An Assessment Methodology and Process for Standardized Disciplines

We present a generic academic program assessment methodology and process encompassing and unifying the outcome-driven approach of accreditation agencies, such as ABET/CAC, with the content-driven perspective of curriculum standards like the ACM CS Curriculum 2001. The proposed methodology classifies learning objectives into two groups: knowledge and skill. We then present measures for quantifying effective knowledge and effective skill outcomes at both topic level and focus area level for individual students, for each course, and for the academic program as a whole. An important component of the proposed methodology is process for the validation of the metrics used to evaluate program effectiveness with respect to stated outcomes and goals. The validation methodology we present is based on and derived from the IEEE Standard Methodology for Software Metrics Validation.