NBA Accreditation and Teaching-Learning in Engineering (NATE)

N J Rao and K Rajanikanth

Module 3: Instruction and Accreditation

Week 10: Instruction for (Key Words: Simulation Approach, Metacognitive Learning, Vision and

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Mission, PEOs - Criterion 1)

M3 U6: Simulation Approach to Instruction

Recap

 Understood the design approach to instruction.

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M3 U6: Outcome

 Understand the effectiveness of instruction using the simulation.

System

 A system is a group of interacting or interrelated entities, objects and/or people/organisms, that

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form a unified whole.
 A system is delineated by its spatial and temporal boundaries, surrounded and influenced by its
environment, described by its structure and purpose, and expressed in its functioning.
 Engineering systems include electric and electronic circuits, a civil structure, an engine, an
aircraft, a factory, a power station, an electric power grid, an engineering college, and a
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corporate.
 Some systems consist only of physical elements, and some will have persons and machines.

Simulation
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 A simulation is an animated model that mimics the operation of an existing or proposed system.
 Modeling and simulation refer to a combination of processes in which a system’s behavior is
demonstrated or predicted by a reductive computational representation.
 Modeling and simulation processes are highly interrelated and at times are used
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interchangeably.
 When used in educational contexts, modeling and simulation skills and tools can further support
the integration of both divergent and convergent thinking.
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Modeling and Simulation

 Modern engineering workplaces commonly use modeling and simulation tools, to aid the analysis
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and design of systems.

 Modeling and simulation skills have been integrated across many science and engineering
disciplines as analytic tools.
 These tools support the study of complex phenomena and as predictive tools that can anticipate
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the suitability of new designs.

 Simulation offers a powerful, evidence-based approach to decision making - by using a virtual
representation to test the impact of process changes and 'what if' scenarios, you can find an
approach that delivers the best results.

NATE-Module 3-Week 10 N J Rao & K Rajanikanth 1

 
 Industry Expectations

Industry expectations (Vergara et. al. 2009)

Graduates should be able to
1. Characterize and solve problems at the operational and conceptual levels, translating
between the physical and virtual world.

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2. Manage (e.g., collect, store, secure) data, draw meaning from information, and
communicate that information to others in a meaningful way.
3. Learn multiple software and computational systems.
4. Use information technology (e.g., collaborative tools, instant messaging) to increase

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business productivity.

Proposed Learning Outcomes

Faculty translation of industry expectations into learning outcomes (Magana et. al. 2012)
The students should be able to
 Identify and describe the governing fundamental physical principles or behaviors of devices,
materials, and other artifacts using simulations.

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 Build simulations to apply modeling and computational techniques to perform engineering design
tasks.

Simulation Tools
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 PO5 Modern Tool Usage: Create, select, and apply appropriate techniques, resources, and
modern engineering and IT tools including prediction and modeling to complex engineering
activities with an understanding of the limitations.
 Simulation constitutes one of the modern tools to understand and design complex engineering
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problems.
 There are any number of open source and proprietary simulation tools available for all needs and
occasions.
 Many simulation tools have good presentation and visualization features that make learning
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experience a lot more meaningful and even immersive.

Where can We Use Simulation?

 The output of a static system is expressed as a parameterized algebraic relation in terms of one
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or more independent variables.

 Simulation can be used to explore the effect of varying parameters on the output variable of such
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a static system.
Example
 Chebyshev or an equi-ripple function, can approximate a box like behavior of a filter

1
T
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1  K12  K24
 

NATE-Module 3-Week 10 N J Rao & K Rajanikanth 2

 
 Filter Function

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‘Graph’ can be used   

1
T
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1  K 2  K 4
1 2
K is to be positive, and K  K which results in T  1 at   1.  
2 1 2
2
T peaks at   0.5 and attains a value of  

 
1 1  K 4 leading to K  4 1  1  . 
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2 2 1

Simulating Dynamic Systems

 A dynamic system consists of several dynamic elements (sub-systems) interconnected in

open-loop or closed-loop mode.
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 Mathematical models of dynamic elements are developed.

 They can be interconnected to create the system under consideration and simulation software
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like MATLAB and Scilab can be used to simulate and study the behavior of dynamic systems. Both
the software tools have a very good visualization features.
 When the system under consideration has multiple feedback loops it is difficult to develop a feel
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for the system behavior without using simulation.

Domain Specific Simulation Tools

 Spice based software tools (Microcap, TINA, TINATI etc.) are used for study and design of
electronic circuits.
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 Bond graph is an explicit graphical tool for capturing the common energy structure of systems.
This modeling technique is used in studying power hydraulics, mechatronics, general
thermodynamic systems, electronics and non-energetic systems like economics and queuing
theory

NATE-Module 3-Week 10 N J Rao & K Rajanikanth 3

 
  TSAT: Thermal Systems Analysis Toolbox, an Open Source software, is a graphical thermal
system modeling and simulation package built in MATLAB/Simulink. FloTherm, ANSYS and
ABAQUS are other tools.

