Evaluation of an academic program: The case of computing accreditation commission framework in higher education

Abstract

This study aims to present the ABET-CAC accreditation framework and discusses how to manage program's constituencies of an academic program in higher education. It describes the program's associated entities and the methods of creating required evidence for the program accreditation in computer science education. It follows a mixed method to evaluate and measure the program performance. It discusses the program's performance measurement methods and its analysis. It emphasizes the program's entities such as students learning outcomes, course assessment and performance evaluation. It shows a scientific approach that measures the program's performance. It suggests the evidence should be considered as important indicators for both when planning the quality improvement for the program delivery and program's benchmarking. For any program accreditation in computing education, the framework needs to be followed at least for two years to ease the program's review process. This will help prepare competently for the accreditation, ahead of program's review visit by the commission.