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Awareness of UAE University Chemical Engineering Students on ABET Accreditation Criterion/A-K Outcomes Linked to the Course Syllabi

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Awareness of UAE University Chemical Engineering Students on ABET Accreditation Criterion/A-K Outcomes Linked to the Course Syllabi Merit Research Journal of Education and Review (ISSN: 2350-2282) Vol. 4(7) pp. 101-112, July, 2016 Available online http://www.meritresearchjournals.org/er/index.htm Copyright © 2016 Merit Research Journals Original Research Article Awareness of UAE University Chemical Engineering Students on ABET Accreditation criterion/a-k outcomes linked to the course syllabi Mohammad Sayem Mozumder 1*, Abdulrahman Alraeesi 1 and Abdel-Hamid I. Mourad 2 Abstract 1Chemical and Petroleum Engineering It is important that engineering students are to be well-aware with the ABET Department, UAE University, UAE (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology ) accreditation process 2 including its a-k outcomes and their coverage in the course syllabi Mechanical Engineering Department, presented to them at the beginning of the courses. Therefore, the objective UAE University, UAE of this current study is to conduct a comprehensive survey among the *Corresponding Author’s E-mail: chemical engineering students of UAE University to examine their familiarity [email protected] with a-k outcomes linked to the course syllabi and their significance in ABET accreditation progress. Moreover, students’ knowledge about the benefit of obtaining their degrees from an ABET accredited program will also be analyzed. At the end of survey, the participants were asked to suggest the means by which students’ awareness on ABET accreditation process can be increased towards their graduation. The results of the survey reveal that UAE University chemical engineering students are somewhat less-aware of the ABET a-k outcomes, ABET accreditation and its benefit towards their career. Moreover, it is found that female students are little more aware with ABET than the male students and a significant increase in awareness is found among the students with high GPA and senior students. In addition, it clearly shows that attending workshops and ABET activities and chemical society activities on ABET accreditation would definitely elevate the ABET awareness among all level students. Keywords: ABET a-k outcomes, course syllabi, curriculum design, engineering accreditation, students’ awareness INTRODUCTION Engineers are increasingly being molded into an educational institution or program to examine if it professionals that not only handle the technical aspects meets the specified standards of educational quality. Its of a project but are also expected to engage in purpose is to ensure that the prospective students multinational teams at different points around the globe; graduating from an accredited institution or program have this requires them to use their problem solving skills and achieved at least the minimum competency required in scientific knowledge, as well as group work effectiveness their chosen fields of study (Prados et al. 2005). and social awareness (Sala et al., 2011; Dee et al. 2015). However, until the early 20th century, very few efforts And in order for a standardized curriculum and teaching were put into standardizing the engineering programs of engineering discipline worldwide, a reliable (Prados et al., 2005; Culver et al., 2005). In fact, it was in accreditation such as ABET (Accreditation Board for 1922 that the formal accreditation of an engineering Engineering and Technology) is of great importance. program was undertaken by American Institute Accreditation can be defined as a process for evaluating of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), which developed a 102 Merit Res. J. Edu. Rev. recommended chemical engineering curriculum structure. fosters broad educational skills to help achieve AIChE managed to establish a committee to evaluate department-stated outcomes and objectives. And, (Koehn chemical engineering programs and to publish a list of et al., 2009) presented the level of student understanding those institutions whose programs satisfied the of typical contemporary issues held by the engineering recommended criteria (Prados et al., 2005). students. Moreover, regional studies (Attiyah and Khalifa, ABET has certain criteria that are required for the 2009; Al ‐Alawi et al., 2009; Aldowaisan and Allahverdi, deemed accreditation by an institution and comprises a 2015; Aldowaisan and Allahverdi, 2016) have also been total of eight of them including: (1) Students, (2) Program conducted previously, including the recent survey Educational Objectives, (3) Student Outcomes, (4) conducted in the mechanical engineering department at Continues Improvement, (5) Curriculum, (6) Faculty, (7) UAE University in 2009 (Mourad and Selim, 2010). Facilities, and (8) Institutional Support. It is the The College of