ABET Program Certification
HCI 551 Project 2

download Project Documentation (.pdf)

Initial meetings with the project stakeholders have identified that there will be three different, but equally significant user groups. These are, firstly, SUNY Oswego faculty (the primary user) who will maintain the program overview regarding the ABET certification requirements, degree program objectives and the students fulfilling these objectives. These users must be able to edit the entire content of the site. The secondary user group are ABET certification officers who review the degree candidate program at SUNY Oswego and maintain an overview of which program objectives fulfill what ABET guideline and if ABET certification can be awarded. ABET Reviewers do not need to edit content – it is sufficient for them to view the material. Lastly, the tertiary user group is the enrolled students. They will use the site to review their degree progress and also need only viewing abilities with no editing rights.

The following are representative of typical personas for each user group:

They are responsible for developing the rubrics for scoring the success of the students in satisfying the requirements of the program for ABET accreditation. The program objectives are mapped to the ABET requirements in a many-to-many relationship, so there may be more or less than eleven requirements (which are deliberately kept vague by ABET). The faculty will be updating existing rubrics and submitting new approved rubrics. The site will also be used to track the actual performance of the students, so the faculty will be submitting the scoring for the students (based on the rubric of the course) as well.

Faculty member Dr John Raffers returns to his office after teaching his second class of the day. He has a short break before needing to attend a meeting with a group of students. Since it is nearing the end of the semester, he intends to use this time to update the ABET site with the students scores in their courses. He logs on to the site and is presented with a list of courses. After selecting the relevant course, a brief description of the rubric is displayed along with a list of the students currently attending the course. In the 212 course the professor quickly checks off whether a particular student has satisfied the requirement. In the 380 course Dr Raffers uploads the source documents of the students work. And in the 500 course the professor records the exam scores of each student. In addition, the professor views the rubric for the course they will be teaching during the summer session before logging out and heading to the meeting.

• Clearly designated sections
• Easy navigation between sections
• Minimal noise surrounding the information
• Easy upload of needed documents

The front page of the site displays general information with a clear log in port. Once logged in, the sections for rubrics and student scoring are clearly defined and the navigation to retrieve and submit information is minimal. The presentation of the student section will be based on the type of rubric being used. As well as the submittal of student scoring, there will be a reporting function in the form of a checklist showing the program requirements and the score for each satisfied requirement for each student.

“My time is very short, so being able to quickly accomplish what I need to do is very appealing.”

Dr John Raffers is 43 years old with over a decade of experience in teaching at the collegiate level. He spends over 9 hours each day on campus, 5 of which are spent in class, the rest in meetings with either students or faculty. Once home he spends more of their time reviewing the student projects and scoring their exams. Time is a valued commodity for this professor.

They are responsible for validating the accomplishment of a scientific program for receiving ABET accreditation. They must review the documentation describing the actions and rubrics being implemented by the faculty of the program, as well as, the performance of the students. The site will be utilized primarily as a reporting function; being used to view the rubrics and student work. And as such the program artifacts will be reviewed for accreditation a minimal number of times per year. They assess how well the program has satisfied the ABET requirements with their own objectives, course offerings and plans, and scoring rubrics.

Lorenza Hitchens is a ABET certified reviewer visiting the final of five universities in seven days. She is already looking forward to returning home for an extended break. She arrives at the main office building of the university and is met by the program chair and an accompanying faculty person. She is lead to and shown the facilities of the program, explained to the infrastructure, and told about some of the recent changes to the program. Now she needs to review the documentation of the program. The reviewer dreads this portion due to the amounts of paperwork involved, but in this case she is pleased to see that everything is represented digitally. She is directed to a website, which allows them to navigate between the course offerings and descriptions, view the rubrics being used, and even more conveniently are able to view the student performance in the courses, as either, satisfactory completion, numerical grades, or project artifacts. The implementation of this site greatly reduces the amount of time the reviewer needed to spend at the university.

• Clearly designated sections
• Easy navigation between sections
• Minimal noise surrounding the information
• Clearly formatted reporting pages

The front page of the site displays general information with a clear log in port. Once logged in, the sections for rubrics and student scoring are clearly defined and the navigation to retrieve and submit information is minimal. The presentation of the student section will be based on the type of rubric being used. As well as the submittal of student scoring, there will be a reporting function in the form of a checklist showing the program requirements and the score for each satisfied requirement for each student.

“The amount of documentation that needs to be reviewed is daunting, so having all the necessary information quickly and clearly accessible makes the process much simpler.”

Lorenza is 47 years old, an accomplished educator in Computer Science, living in Arizona. She spends the majority of her year traveling between their home, the university where she has tenure, and the universities that are up for ABET accreditation (renewal or initial). With their precious free time they use it to read or spend it outside.

They have no direct interaction with the site, as far as, submitting grades or work or influencing the mechanisms used in scoring their work. Depending on the success of the program in meeting the ABET requirements, and on them in turn meeting the program objectives, they will receive ABET certification. The site will be utilized as a checklist to ensure that they have met all of the required objectives to receive this certification.

Marcus Eisenhardt is entering his senior year and preparing to register for his classes. The program is ABET accredited, but he is unsure whether he has satisfied the program requirements to receive their own certification. He goes to the SUNY Oswego ABET site, logs in, and is presented with a list of the objectives, with an indication of the ones they have satisfied, and are able to quickly see that there are two courses that he must register for in the fall semester since they are not offered in the spring. He prints off the list and logs out.

• Easy log in
• Clear and expandable objective sections
• Clear indication of objective completion
• Printing ability

The front page of the site shows general news pertaining to the program and clear log in port for the site. Once logged in there is no navigation necessary, the checklist for the objectives along with completion indication and submitted work (if applicable) is displayed. The options to Print or Log Out of the site are clearly represented.

Marcus Eisenhardt is 21 years old, an entering senior in the Software Engineering degree. He is a Long Island resident and heavily involved with CSA, the Computer Science Association. He has frequent internships in New York City during semester breaks. He is attempting to implement a natural language processor using neural networks as a free time project and like to interact with his faculty when he has academic questions.