Articles
ABET Accreditation in Colombian Higher Education Institutions: Opportunities and Barriers
Guillermo Mejía-Aguilar- María Mónica Caballero-Márquez
- Kevin Huggins
- Lola Xiomara Bautista-Rozo
Published 2020-09-08
Keywords
- ABET,
- engineering accreditation,
- education accreditation,
- quality education,
- engineering education
- curriculum,
- international accreditation,
- accreditation process,
- student outcomes,
- quality accreditation,
- quality in higher education institutions,
- accreditation in public higher education institution ...More
How to Cite
Mejía-Aguilar, G., Caballero-Márquez, M. M., Huggins, K., & Bautista-Rozo, L. X. (2020). ABET Accreditation in Colombian Higher Education Institutions: Opportunities and Barriers. Revista UIS Ingenierías, 19(4), 239–250. https://doi.org/10.18273/revuin.v19n4-2020020
Copyright (c) 2020 Revista UIS Ingenierías
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Accreditation is a contemporary issue in engineering education. There are varying opinions about the opportunities and barriers of this process within the Colombian context. This study compared the advantages and disadvantages of various experiences published in the literature about ABET accreditation. The findings show the ABET accreditation promotes the adoption and implementation of a continuous improvement system and quality culture in engineering education. Additionally, the continuous improvement process aligns the institutional mission, program educational objectives, curricula, and student outcomes. On the contrary, the main concern is the high cost associated with preparing and adapting programs to meet the ABET requirements. Accreditation takes time and effort to be meaningful, which can sometimes lead to increased workloads and time requirements, inadequate training, and lack of faculty commitment. The compilation of experiences with the ABET accreditation process is a significant contribution to engineering programs of public universities in Colombia seeking international accreditation.
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References
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[33] L. E. Peláez Valencia, H. Trefftz, I. A. Delgado González, “Vista de Acreditación Internacional de Carreras de Ingeniería,” Educ. en Ing., vol. 15, no. 29, pp. 28-33, 2020.
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[37] F. Aqlan, O. Al-Araidah, T. Al-Hawari, “Quality assurance and accreditation of engineering education in Jordan,” Eur. J. Eng. Educ., vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 311-323, 2010, doi: 10.1080/03043797.2010.483608
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[47] J. W. Prados, “Can ABET really make a difference?,” Int. J. Eng. Educ., vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 315-317, 2004.
[48] G. K. Patterson, “Preparing for the first ABET accreditation visit under criteria 2000,” in ASEE Annu. Conf. Proc., 1999, pp. 4037-4041.
[49] L. Wear, O. R. Baiocchi, M. Alden, R. Gutmann, and J. Sheng, “Getting ABET accreditation right the first time,” in ASEE Annu. Conf. Expo. Conf. Proc., 2012.
[50] T. S. Mayes, and J. K. Bennett, “ABET best practices: Results from interviews with 27 peer institutions,” in ASEE Annu. Conf. Expo. Conf. Proc., 2005, pp. 53-75.
[51] L. R. Lattuca, P. T. Terenzini, J. F. Volkwein, “A Study of the Impact of EC2000,” Engineering, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 318-328, 2004.
[52] A. Estes, S. Ressler, “Surviving ABET accreditation: Satisfying the demands of criterion 3,” in ASEE Annu. Conf. Expo. Conf. Proc., 2007, pp. 1-15.
[2] J. Uziak, M. T. Oladiran, M. Walczak, M. Gizejowski, “Is accreditation an opportunity for positive change or a mirage?,” J. Prof. Issues Eng. Educ. Pract., vol. 140, no. 1, pp. 1-6, 2014, doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)EI.1943-5541.0000172
[3] S. Schwarz and D. F. Westerheijden, Accreditation and Evaluation in the European Higher Education Area. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer, 2007.
[4] Quality management systems - Fundamentals and vocabulary, ISO 9000: 2015.
[5] L. E. Orozco-Silva, R. Cardoso-Rodriguez, “La evaluación como estrategia de autorregulación y cambio institucional,” Perfiles Educ., vol. 25, no. 102, pp. 73-82, 2003.
[6] A. Abou-Zeid, M. A. Taha, “Accreditation process for engineering programs in Saudi Arabia: Challenges and lessons learned,” in IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, EDUCON, 2014, pp. 1118-1125, doi: 10.1109/EDUCON.2014.6826250
[7] S. A. Al-Yahya, M. A. Abdel-Halim, “A successful experience of ABET accreditation of an electrical engineering program,” IEEE Trans. Educ., vol. 56, no. 2, pp. 165-173, 2013. doi: 10.1109/TE.2012.2206112
[8] E. Carey, “A quest for ABET accreditation: in retrospect,” J. Comput. Sci. Coll., vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 139-146, 2003.