Engineering at the United Arab responsibility of the program(s) seeking accreditation to Emirates University (UAEU) was inaugurated in 1980 and demonstrate effectively that their particular programs comprises of five academic departments including meet these criteria (Anon, 2014). The accreditation Architectural Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil criteria used to evaluate all American engineering Engineering, Communication Engineering, Electrical programs have been discussed and revised extensively Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Petroleum since 1996 (Felder and Brent, 2003). Among the eight Engineering. All programs offered in the college were first different ABET criteria, the first one is the students accredited by ABET in 1998 and since then have been (criterion 1) which is a crucial element in the accreditation involved in ongoing ABET accreditation visits and process, moreover student outcomes, which is the third revision cycles (Mourad and Selim, 2010). Assessment of criterion, which is a set of eleven outcomes that are the student outcomes (3a-3k) have been thoroughly required to be practiced by all engineering graduates. discussed in the literature (Felder and Brent, 2003), According to (Shuman et al., 2005), gaining mastery of however implementing it to equip students with these the professional skills is an important factor in the future specific outcomes is lacking and hence needs greater success of engineers as global problem solvers. The attention. In view of the above, this paper aims to obtain outcomes, a-k, are divided into two categories in which a information quantitatively through a thorough set of five “hard” skills and the other set of “professional” questionnaire about the students’ awareness towards the skills that emphasize the qualities of good ABET accreditation. communication, teamwork, and understanding ethics. Some awareness skills on the other hand, such as lifelong learning and a knowledge of contemporary issues METHODOLOGY are also regarded as part of the complete professionalism criteria important for an engineer (Shuman et al., 2005; A comprehensive survey (shown in Table 1) has been Koehn et al., 2009). developed by the authors to assess the awareness of Nevertheless, limited work in literature has been ABET accreditation and criterion familiarity amongst the dedicated to bring about the implementation of these chemical engineering students in UAEU. The designed qualities into engineering students of different disciplines survey includes general information on ABET such as (Felder and Brent, 2003). It is well understood that general concept, specific ABET criterion, program equipping students with the specified educational and outcomes and the advantage of having an accredited professional outcomes must begin at the individual degree. As part of the department’s continuous effort in course level whereby the faculty members instill the improving the chemical engineering program offered at accreditation elements into the contents of the course. UAEU, the authors aim to equip its students with a better Usually much attention is given to assessing outcomes, knowledge of ABET. The questionnaire was distributed to and hence providing students with thorough curriculum all levels of chemical engineering students. The study awareness. It is crucial that students are aware of the population involved 105 students (30 males and 75 specific skill set they are expected to learn according to females). the ABET 3 (a-k) criteria. A coherent curriculum formulated by the faculty members and cooperative learning environment helps students to achieve more. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION There are some present works in the literature that have attempted to establish this awareness, for instance, The survey was designed to mainly evaluate the (Guilbeau and Pizziconi, 1998) described the importance general knowledge that students had regarding ABET, of practicing ethical and social responsibilities in their outlook on the different course outcomes (a-k) and professional settings by increasing awareness of the their feedback for further improvement into the codes of ethics and improving on communication skills awareness. The questions (1 to 5) were aimed to such as oral and written presentations. Also, (Manseur, measure the basic awareness of ABET, such as knowing 2003), addressed some updated ABET requirements that the role of the ABET accreditation and its merits. The Mozumder et al. 103 Table 1. Designed questionnaire on the awareness of ABET among UAE University chemical engineering students The Designed Questionnaire on the awareness about ABET =============================================================== Chemical Engineering Program United Arab Emirates University Students Awareness about ABET T Thank you for responding to our request. We want to assure you that your name and your individual a responses will be kept confidentia l
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