Frequency Locked Loop in TINATI

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Simulation of Real-Life Processes

 Simulation can be visual and animated, allowing you to easily see what’s happening in a process
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as time progresses.
 It can be interactive, so you can quickly adapt it in any way that you might consider changing the
real process.
 As simulation can run through time much quicker than real life, you can simulate days, weeks or
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years of a process in seconds. This enables you to evaluate the long-term consequences of any
changes and decisions made.
 Simulation allows you to compare different configurations under the same circumstances.

Intuitive Simulation Software

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 Using intuitive simulation software (like SIMUL8) one can build a visual mock-up of a process like
creating a flowchart.
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 By adding timings and rules around the tasks, resources and constraints that make up your
system, the simulation can accurately represent a real process.
 Simul8’s intuitive drag and drop interface ensures the user spends less time building simulations
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and more time experimenting with changes to make confident decisions.

People in the System

 It also becomes necessary to model systems for decision making, policy design and business.
 Swarm, MASON, Repast, StarLogo, NetLogo, OBEUS, AgentSheets and AnyLogic are tools for
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agent-based modelling and simulation

 Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) based tool is for decision making.
 Vensim is a tool for simulating business/societal dynamic systems. It uses participatory
modelling. It facilitates modelling systems consisting of multiple decision makers.

NATE-Module 3-Week 10 N J Rao & K Rajanikanth 4

 
  Virtual reality and gaming are also effective in studying systems with people.

What Should a Teacher Do?

 Instructors can effectively make use of simulation tool appropriate to his/her course.
 Demonstration of the behavior of the system using simulation before modeling and explaining the

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underlying concepts and procedures is greatly motivating to the students.
 “what if” simulation of the system under consideration greatly facilitates understanding.
 Open source and Student versions of simulation tools can readily be used.
 Teachers must make special effort to learn the simulation tools.

Exercise

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 Give an example of how you used or intend to use simulation in your course for effective and
engaging instruction.
Thank you for sharing the results of the exercise at nate.iiscta@gmail.com

M3 U7 Outcome

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 Understand Instruction for Metacognitive learning.
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 M3 U7: Instruction for Metacognitive Learning
Recap

 Understood instruction through simulation.

M3 U7: Outcome

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 Understand the need for and methods for instruction for metacognitive learning.

Metacognition

Metacognition is
 thinking about one’s own thinking

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 the ability to assess our own skills, knowledge, or learning
 a person's awareness of his or her own level of knowledge and thought processes
Metacognitive ability affects
 how well and how long students study
 how much and how deeply students learn

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Metacognitive Ability

means
 using learning goals, success criteria and descriptive feedback
 recognizing how attitudes and habits influence learning
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 identifying, communicating and acting on learning preferences and strengths
 assessing learning situations and developing plans of action
 reflecting on learning and engaging in conversations about one’s own thinking
 seeking clarification and support when barriers to learning are encountered
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Why should we be Concerned?

 High performing students have better metacognitive skills.

 Weaker students typically have poor metacognition besides other things.
 Poor metacognition is a big part of incompetence.
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Students with poor metacognitive skills:

 shorten their study time prematurely, thinking that they have mastered course material that they
barely know,
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 become grossly overconfident in their level of understanding,

 underestimate or overestimate their performance in tests, and make poor study decisions.
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Elements of Metacognition

Metacognitive
 Knowledge
 Monitoring
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 Control
Monitoring and Control are together referred to as Regulation by many.

Metacognitive Knowledge

 Knowledge of tasks and contents

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  Knowledge about cognition and cognitive strategies:

o Declarative knowledge of what different types of strategies are available for memory,
thinking, problem solving etc.
o Procedural knowledge of how to use and enact different strategies.
o Conditional knowledge of when and why to use different cognitive strategies.

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 Knowledge of one’s own strengths and weaknesses as a learner or thinker (Plintrich et. al. 2000).

Metacognitive Monitoring

 Metacognitive monitoring is defined as assessing the current state of a cognitive activity.

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o ‘Task difficulty’ or ‘ease of learning’ judgments –assessing how easy or difficult a learning
task will be to perform
o Monitoring of learning (judgment of learning)
o Feelings of knowing – having the experience or ‘awareness’ of knowing something, but being
unable to recall it completely
o Confidence judgment - making judgment of the correctness or appropriateness of the

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response

Metacognitive Control

 Metacognitive control is “regulating some aspect of cognitive activity based on cognitive

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monitoring”.

o Planning activities – setting goals for learning – time use and performance
o Strategy selection and use – making decisions about strategies to use for a task, or when to
change strategies for performing a task
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o Allocation of resources – control and regulation of time use, effort, pace of learning and
performance
o Volitional control – control and regulation of motivation, emotion and environment

 Metacognitive control decisions influence the direction and the way learning will continue.
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Why Examine Metacognition?

In the today’s context

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 We require the ability to engage with and transform increasingly more information across single
and multidisciplinary contexts.
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 As access to information is continuously increasing the process of accessing, choosing and

distilling information will become a major task.
 Institutions and educators require students to undertake independent learning in increasingly
less directed environments (autonomous learners).
 Improving and fostering metacognition learning is one way of doing this.
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Metacognitive Person

 Metacognitive person is someone who monitors his/her understanding and uses strategies to
regulate understanding.
 It also means that there is also a ‘non-metacognitive person’.

