Aligning learning outcomes and the engineering educational accreditation expectations

Undergraduate engineering programs are expected to produce engineers that can effectively respond to and influence the technological and social needs of the 21st century. Because of the importance of high quality engineering education, stakeholders at national and institutional levels engage in ongoing discussions surrounding the development of engineers that are equipped to meet such needs. Each stakeholder may specify a unique set of expectations responding to distinct motivations and priorities, and these expectations are not necessarily aligned. There is a need to assess the potential gaps in, and increase alignment of, stakeholder expectations and requirements for engineering education. This paper describes the authors' examination and assessment of alignment among multiple learning outcomes criteria affecting undergraduate engineering education at Purdue University. Archival and survey data are used to support direct and indirect mappings of student learning outcomes. Three sets of learning outcomes are of interest in this study: Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) student learning outcomes, Purdue College of Engineering attributes, and newly developed campus-wide learning outcomes. The results of this study identify a process for identifying learning outcomes alignment that can be generalized to other engineering programs or campuses.