Multiple Vantage Points for Employment-related Feedback
J. Joseph Hoey and Jack Marr
Georgia Tech

PowerPoint Presentation

Evaluation Form

Abstract
As engineering programs move toward a continuous-improvement model, the need for systematic feedback from the business-and-industry community concerning performance of program graduates has never been greater. The unfortunate situation for many schools is that no systematic process is in place to obtain such feedback. At best, only anecdotal or superficial information may be available, usually through occasional visits by an advisory committee or through informal business contacts. To address this situation, researchers at Georgia Tech have created a systematic, triangulated process to gather, analyze, and disseminate employer, co-op supervisor, and recruiter feedback concerning the knowledge, skills, and abilities demonstrated by students and alumni. Originally made possible under a grant through the SUCCEED Coalition, this process permits highly relevant feedback for both faculty and students to be obtained directly and unobtrusively from employers, recruiters, and supervisors of co-op students who have had a chance to evaluate the students’ or graduates’ skills.

A description of our approach and a thumbnail sketch of the results obtained so far will be the springboards from which participants in this interactive workshop will explore the interpretation of various sources of employment-related assessment data and utilize the implications of our research findings to actively develop sets of suggestions for implementing employer feedback systems within their own institutions.

Learning Objectives
Participants in this workshop will

• be able to describe a process for integrating performance-related assessment information from multiple sources;
• understand the role of employer feedback in the overall assessment process;
• be able to describe a longitudinal assessment strategy to measure value added;
• gain a basic understanding of methodological considerations in using assessment data;
• gain hands-on experience in how to interpret assessment data at the department level by working through a case study with their colleagues; and
• gain insight on how to make a process for collecting and using performance-related assessment information work at their home institutions.