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EAB’s University-level Activities

EAB Meeting

Moshe Kam and C. W. Hickman

San Juan, PR – 14 February 2009

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A Quick Historical Overview EAB divides its activities into…

Pre-university, University-level, Post-university (continued education), and Public Education

For approximately 15 years (1990-2004) the university-level activities were limited to… Accreditation in the US (through ABET) Education about accreditation outside the US

With an “ABET flavor”

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Recent trends… EAB has… Changed the direction of its involvement with ABET (US)

Increased its level of activity in non-US accreditation

Developed on-line tools for university-level students and constituencies of the accrediting bodies

Mobilized student branches for outreach to pre-university students

Entered the arena of policy in accreditation, standards

education, first professional degree in engineering

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Recent trends… EAB has… Started working on model curricula and trends in

engineering education Especially retention

Developed assessment tools for technology programs (US)

Supported the Technical English Program and plans to expand it

Developed a Standards Education program for university students

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Accreditation in EAB

Accreditation Policy Council

Committee on Engineering Accreditation Activities Committee on Technology Accreditation Activities Committee on Global Accreditation Activities

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Activities within ABET (US Accreditation)

IEEE (through its predecessors) has worked within ABET

(ECPD) since 1932

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Who coordinates IEEE’s ABET activities?

Coordinated by EAB: Engineering and Engineering Technology

accreditation (through ABET) Electrical and Computer Engineering and Engineering

Technology and a few other sub-disciplines Including Systems Engineering

Coordinated by the IEEE Computer Society Computer Science, Information Technology

(through CSAB)

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What is missing in our ABET portfolio?

IEEE involvement in accreditation of programs in Biomedical Engineering

An on-going issue that requires action

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ABET support: key statistics

IEEE is responsible for approximately 750 programs exclusively

IEEE Responsible for additional 300 programs with ACM and AIS

Next largest association is ASME with 450 programs

Approximately 350 active IEEE volunteersare involved

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ABET Support: Finances IEEE pays directly to ABET about $300,000/year

ASME pays about $200,000

Payments to ABET continue to grow Some relief was observed after the financial model

was ‘tweaked’ The number of programs in Computer Science and IT

is growing

EAB and the Computer Society spend additional $500K-700K on US accreditation

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IEEE and ABET

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Selected Topics of Discussion, Change, and Potential Action

ABET’s governance

ABET’s financial model and long-term prospects

International Accreditation Travel Policy

“Criteria 2 and 3” and assessment

Systems Engineering

Accreditation at the BS and MS levels simultaneously

Accreditation of programs that use non-traditional delivery

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Accreditation Outside the United States

Committee on Global Accreditation Activities

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CGAA: Mission and Scope

To identify and meet the accreditation needs of the profession, by assisting in the establishment, operation, development and implementation of accrediting bodies and accreditation procedures in engineering, computing and technology (ECT) worldwide.

To coordinate transnational accreditation activities on behalf of the IEEE, including assistance to existing accrediting bodies, development of new accrediting bodies, and education about ECT accreditation.

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Key themes

Local accrediting bodies

Organization and operation by local IEEE volunteers And volunteers of other

engineering/computing association

Minimal use of accreditation bodies from outside the local region

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2009 Members

Name Section Region Role

Moshe Kam Philadelphia 2 Chair

Enrique Alvarez Peru 9 Member

Ernesto Cuadros-Vargas

Peru 9 Member

Chandrabhan Sharma

Trinidad and Tobago

9 Member

Eric Tappert Lehigh Valley 2 APC Chair

Xiaoxun Zhu Xi’an 10 Member

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Where do we operate now?

