Assessments

Mission & Visiontop

The vision of the Computer Science Academic Unit within the Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences Department is to equip our graduates with the knowledge and expertise to contribute significantly to the computer science and information technology industry and to apply techniques learned toward continued growth.

The Mission of the computer science department is:

Objectives & Outcomestop

Program Objectives

The Department of Computer Science at The University of Tulsa has the following objectives for all CS graduates:

  1. Graduates will have demonstrated a thorough grounding in the fundamental principles of computer science.
  2. Graduates will have demonstrated effective oral and written communication.
  3. Graduates will have demonstrated the capacity for analyzing complex problems and develop appropriate solutions.
  4. Graduates will have demonstrated an appreciation for professional ethical behavior.
  5. Graduates will have demonstrated effective teamwork and leadership skills.

Specific Program Outcomes

The Department of Computer Science at The University of Tulsa has the following expected outcomes for all CS graduating seniors:

  1. Graduating seniors will have an understanding of the fundamental concepts of computer science including algorithms and data structures.
  2. Graduating seniors will have an understanding of the fundamental principles of discrete mathematics.
  3. Graduating seniors will have an understanding of the modern computer systems.
  4. Graduating seniors will have an understanding of the fundamental principles of programming languages.
  5. Graduating seniors will be proficient in an object oriented programming language.
  6. Graduating seniors will be able to write and orally report on project proposals, ideas, and solutions with clarity and accuracy.
  7. Graduating seniors will be able to design, implement and test a software system as part of a group of developers for a customer.
  8. Graduating seniors will have demonstrated effective teamwork skills within a project setting
  9. Graduating seniors will have an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility.

Mapping of Program Objectives to Program Outcomestop

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Mapping Required Courses to Program Outcomestop

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Mapping of Program Objectives to Program Outcomes with Required CS Coursestop

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Mapping of Course Content to Program Outcomes with Required CS Coursestop

Open Outcomes-Content Matrix for Outcomes 1-5 in new window.

Open Outcomes-Content Matrix for Outcomes 6-9 in new window.

Assessment Process & Scheduletop

The Department Chair of Computer Science will oversee the assessment process. Assessment materials will be collected by the faculty of each course according to the schedule given below in the table.

Assessment instruments include:

  1. Indirect Measurements:
    1. Senior Exit Survey (Each Spring semester) to assess Objectives and Outcomes
    2. Course surveys (each semester as needed) to help assess Outcomes
    3. Instructor Feedback (each semester as needed) to help assess Outcomes
    4. Alumni Survey and Employer survey to assess Objectives
  2. Direct Measurements:
    1. Rubrics to assess student performance on examinations. Questions on examinations are categorized and measured to determine to what extend students have achieved the stated outcome(s)
    2. Rubrics to assess student performance on programming assignments with respect to Program Documentation, Modularity, Style, and Correctness
    3. Rubrics designed to assess student written and oral skills as well as teamwork and ethics.

The department chair will evaluate these materials in consultation with the faculty of the department as necessary and appropriate. The Department Chair will document any areas of concern and document any corresponding action taken by the faculty regarding concerns or updates or enhancements to the curriculum. The primary means of documentation will be minutes of faculty meetings, and/or individual discussions among faculty concerning curriculum, outcomes and objectives. This process is designed to ensure that

  1. Program Objectives are defined or redefined and periodically evaluated
  2. Program Outcomes are continually monitored and
  3. Results of assessment are applied to continually develop and improve the program.

Changes and updates to the Mission Statement, list of Objectives and Outcomes and well as any changes to a course resulting from the assessment process is the decision of the entire faculty, not just the instructor of the course or the chair. Every faculty participates in the assessment process and the decision concerning departmental assessments.

We will collect materials from each course on a two year cycle indicated above as YEAR I (odd/even year) and YEAR II (even/odd year). Note data is collected from CS 1043 and CS 2001 each year. Also CS 4503 and CS 4513 are very important courses, and the assessment data is collected from these courses every semester they are taught.

Each entry indicates the type of data collected. For some courses we collect data from Programming/project assignments, some from performance on final examinations and some courses from both. Courses that collect both types of assessment data (CS 2003, CS 2123, CS 3053, CS 4013) will collect one type one year and the other type the next year as indicated above.

Note we are collecting data for CS 1043 but the results are not used to assess any objective or outcome because it to too low level. However this course is extremely important as if feeds our higher level programming courses, so we as a department are monitoring student programming progress in this course.

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