2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Developing a Curriculum Mapping Tool for Outcome Integration and Accreditation Alignment

Presented at WIP: Digital & AI-Enabled Innovations

As chemical engineering programs respond to simultaneous demands for efficiency, accountability, and continuous improvement, maintaining a coherent and well-documented curriculum has become increasingly complex. Frequent changes in faculty teaching assignments, institutional efforts to streamline degree programs to 120 total credit hours, and the convergence of multiple external review processes—from ABET accreditation to regional (NWCCU) and state-level (USHE) accountability reviews—have created new pressures on departments to clearly demonstrate where and how students achieve program outcomes.
In response, our department undertook a comprehensive effort to trace learning outcomes throughout the entire chemical engineering undergraduate curriculum and construct a dynamic curriculum map linking courses, performance indicators, and evidence of student learning. Each course’s learning outcomes were aligned to program-specific performance indicators derived from ABET outcomes (1–7), tagged according to Introduce–Reinforce–Master milestones, and connected to signature assignments using common rubrics. The resulting map reveals how disciplinary and professional skills progress across the curriculum, identifies gaps and redundancies, and provides a unified foundation for multi-agency reporting.
Beyond meeting accreditation requirements, this mapping process has supported curricular renewal, promoted transparency among faculty, and ensured that core competencies are developed intentionally even as course assignments and institutional structures evolve. This paper presents the mapping framework, tools, and lessons learned, offering a replicable approach for programs seeking to integrate continuous improvement with broader institutional accountability.

Authors

Dr. Stacy K Firth http://orcid.org/0009-0003-3492-8253 University of Utah [biography]

Stacy K. Firth is an Associate Professor (Lecturer) in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Utah, where she focuses on inclusive engineering education across K–12 and undergraduate contexts. She developed a year-long engineering exploration and design course now implemented in 57 Utah high schools and a parallel college-level exploratory engineering course that supports informed major selection and serves approximately 150 students annually. She also co-developed an introductory sustainable engineering course and a senior-level chemical engineering projects laboratory that provides hands-on learning aligned with process control theory.

Dr. Firth earned her BS and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Utah and her PhD in Chemical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. Her doctoral research focused on algorithm development for semiconductor wafer processing and resulted in two patents. Prior to joining the University of Utah, she was an Advanced Process Control Engineer at Yield Dynamics, Inc. and an Air Quality and Pollution Prevention Engineer at CH2M Hill.
Dr. David R Wagner http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5074-4233 University of Utah [biography]

David R. Wagner is an Assistant Professor (Lecturer) in the Department of Chemical Engineering at The University of Utah. He is also the Assistant Director of the Utah Center for Renewables, Efficiency, and Workforce (U-CREW). Previously, he was an assistant professor at San Jose State University with a focus on engineering education and sustainability. He started the Sustainable Engineering minor program and the associated course, Sustainable Engineering. In addition, he was one of three faculty members to construct and launch a new honors program at the university level to broaden participation in honors-related studies, specifically addressing concepts of sustainability.
Zachary Rasmussen University of Utah [biography]

Zachary Rasmussen is a Senior in Chemical Engineering at the University of Utah, with an interest in catalysis and engineering education research.
Prof. Anthony Butterfield The University of Utah [biography]

Anthony Butterfield is a Professor (Lecturing) in the Chemical Engineering Department of the University of Utah. He received his B. S. and Ph. D. from the University of Utah and a M. S. from the University of California, San Diego.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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