China: “Working Group on Education in China” and cooperation with CAST

Peru: ICACIT Uruguay: terminology and program structure

issues

The Caribbean: new accrediting body for programs taught in English (CACET)

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CHINA

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International Accreditation: China

In 2006 we established an accreditation working group in China

Face-to-face meeting in November 2006

2007 Activities A major workshop on engineering accreditation in

cooperation with CAST A translation of ABET accreditation materials into Chinese

was completed by EAB Meetings with decision makers in various ministries

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2007 Workshop (Beijing)

40 attendees

Most are program evaluators in training

IEEE: Bruce Eisenstein, Michael Lightner, Moshe Kam

Engineers Ireland: Don McCloy

Meetings at the Ministries of Personnel, Construction and Education

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Ministry of Education Beijing 2007

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Beijing 2007

Bruce Eisenstein speaks

Note the Engineers Ireland Logo

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2008 Activities

An accreditation workshop with CAST and the PRC Ministry of Education

Beijing, 22 March 2008

240 attendees All fields of engineering

A 4-hour event narrated by Mike Lightner and Moshe Kam

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Key observations from the 2008 workshop

Attendees wanted to know how the ABET system works

…but also what elements are difficult, expensive, time consuming

Concern about the volume of work associated with ABET-style accreditation visits

Desire to examine models that are not purely outcome based

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Post-workshop requests

CAST requested that we help Chinese program evaluators observe ABET visits in 2008 We coordinated the effort with ABET Visits took place during Fall 2008

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2009 Status

China is getting ready to apply to become a provisional member of "Washington Accord“

Target is June 2009

Pending issues: Several internal organizational issues Role of "Center for Engineering Education"

formed in Tsinghua University. Issues related to Taiwan

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"International Engineering EducationConference" on 21-22 October 2009

Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society Society of Automotive Engineers of China Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering China Electro-technical Society China Instruments and Control Society Chinese Institute of Electronics China Computer Federation China Highway & Transportation Society Chinese Society for Corrosion and Protection

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"International Engineering EducationConference" on 21-22 October 2009

Invited speakers are at a high level including ministers and presidents Representatives from 12 Washington Accord

members and 5 provisory members

A round table seminar and a “Beijing Statement”

IEEE expressed interest in sending delegates to

attend and give a keynote address

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PERUURUGUAY

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International Accreditation: Peru

IEEE has been providing on-going assistance to the Peruvian accrediting body ICACIT

ICACIT was formed in the early 2000s

In December 2006 we have provided the first non-US EAB training for program evaluators in Peru

Instructional material developed Mario Gonzalez prepared and delivered

We provided a complete translation of ABET materials into Spanish

We are also maintaining a website for ICACIT

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Training session for Peruvian program evaluators, December 2006

Lima, December 2006

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Activities in Peru in 2007

First Draft of the governance documents and structure of ICACIT

A second training workshop for program evaluators in Arequipa

Mario Gonzalez prepared and delivered

Planning with the leadership of ICACIT toward the first independent visit

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Arequipa, December 2007

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Arequipa, December 2007

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Planned Activities in 2008

Accreditation manuals Engineering, Technology, Computing

Appointment of 20 Program Evaluators

Staffing of the accreditation committees

The first series of independent accreditation visits by ICACIT should take place in 2009

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Actual Activities in 2008

ICACIT and ABET have entered into an agreement that involves joint visits and prolonged parallel accreditation of Programs in Peru by both bodies

IEEE has withdrawn for the time being from any further activities in Peru With the exception of structure/terminology

issues (to be discussed later)

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Visit to Uruguay (November 2008)

The IEEE Uruguay Section was visited in 2008 to determine needed services from EAB

In the course of the visit, several perennial issues were raised: Structure, length and content of engineering

programs in South America Terminology of program names and

descriptors

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Planned Activities in 2009: Develop 2010 Engineering/CS summit

Framework for a 2010 workshop on Engineering and Computer Science programs in South America:

Structure Organization curricular content Titles Potential for new accreditation alliances

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Workshop in 2010 Q2

A combination of…. invited talks existing program reviews tutorials on programs in Europe, the US

and Asia position papers and policy proposals Action item for follow-up

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THE CARIBBEAN

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Caribbean Accreditation Council for Engineering and Technology

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Scope

English speaking Caribbean

An effort requiring 3-6 years and the consent and participation of all major

constituencies

A collaboration of… Academic institutions and the faculty Industry, especially employers of engineers and

technologists Governmental bodies and regulators

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Desired Final Outcome

A fully functional stable accrediting body operating wherever there is a higher education institute in the Caribbean

