I recently attended a webinar on Assessing Effectiveness: Do your program activities make a difference? This was sponsored by the STEM Equity Pipeline organization that works with SWE and GSUSA through the National Girls Collaborative Project. I attended because I thought it might help us create better programs for our SWE-NESS outreach and for the Engineering Your Future GS event we hold at the National SWE Conference.

The presenter was Tricia Berry, Director of the Women in Engineering Program at the University of Texas-Austin. She talked about the assessment and evaluation tools she developed as part of the Assessing Women and Men in Engineering (AWE) Project. These tools are available online at www.aweonline.org, and may be used for our pre-college level programs – pre-program, post-program and 3-6 months after the event. There are also undergraduate tools available, all of which may be customized for the program. (They are also available on the SWE website.)

Assessments are a process of gathering data, and they should focus on the objectives of the program. There are two major types of assessment: formative and summative. Formative assessments are “for learning”, focused on the process and are on-going. Summative assessments are “of learning”, focused on goals and are end-of-the-program assessments. You should always include assessments in planning the program to ensure you meet its objectives and goals.

Tricia gave examples for each of the six steps to Assessments and Evaluations that she does at her university for the undergraduate women in engineering. The six steps are:

1. Determine if the program fits with the mission
2. Set goals (big picture)
3. Define measurable objectives; objectives should be specific (address the target audience), support the overall program goals and be measurable
4. Develop / Modify / Implement the Assessment
5. Analyze and evaluate the data
6. Do something with the results (ex., provide to sponsors)

This was a very good session, and is available on the www.stemequitypipeline.org website in the professional development/ archives section if you would like to view it. As a result of the attendees’ survey, there will be a follow-up webinar on how to use the AWE tools on Monday, June 16 at 2 PM. You can bet I’ll be there!

Collegiate Rap

Collegiate Section officers are reminded that annual and financial reports are due June 30.

Good Luck on your finals! Have fun this summer! For graduating seniors, congratulations and best wishes in your new career as engineers! Keep in touch with us through SWE!

Graduation ought not be an end,
Replacing what within we might achieve.
After all, the good that we intend
Does much to serve the good that we receive.
Underneath the mask of a degree
A person must perform with just the skill,
The knowledge and the art that he or she
Internalized through pluck, hard work, and will.
On what we are will rest what we become,
Nor do we have much else to draw upon.
- Nicholas Gordon