Work in Progress: Effects of An Online Instrument for ABET Assessment: M.E.E.T.

Penn State\´s Engineering Technology programs are geographically distributed over twenty campuses. Some of the course offerings at these locations have very small enrollments, making it difficult to collect assessment data that is usable for program assessment. An online system was needed to virtually reduce the distance between faculty members teaching the same courses. Further, faculties are notoriously independent, making existing online assessment tools such as those used in K-12 settings ineffective. Beginning in 2002, the researchers developed an online suite of instruments that encourage faculty participation and buy-in by focusing on existing (embedded) assessments and explicitly respecting faculty expertise in the subject matter. The system, Measurement and Evaluation of Engineering Technology ("M.E.E.T.") has been described elsewhere. This paper will report on a study of faculty participation in and with the system. The research questions are, "Will an open-ended online assessment system encourage faculty participation and buy-in", and, "Will participation in an online assessment system that encourages faculty participation result in an improved understanding of performance-based outcomes?" Data related to these questions will be presented and discussed