Membership of the accrediting body in the Washington Accord

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Activities so far

Preliminary review of goals and desired outcomes

April 2007, UWI, Trinidad

Meeting of representatives from English-speaking programs in the Caribbean

September 2007, Trinidad

Stakeholder meeting 7-8 April 2008, Puerto Rico

Meeting with CARICOM October 2008, Guyana

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CACET’s Founding Meeting (1)

On 7-8 April 2008, San Juan PR

Hosted by IEEE Educational Activities Board (EAB)

Name of the accrediting agency Caribbean Accreditation Council for Engineering and Technology (CACET)

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CACET’s Founding Meeting (2)

Twenty seven (27) leaders of governmental accrediting agencies, licensing bodies, universities, and professional associations

Representing seven (7) English-speaking countries in

the Caribbean

A joint declaration establishing the Council as part of CARICOM.

IEEE was represented by Moshe Kam, Chandrabhan Sharma, and Pedro Ray

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Meeting with CARICOM Meeting with CARICOM in October 2008

(Guyana) PM of Guyana and Secretary General of CARICOM

Agreement in principle to accept CACET as a recognized accrediting body for the Caribbean

For the time being CACET is managed from the UWI

Additional organizational activities and meetings in 2009 Preparation of CACET’s accreditation

manual and procedures PEV training in Q4 2009

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OTHER PLANNED ACTIVITIES

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Additional Action Items

Cooperation with IFEES

Meeting planned with EUR-ACE and leaders of the Efta initiative in the Caribbean

Exploration of 2010 accreditation workshop in Region 8 (Budapest)

Exploration of needs in Vietnam and in Swaziland and Malawi

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Planned 2009 Activities

Title Where When Type

Caribbean (CACET)

CACET next-steps meeting

T&T or Guyana 2Q 2009 Planning

CACET draft document preparation

Multiple (via mail)

1-2Q 2009

Policy development

CACET PeV training

Puerto Rico 3rd or 4th Q 2009

Training

South America

Eng&CS workshop TBD 2Q 2010 Planning

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Planned 2009 Activities Title Where When Type

Region 8 accreditation workshop

Budapest 2Q 2010 Planning

Cooperation with IFEES

Budapest

St. Petersburg

Oct 09

May 09

Workshops and planning meetings with accrediting bodies

China’s Accreditation conference

Beijing October 2009

Keynote Address

Meetings with EUR-ACE Efta Accreditation initiative

TBD TBD Informational meetings

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On line tools:

For university students For constituencies of accrediting bodies

TryEngineering.orgAccreditation.org

TryNano.org

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Accreditation.org

A new IEEE portal devoted to accreditation of academic programs in engineering, computing and technology

Provides an overview of accreditation

Lists accrediting bodies worldwide Lists all the programs they accredit Provides links and contact information Provides accrediting body search by country

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More on the Site

Provides information on accords and mutual-recognition agreements

Including original text and interpretation

Allows search of accredited programs Similar to “University Search” on

TryEngineering.org

Provides links to articles and reviews on accreditation

www.accreditation.org

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TryNano.org

TryNano.org is a resource for students, their parents, their teachers and their school counselors. 

Users can explore nanomaterials, and learn about different applications of nanotechnology. 

There are also spotlights of different companies that apply nanotechnology to products and processes.

http://www.tryengineering.org/nanotest/

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Mobilizing University Students for Pre-University Outreach

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The Original Vision of TISP

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Increasingly the TISP instructors are younger…

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Policy Papers

Accreditation

First Professional Degree in Engineering

Standards Education

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Accreditation – Policy Paper

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IEEE Policy Paper on Accreditation Purpose

Guide IEEE volunteers and staff members in their activities in the area of accreditation

Inform other organizations of IEEE’s views and aims in the area of accreditation

Provide a vision for the progress and development of accreditation

Remind all constituencies that IEEE’s policies and aims are significantly different than current practices

Policy paper was approved by the IEEE BoD in November 2007

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Highlights

Recognition of plurality of accreditation methods

Vision of increasingly IT-dependent process Transition to continuous non-dramatic processes

Rejection of overly complicated process requirement

Support of local accreditation bodies and rejection of permanent reliance on foreign accrediting agencies

