BSEET Outcome Assessment Pilot Study at PSU-WB

Senior BSEET students at Penn State Wilkes-Barre participated in the Beta Trial for a nationwide assessment of student learning. The aim of this work is to develop a nationally normed assessment exam for 2 and 4 year Electrical/Electronic ET programs. This will allow different schools to measure EET student knowledge and program effectiveness.

During the past year, a group of volunteers participated in the question writing process and acted collectively to write, review and approve over 300 questions focused on core topics that were deemed to be relevant to all electronic and electrical technology programs. The questions were further reviewed by a second group of volunteers consisting of two of the original question developers and five other subject matter experts from across the country. The purpose was to provide a final validation of the questions by reviewing accuracy, appropriateness, and importance of all questions, and by assigning priority to questions for use in developing the prototype test.

The exam is based upon a topical outline (called the Body of Knowledge) constructed by subject matter experts. For this initial prototype, questions have been restricted to core topics; that is those topics that are deemed to be necessary elements of any electrical/electronics ET program Those topics are: Basic Concepts of Electricity, Basic DC and AC Circuit Concepts, Basic Circuit Analysis Methods, Digital Electronics, Analog Electronics, Microcontrollers/Microprocessors, and Instrumentation and Measurement concepts and methods.

The study is piloted by several nationally recognized BSEET programs across the nation including Penn State Wilkes-Barre. The data collected in the pilot study will be used to establish the initial benchmark.

PSU-WB thanks the BSEET students who volunteered to participate in this very important pilot study.