Assessment of CIS Undergraduate Programs

Background: This page provides information about the program objectives, outcomes, of and assessment activities related to the BS-CIS and BA-CIS programs. Many of these activities are based directly on the assessment activities of the BS-CSE program. All three programs are located in the CSE Department. The assessment of each program as well as the evaluation of the assessment results and identifying possible improvements in the programs, is the responsibility of the department's Undergraduate Studies Committee. The minutes of the committee meetings are available online.

Terminology: Following the practice in engineering programs, we use the term "program objectives" to mean the expected accomplishments of the program graduates a few years after their graduation. And the term "student outcomes" to mean the knowledge, abilities and skills that students in the program will have near the time of their graduation.

BS-CIS

Program Objectives

The program objectives of the BS-CIS program are:

I. Graduates of the program will be employed in the computing profession, and will be engaged in learning, understanding, and applying new ideas and technologies as the field evolves.
II. Graduates with an interest in, and aptitude for, advanced studies in computing will have completed, or be actively pursuing, graduate studies in computing.
III. Graduates will be informed and involved members of their communities, and responsible computing professionals.

Expected Student Outcomes

Students in the BS-CIS program will attain:

a. an ability to apply knowledge of computing, mathematics including discrete mathematics as well as probability and statistics;
b. an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data;
c. an ability to design, implement, and evaluate a software system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as memory, runtime efficiency, as well as appropriate constraints related to economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, and sustainability considerations;
d. an ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams;
e. an ability to identify, formulate, and solve computing problems;
f. an understanding of professional, ethical, legal, security and social issues and responsibilities;
g. an ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences;
h. an ability to analyze the local and global impact of computing on individuals, organizations, and society;
i. a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning and continuing professional development;
j. a knowledge of contemporary issues;
k. an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern tools necessary for practice as a computing professional;
l. an ability to analyze a problem, and identify and define the computing requirements appropriate to its solution;
m. an ability to apply mathematical foundations, algorithmic principles, and computer science theory in the modeling and design of computer-based systems in a way that demonstrates comprehension of the trade-offs involved in design choices;
n. an ability to apply design and development principles in the construction of software systems of varying complexity.

Assessment Processes

POCAT: This is a mulitple-choice test that is intended to assess how effectively students have mastered important ideas from various courses, both required and elective, in their curriculum. While students are required to take the test, typically in the middle of their final semester in the program, their performance in the test is not retained as part of their academic record. Indeed, the tests are anonymous --with each student having a unique code that only that particular student knows-- neither faculty nor advisors will know how well a specific student performed but only how the group of students taking the particular test, as a whole, did on each question. The intent is to assess the program, rather than individual students, and use the results to identify possible improvements in the program.
Exit Survey: At the same time that students take the POCAT, they also complete an (anonymous) exit survey. The survey asks for the students' opinions on the importance of each of the program outcomes on a scale of "Not important", "Somewhat important", "Important", "Very important", through "Extremely important"; and, for each outcome, the extent to which the student agrees with the statement, "The program prepared me to achieve this outcome", on a scale of, "Strongly disagree", "Disagree", "Neutral", "Agree", "Strongly agree". In reporting the results, we average the student responses by attaching the weights 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% for the various possible choices for both importance as well as preparation. The exit survey also asks the student to respond to the following two questions:
a) What single aspect of the BS-CIS program did you find most helpful? Explain briefly.
b) What single change in the BS-CIS program would you most like to see? Explain briefly.
Annual Student Forum: Each year, typically in the middle of the Spring semester, we hold an annual student forum for undergraduates from all three of our programs. In addition to the students, faculty who are most involved with teaching both the required and elective courses in the undergraduate curriculum as well as advisors from the CSE Advising Office attend the forum. The intent of the forum is to seek student input on all aspects of our programs and ideas. It is also a venue for students to ask questions about the program that they may be unclear about such as, how faculty advisors are assigned, how to choose elective courses, when particular elective courses are likely to be offered, etc.
Annual meeting with Industrial Advisory Board: The department has an engaged Industrial Advisory Board many of whose members are alumni of the graduate and/or undergraduate programs of the dept. The board meets once a year in late Spring. While much of their discussion focuses on the research and graudate programs in the dept., they also hear about the undergraduate programs and curricula and provide feedback.

Assessment Results

Exit Survey: The results of the survey are available online.
POCAT: The results of the POCAT are available online. Note that the BS-CIS majors started taking the POCAT only recently. However, the results from earlier tests, although taken by BS-CSE majors, are applicable to the BS-CIS program given that the computer science portion of the two programs is essentially the same.
Annual Student Forum: Reports from forums of the last several years are available online
Input from Industrial Adv. board: The ideas raised at the meetings with the IAB are discussed at Undergrad Studies Committee meetings and reported in the minutes and not reported separately.

BA-CIS

Program Objectives

The program objectives of the BA-CIS program are:

I. Graduates of the program will be employed in the computing-related professions, and will be engaged in learning, understanding, and applying new ideas and technologies as computing evolves and new applications emerge.
II. Graduates with an interest in, and aptitude for, advanced studies in computing will have completed, or be actively pursuing, graduate studies in computing or related fields.
III. Graduates will be informed and involved members of their communities, and responsible professionals.

Expected Student Outcomes

Students in the BA-CIS program will attain:

a. an ability to apply knowledge of computing and mathematics including discrete mathematics;
b. an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data;
c. an ability to design, implement, and evaluate a software system or component to solve problems either in computing or in related domains;
d. an ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams;
e. an understanding of professional, ethical, legal, and social issues and responsibilities;
f. an ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences;
g. an ability to analyze the local and global impact of computing on individuals, organizations, and society;
h. a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning and continuing professional development;
i. a knowledge of contemporary issues;
j. an ability to explore the potential application of computing techniques to solve problems in other domains.

Assessment Processes

Exit Survey: Students who are near graduation are asked to complete an (anonymous) exit survey. The survey asks for the students' opinions on the importance of each of the program outcomes on a scale of "Not important", "Somewhat important", "Important", "Very important", through "Extremely important"; and, for each outcome, the extent to which the student agrees with the statement, "The program prepared me to achieve this outcome", on a scale of, "Strongly disagree", "Disagree", "Neutral", "Agree", "Strongly agree". In reporting the results, we average the student responses by attaching the weights 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% for the various possible choices for both importance as well as preparation. The exit survey also asks the student to respond to the following two questions:
a) What single aspect of the BA-CIS program did you find most helpful? Explain briefly.
b) What single change in the BA-CIS program would you most like to see? Explain briefly.
Annual Student Forum: Each year, typically in the middle of the Spring semester, we hold an annual student forum for undergraduates from all three of our programs. In addition to the students, faculty who are most involved with teaching both the required and elective courses in the undergraduate curriculum as well as advisors from the CSE Advising Office attend the forum. The intent of the forum is to seek student input on all aspects of our programs and ideas. It is also a venue for students to ask questions about the program that they may be unclear about such as, how faculty advisors are assigned, how to choose elective courses, when particular elective courses are likely to be offered, etc.
Annual meeting with Industrial Advisory Board: The department has an engaged Industrial Advisory Board many of whose members are alumni of the graduate and/or undergraduate programs of the dept. The board meets once a year in late Spring. While much of their discussion focuses on the research and graudate programs in the dept., they also hear about the undergraduate programs and curricula and provide feedback.

Assessment Results

Exit Survey: The results of the survey are available online.
Annual Student Forum: Reports from forums of the last several years are available online
Input from Industrial Adv. board: The ideas raised at the meetings with the IAB are discussed at Undergrad Studies Committee meetings and reported in the minutes and not reported separately.