| Technical fields are changing so rapidly that even the core of an engineering education must be constantly reevaluated. Graduates of today give more dedication and, almost certainly, more importance to continued learning than to mastery of specific technical concepts. Continued learning shapes a high-quality education, which is what an engineering college must offer its students. The question is how to guarantee the quality of education. In addition, the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology is asking that universities commit to continuous and comprehensive education, assuming quality of the educational process.;The research is focused on developing a generic assessment model for a college of engineering as an annual cycle that consists of a systematic assessment of every course in the program, followed by an assessment of the program and of the college as a whole using Six Sigma methodology. This unique approach to assessment in education will provide a college of engineering with valuable information regarding many important curriculum decisions in every accreditation cycle. The Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (IME) Program in the College of Engineering at the University of Cincinnati will be used as a case example for a preliminary test of the generic model. |
