2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

What makes an assessment effective? For this study, we will be defining effectiveness as the alignment between course objectives and assessments used to assess student learning. This paper will examine engineering students' perception regarding the alignment between articulated course objectives and the assessments they undertake in Fundamental Engineering Courses (FECs) during undergraduate education and use these perspectives to justify course design decisions made by instructors.

A survey will be conducted containing quantitative ratings and qualitative reflections from engineering students across majors. The survey will include a 1-5 scale based on the student perception of the course assessments aligning with the stated course objectives, in addition to a short response section. Participants will be second year engineering students that have taken or are currently enrolled in Fundamental Engineering Courses (FECs) such as Statics, Dynamics, and Thermodynamics.

The qualitative element will consist of coding of responses to the open-ended question to further gain insight of the reasoning behind students' perceptions on assessment effectives. This will help to identify reoccurring patterns and examples that capture how students interpret the relationship between course design, assessment design, and the learning outcomes intended. Exploring these elements will aid in gaining an understanding of why students hold views on assessment effectiveness. Qualitative data based on the students’ ranking will help validate quantitative findings and reveal nuanced perspectives on how students experience and evaluate assessment practices.

The expected outcome of this study is a deeper understanding of how engineering students interpret the effectiveness of assessments to the expected learning outcomes. By conducting analysis on student survey responses, the results can result in potential recommendations for improving assessment designs that are more reflective towards the learning outcomes.