BSCS Assessment Legacy

 

ASSESSMENT PRIOR TO SPRING 2012

Prior to Spring 2012, there were 14 BSCS program outcomes. These outcomes are loosely grouped into three categories: software engineering, programming, and foundations.

Software Engineering

BSCS.OC1

The ability to follow and adapt software development processes

BSCS.OC2

The ability to carry out object oriented design and to apply design patterns

BSCS.OC3

The ability to effectively communicate technical ideas through discussions, presentations, documentation, and technical reports

BSCS.OC4

The ability to acquire technical knowledge through self-study

BSCS.OC5

The ability to operate commonly used tools for software development, testing, and management

BSCS.OC6

The ability to be an effective member of a software development team

BSCS.OC7

The ability to make ethical judgments about the design and use of computing systems

Programming

BSCS.OC8

The ability to write programs that demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of object-oriented programming

BSCS.OC9

The ability to select, design, and implement appropriate data structures and algorithms

BSCS.OC10

The ability to design and implement graphical user interface

BSCS.OC11

The ability to write programs of moderate sophistication in a functional programming language

Foundations

BSCS.OC12

The ability to apply the theoretical foundations of computer science to reason about the structure, behavior, performance and limitations of computing systems

BSCS.OC13

The ability to explain the structure and function of computer hardware components and their influence on the design of software systems

BSCS.OC14

The ability to explain the structure and function of operating systems, their interactions with computer hardware components, and their influence on the design of software systems

 

 

 

ASSESSMENT PRIOR TO FALL 2009

Fall 2009 saw several major changes to the assessment/evaluation process as well as to the assessment web site. This page presents an overview of assessment activities and products prior to Fall 2009.

History

Assessment activity officially began in the Fall 2005 semester.

An official assessment committee was formed.

Outcomes and objectives were defined for each course, for the BSCS program, and, eventually, for the MSCS program.

Assessment and evaluation processes were defined and subsequently revised.

Data, reports, and issues were generated by the assessment committee at the end of each semester.

In Spring 2007 program outcomes were assessed and evaluated instead of course outcomes.

Student Learning Outcomes

Prior to November 2009 the BSCS program outcomes were referred to as "student learning outcomes" or SLOs. Here they are in their original form:

SLO1.               The ability to follow and adapt software development processes

SLO2.               Comprehensive knowledge of object-oriented programming in Java

SLO3.               The ability to select, design, and implement appropriate data structures and algorithms

SLO4.               The ability to design computing systems that are appropriate for commonly used hardware

SLO5.               The ability to operate commonly used tools for software development, testing, and management

SLO6.               The ability to design and implement graphical user interfaces

SLO7.               The ability to design computing systems that are appropriate for commonly used operating systems

SLO8.               The ability to carry out object oriented design and to apply design patterns

SLO9.               The ability to write programs of moderate complexity in a functional programming language 

SLO10.           The ability to apply theoretical foundations of computer science to reason about performance and limitations of computing systems

SLO11.           The ability to give presentations and technical reports, and to participate effectively in technical discussions

SLO12.           The ability to acquire technical knowledge through self-study

SLO13.           The ability to solve computing problems as part of a team 

SLO14.           The ability to make ethical judgments in the design of computing systems

In addition, each outcome has three competency levels:

A = Advanced

I = Intermediate

B = Beginning

After a department vote the SLO prefix was replaced by the BSCS.OC prefix. Some of the outcomes were reworded and the ordering was changed as follows:

 

The Assessment Schedule

The assessment schedule has gone through several minor revisions. Here is the Spring 2007 version of the schedule:

 

Each entry in the schedule indicates the courses to be assessed. In parentheses is the competency level of the corresponding outcome supported by the course.

Note that the coverage is fairly complete. Each outcome gets some attention at least every two years if not every semester.