A Framework for an Automated Assessment System

The motivation for yearly assessment of student outcomes, as part of the continuous improvement process, to facilitate informed decisions for enhancing student success. A significant component of ABET accreditation is implementing this assessment, but it remains problematic due to faculty perceptions of externally-defined rules that require significant additional work, as well as the notion that it is not part of the faculty member's core activities. To address this, we worked to create a primarily automated system that minimizes additional workload for the faculty. Coupled with ongoing discussion emphasizing the importance of assessment of student outcomes, we arrived at MSA
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, the Michigan System for Automated Accreditation Assessment. Using commonly available technologies, our system improves upon prior work by increasing the level of automation and functionality while reducing faculty workload and preserving security of student information.