Strong emphasis on ethics and human rights

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The First Professional Degree in Engineering

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Background

IEEE was requested to provide its official position on the First Professional Degree in Engineering

Possible designations A Bachelor of Science or equivalent

Four-year program A Master of Science or equivalent A Bachelor-plus

E.g., B.Sc. Plus 30 semester credits

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Adopted Policy Explains that continuing education should be

an integral part of the career plans of most if not all engineers

Elaborates on the needs of different groups of engineers for education beyond the first degree

Concludes that current practices are sufficient e.g., traditional 4-year Bachelor of Science degree

in the US

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Adopted Policy (2)

“IEEE does not believe that a mandatory, across-the-board requirement for more formal education for engineers is warranted, beyond the FPD currently decreed by tradition and practice”

Explains the reasons for this conclusion

Makes general comments on the evolution of the ECT curriculum

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Next…

IEEE Policy on the Role of Standards in ECT Education

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Development of Model Curricula

And related certification and assessment tools

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Model Curricula

The work plan of EAB calls for development of model curricula in three areas:

Biometrics Systems Engineering Biomedical Engineering

Significant progress in the area of Biometrics Beginning of work on Systems Engineering Not much done yet on Biomedical Engineering

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Model Curriculum in Biometrics

Working group consisting of IEEE and non-IEEE participants

Leading experts in the field Leader: Evangelia Micheli-Tzanakou

Currently developing Body of Knowledge for an IEEE certification

program Model curricula for a Major and a Minor in

Biometrics Engineering

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Increasing Student Retention

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“Real World Engineering Projects”

Projects that will lead to a new resource for faculty who teach first year electrical engineering (EE), computer engineering (CE) and computer science (CS) students  

These projects should: Focus students on Real World problems with

solutions that benefit society Get students excited about their own, original

creative solutions Increase student retention through personal

satisfaction and accomplishment

http://www.realworldengineering.org/

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Selected Projects

Manipulating Everyday Objects With Prosthetic Hands Chris Macnab, the University of Calgary, Canada

Error Correction Codes for Wireless Communication Systems

Sami Khorbotly, Ohio Northern University, USA

Using Engineering to Save the Planet - One Ear at a Time Jeff Gibbons, Collins County Community College, TX, USA

Solid State Lighting for the Developing World Loren Wyard-Scott from the University of Alberta, Canada

Smarter Vehicles Leyla Nazhandali, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State

University, USA

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Selected Projects Audio Forensics: Solving a Crime using Digital

(Audio) Signal Processing Jennifer Murdoch and others from the University of Victoria,

Canada.

Power Electronics/System: A Look at Renewable Energy

Taryn Bayles, the University of Maryland Baltimore County, USA.

HCI Alternatives using the Nintendo Wii Gautam Srivastava and others from the University of

Victoria, Canada.

Feedback Controlled Brushless DC Motor Stephen Williams from the Milwaukee School of

Engineering, US.

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Assessment Tool for Programs in electrical, electronic, and

computer engineering technology

Cooperation with SME

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Cooperation with SME on an assessment tool

We have cooperated with the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) in creating standardized assessment tests for electrical, electronic, and computer engineering technology students.  

The motivation was to make such tests the 'nationally-normed' assessment tools for technology students and programs  

Project was guided by ECETDHA leaders

Paid for by IEEE

Developed, distributed and managed by SME

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The Technical English Program

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Technical English Program

An effort to increase Technical English literacy of students in countries where English is/was not taught as second language

Currently operational in St. Petersburg, Russia

EAB wishes to expand to other countries in Eastern Europe and to South America

Pilot will start in October 2009

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Education about Standards

A Joint EAB/SA effort

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Standards Education Portalhttp://www.ieee.org/web/education/standards/index.html

Standards Education Tutorials Case Illustrations Student Application Papers Standards Reference Directory Glossary Announcements Additional Resources

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Summary Accreditation

In the US (ABET) and in South America, the Caribbean and China

On-line tools: Accreditation.org, TryNano, TryEngineering

Model Curricula

Policy Papers

Standards Education

First-year EE, CE and CS projects

EET assessment tools

Technical English Program

Mobilizing students for TISP

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Questions or Comments