Holistic Assessment of Students in Undergraduate Industrial Technology Programs

Abstract

The article presents information on the holistic assessment of students in undergraduate industrial technology programs. The nature and assessment of education is changing significantly, and the assessment trajectory is away from sole reliance on the traditional perspective of student grades. A clear understanding of the reasons for assessing technology students is also critical. These reasons may originate in basic requirements to uncover information regarding student's knowledge, skills, or attitudes. From the departmental perspective, improved student assessment allows faculty to do a better job evaluating and adjusting the technology curricula and program options to meet educational objectives. Changes to assessment processes are complicated by simultaneous changes to the program. In order to assess student outcomes in a more holistic way, appropriate instruments must be available. Efforts are underway to identify and evaluate such instruments for use in the undergraduate industrial technology curricula. A number of other key targets have been included as initial assessment areas. With these assessments, faculty hope to benchmark both the initial and exit competence of students, document students' progression over the course of their academic experiences, document differences among groups and types of students, and investigate implications arising from these differences for program design and development.