[9] M. Gourley, G. Qian, H. Sung, T. Turner, “Seeking ABET accreditation of a computer science program at a public regional university,” J. Comput. Sci. Coll., vol. 23, no. 6, pp. 140-147, 2008.
[10] K. L. Huggins, L. A. Shay, J. M. D. Hill, B. S. Goda, E. K. Ressler, “Experiences in preparing multiple programs for a joint ABET accreditation general review,” Proceedings-Frontiers Educ. Conf., vol. 1, pp. 16-21, 2002, doi: 10.1109/FIE.2002.1157926
[11] A. Jackson, D. Horton, M. Johnson, “First-time accreditation: Lessons learned from the ABET accreditation process,” in ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings, 2006.
[12] F. G. Kohun, D. F. Wood, D. Colton, “The ABET CAC Accreditation Experience – Intent and Reality — The Information Systems Perspective,” Information System Education Journal, vol. 1, no. 43, pp. 1-10, 2003.
[13] Y. A. Shatilla, A. H. Zahed, Y. A. Hegazy, “Engineering education excellence at King Abdul Aziz University: ABET accreditation and beyond,” ASEE Annu. Conf. Expo. Conf. Proc., vol. 2, no. March, pp. 5343-5356, 2005.
[14] K. Shryock, H. Reed, “Preparing effectively for ABET accreditation: What does it all mean?,” ASEE Annu. Conf. Expo. Conf. Proc., vol. 13, pp. 1-11, 2008.
[15] T. Thomas, M. Alam, “Strategy for ABET self-study and re-accreditation,” ASEE Annu. Conf. Expo. Conf. Proc., vol. 10, pp. 13131-13140, 2005.
[16] H. Chowdhury, F. Alam, S. K. Biswas, M. T. Islam, A. K. M. S. Islam, “Quality assurance and accreditation of engineering education in Bangladesh,” Procedia Engineering, vol. 56, pp. 864-869, 2013, doi: 10.1016/j.proeng.2013.03.208
[17] L. Harvey, “The power of accreditation: Views of academics,” J. High. Educ. Policy Manag., vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 207-223, 2004, doi: 10.1080/1360080042000218267
[18] Consejo Nacional de Acreditación,“Acreditación de programas de pregrado,” [Online]. Available: https://www.cna.gov.co/1741/channel.html
[19] B. Brittingham, “Accreditation in the United States: How did we get to where we are?,” New Dir. High. Educ., vol. 2009, no. 145, pp. 7-27, 2009, doi: 10.1002/he.331
[20] J. W. Prados, G. D. Peterson, L. R. Lattuca, “Quality Assurance of Engineering Education through Accreditation: The Impact of Engineering Criteria 2000 and Its Global Influence,” J. Eng. Educ., vol. 94, no. 1, pp. 165-184, 2005, doi: 10.1002/j.2168-9830.2005.tb00836.x
[21] H. L. Reif and R. G. Mathieu, “Global Trends in Computing Accreditation,” Computer (Long. Beach. Calif)., vol. 42, pp. 102-104, 2009, doi: 10.1109/MC.2009.356
[22] H. A. Al-Twaijry, M. C. Mekhallalati, H. R. Abachi, G. Muhammad, “A rubrics based quality improvement methodology for ABET accreditation,” Int. J. Eng. Educ., vol. 28, no. 6, pp. 1266-1273, 2012.
[23] C. Rama, “El nacimiento de la acreditación internacional,” Avaliação Rev. da Avaliação da Educ. Super., vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 291-311, 2009, doi: 10.1590/s1414-40772009000200004
[24] K. Chiluiza, M. Wong-Villacrés, J. Duque, “En búsqueda de la acreditación ABET : Estrategias exitosas en una institución de educación superior pública de Sudamérica,” in 12th Lat. Am. Caribb. Conf. Eng. Technol. Lat. Am. Caribb. Conf. Eng. Technol., 2014, pp. 1-10.
[25] M. Larrondo, V. Medina, G. Méndez, “Modelo de Registro y Acreditación de Instituciones de Educación Superior basado en el Modelo CMMI,” in Seventh LACCEI Lat. Am. Caribb. Conf. Eng. Technol, 2009, pp. 1-8.
[26] A. L. Gazzola, A. Didriksson, Tendencias de la educación superior en el mundo y en América Latina y el Caribe. Caracas, Venezuela: IESALC, 2008.
[27] ABET, “ABET History,” 2020 [Online]. Available: https://www.abet.org/about-abet/history/
[28] ABET, “ABET accreditation,” 2020 [Online]. Available: https://www.abet.org/accreditation/
[29] ABET, “What is accreditation,” 2020 [Online]. Available: https://www.abet.org/accreditation/what-is-accreditation/
[30] P. G. Altbach, J. Knight, “The internationalization of higher education: Motivations and realities,” J. Stud. Int. Educ., vol. 11, no. 3-4, pp. 290-305, 2007, doi: 10.1177/1028315307303542
[31] D. E. Marín-Méndez, “La acreditación de carreras universitarias. Una tendencia actual en la formación de profesionales universitarios,” Perfiles Educ., no. 71, pp. 1-16, 1996.
