created by departmental team in May 2012).