Experience Implementing an Automated Assessment System for Accreditation

This innovative practice full paper introduces an automated assessment system, Michigan System of Automated Assessment for Accreditation (MSA<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup>), designed for computing and engineering programs to meet both external accreditation and internal university requirements while minimally increasing faculty and staff workload. The system integrates with Canvas, enabling instructors to input assessment data directly during grading, streamlining the process by eliminating the need for separate data entry and report dissemination. Key features include automated data export and the generation of visual analytics, securely hosted on university servers. Additionally, the paper presents a preliminary study on how this system affects faculty attitudes towards the assessment workload required by ABET. Our preliminary survey results indicate a favorable perception by faculty, which should increase their buy-in and engagement with assessment, supporting assertions made in the literature. Our findings also suggest that the system may help align faculty efforts with accreditation demands more seam-lessly. Its code will be made available on GitHub, allowing for easy adaptation by other institutions using Canvas. Our future work includes increasing the level of automation, extending our methodology to other learning management systems, and conducting a larger evaluation to gauge MSA<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup>'s efficacy on the perception of the accreditation and faculty/staff buy-in.