[32] M. Quirós Villalobos, R. Arce Durán, “Acreditación internacional: El caso de la Agencia de Acreditación Canadiense CCPE-CEAB en las universidades costarricenses,” Actual. Investig. en Educ., vol. 5, pp. 1-19, 2011, doi: 10.15517/aie.v5i4.9188
[33] L. E. Peláez Valencia, H. Trefftz, I. A. Delgado González, “Vista de Acreditación Internacional de Carreras de Ingeniería,” Educ. en Ing., vol. 15, no. 29, pp. 28-33, 2020.
[34] M. Borrego, M. J. Foster, J. E. Froyd, “Systematic literature reviews in engineering education and other developing interdisciplinary fields,” J. Eng. Educ., vol. 103, no. 1, pp. 45-76, 2014, doi: 10.1002/jee.20038
[35] H. Cooper, L. V. Hedges, J. C. Valentine, The handbook of research synthesis and meta-analysis 2nd edition. New York, USA: Russel Sage Foundation, 2009.
[36] M. Iqbal Khan, S. M. Mourad, W. M. Zahid, “Developing and qualifying Civil Engineering Programs for ABET accreditation,” J. King Saud Univ. - Eng. Sci., vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 1-11, 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.jksues.2014.09.001
[37] F. Aqlan, O. Al-Araidah, T. Al-Hawari, “Quality assurance and accreditation of engineering education in Jordan,” Eur. J. Eng. Educ., vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 311-323, 2010, doi: 10.1080/03043797.2010.483608
[38] R. T. Shankar, J. P. Dickson, C. A. Mazoleny, “A tool for abet accreditation,” in ASEE Annu. Conf. Expo. Conf. Proc., 2013, pp. 1-11.
[39] W. Ceccucci, B. White, “IS faculty perceptions of ABET accreditation,” Proc. Inf. Syst. Educ. Conf. ISECON, vol. 6, no. 54, pp. 1-8, 2006.
[40] J. Estela, “Un modelo robusto y sostenible para la acreditación de ABET de programas de ingeniería,” in Encuentro Internacional de Educación en Ingeniería ACOFI 2016, pp. 1-10.
[41] J. M. Fraser, A. Teran, H. T. Pham, “Paths to accreditation,” in ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings, 2014.
[42] J. Passow, “Which ABET competencies do engineering graduates find most important in their work,” J. Eng. Educ., vol. 101, no. 1, pp. 95-118, 2012, doi: 10.1002/j.2168-9830.2012.tb00043.x
[43] N. N. Bengiamin, “Development and implementation of an ABET EC2000 assessment program: Pros and cons,” in 1999 Annual conference ASEE Annu. Conf. Proc., pp. 1743–1749.
[44] J. Enderle et al., “The ABCs of preparing for ABET,” EIEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Mag., vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 122–132, 2003, doi: 10.1109/MEMB.2003.1237513
[45] N. H. Phung, P. T. Vu, T. Nam, “ABET Accreditation: Benefits and Challenges,” 2014 [Online]. Available: http://www.hcmut.edu.vn/en/newsletter/view/tin-tuc/2337-abet-accreditation-benefits-and-challenges
[46] K. D. Abel, A. A. Fernandez, “Abet accreditation of undergraduate engineering management programs: Established versus new programs—the similarities and differences,” EMJ - Eng. Manag. J., vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 3-8, 2005, doi: 10.1080/10429247.2005.11415271
[47] J. W. Prados, “Can ABET really make a difference?,” Int. J. Eng. Educ., vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 315-317, 2004.
[48] G. K. Patterson, “Preparing for the first ABET accreditation visit under criteria 2000,” in ASEE Annu. Conf. Proc., 1999, pp. 4037-4041.
[49] L. Wear, O. R. Baiocchi, M. Alden, R. Gutmann, and J. Sheng, “Getting ABET accreditation right the first time,” in ASEE Annu. Conf. Expo. Conf. Proc., 2012.
[50] T. S. Mayes, and J. K. Bennett, “ABET best practices: Results from interviews with 27 peer institutions,” in ASEE Annu. Conf. Expo. Conf. Proc., 2005, pp. 53-75.
[51] L. R. Lattuca, P. T. Terenzini, J. F. Volkwein, “A Study of the Impact of EC2000,” Engineering, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 318-328, 2004.
[52] A. Estes, S. Ressler, “Surviving ABET accreditation: Satisfying the demands of criterion 3,” in ASEE Annu. Conf. Expo. Conf. Proc., 2007, pp. 1-15.