Estell, Yoder present paper at ASEE conference

Dr. John K. Estell, professor of computer engineering and computer science, and Dr. John-David Yoder, chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department, along with Dr. Briana Morrison of Southern Polytechnic State University and Dr. Fong Mak of Gannon University, are co-authors of a paper presented at the 2012 American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference, held 10-13 June in San Antonio, Texas.

Titled “Improving upon Best Practices:  FCAR 2.0,” the paper focused on an in-depth discussion of the use of the Faculty Course Assessment Report (FCAR) at three different institutions. The FCAR serves as the basis for a streamlined assessment methodology that allows instructors to write assessment reports in a concise, standardized format conducive for use in both course and program outcomes assessment. For the past several years, presentations featuring the FCAR assessment methodology have been given at the annual ABET Symposium.  As other institutions and departments have adopted the methodology, some have made modifications appropriate to their needs. In turn, several of these adopters have reported at a variety of venues regarding how their version of the FCAR has played a highly useful role in streamlining their continuous quality improvement processes, yielding both qualitative and quantitative information, facilitating greater consistency in the reporting and processing of that information, and keeping faculty actively engaged in an on-going assessment process.  Estell, Yoder and their co-authors used these publications to identify the critical core of the FCAR common to all programs that have implemented this document and methodology.