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  If one of the goals of education is to foster independent learning (PO12 Life-Long-Learning), then
it is necessary to prepare learners as metacognitive persons.
 Teachers need to understand how to improve learner metacognition.

Metacognitive Teaching

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Teaching metacognitively includes
 Teaching with metacognition
 Teaching for metacognition

Teaching with Metacognition

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 Means teachers think about their own thinking regarding their teaching.
 Teaching with metacognition includes reflecting on:

o Instructional goals
o Students’ characteristics and needs
o Content level and sequencing
o Teaching strategies

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o Materials
o Other issues related to curriculum, instruction and assessment
 Such thinking occurs before, during and after lessons in order to maximize instructional
effectiveness (Hartman 2002).
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Teaching for Metacognition

Metacognition can be promoted through (Vanderbilt University)

 Encouraging students to examine their current thinking: “What do I already know about this topic
that could guide my learning?”
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 Giving students practice in identifying confusions: “What was most confusing to me about the
material explored in class today?”
 Pushing students to recognize conceptual change: “Before this course, I thought ‘stability of a
system’ meant… Now I think that ‘stability is ….” or “How is my thinking changing (or not
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changing) over time?”

 Reflective Journals - Providing a forum in which students monitor their own thinking: “What
worked well in my exam preparation that I should remember to do next time? What did not work
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so well that I should not do next time or that I should change?”

Instruction for Metacognition

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 Should be embedded with the content and activities about which students are thinking.
 Is most effective when it is adapted to reflect the specific learning contexts of a specific topic,
course, or discipline.
 In explicitly connecting a learning context to its relevant processes, learners will be more able to
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adapt strategies to new contexts, rather than assume that learning is the same everywhere and
every time. For instance, students’ abilities to read disciplinary texts in discipline-appropriate
ways would also benefit from metacognitive practice.

NATE-Module 3-Week 10 N J Rao & K Rajanikanth 8

 
 Case of Introductory Programming Course
 Internationally this has a very high failure and dropout rate.
 Most engineering institutions in India achieve a high pass percentage in this course and dropping
out of the course is not an option.
 Institutions achieved this by making students learn a fixed set of programs.

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 The assessment methods are also based on the students’ ability to reproduce these programs in
the lab.
 A survey established that students lack metacognitive awareness both in terms of metacognitive
knowledge and regulation (monitoring and control) of cognition needed for writing programs.
 A test established that good grades do not mean good programming skills.

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Learning Programming
 involves the acquisition and effective use of three inter-related types of programming knowledge,
o Syntactic (specific facts about a programming language and rules for its use)
o Conceptual (computer programming constructs and principles)
o Strategic (programming-specific versions of general problem-solving skills)

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Instructional Practices
 Most introductory programming courses seem to foster the development of syntactic knowledge
and not put enough emphasis on the development of conceptual knowledge, nor strategic
knowledge which is left to unguided discovery.
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 A large amount of instruction in programming involves letting students proceed by trial and error,
as if the ultimate instructional goal was simply to get programs to work.
 Students tend to develop a “fragile” knowledge of programming, described as garbled or inert
knowledge, knowledge used inappropriately, or knowledge not spontaneously accessed in the
context of need because it is still welded to the initial context in which it has been acquired.
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What can be Done?

Working with several groups of students at different institutions established:
 Metacognitive formative assessment helps students plan and invest time in learning
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programming even in the social context where learning programs will be enough to pass and get
a good grade.

What can be Done in General?

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 Metacognitive instruction will be context and content specific.

 Metacognitive learning is generic in nature.
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 A few courses in the first two years of engineering program should be targeted for deliberate
metacognitive instruction.

Exercise
 Write a few instances of metacognitive instruction in your course, even though you did not use or
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were unaware of the terminology associated with metacognition.

Thank you for sharing the results of the exercises at nate.iiscta@gmail.com

M3 U8

 How should a teacher organize instruction?

NATE-Module 3-Week 10 N J Rao & K Rajanikanth 9

 
 M3 U8: So, What should the Teacher Do?
Recap

 Understood instruction for Metacognitive Learning.

M3 U8: Outcomes

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 Understand what the teacher can do in his instructional situation.

Teachers

 Teachers are the major change agents and create the future.
 They are the main facilitators of learning of students.

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 They never undergo any training in facilitating learning.
 NATE is an attempt to provide support to engineering teachers.

Engineering Education in India

 India has a three-tier system for engineering education: - Universities/Deemed to be

Universities, - Private Universities, - Autonomous Colleges and - Non-autonomous Colleges

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 Centrally funded Institutions (IITs, NITs, Central Universities) and a small number of semi-public
institutions (some IIITs) recruit faculty and admit students through elaborate selection
processes.
 The self-financing private universities are of varying quality.
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 More than 90% of engineering colleges in India are self-financing and non-autonomous
institutions.

Non-autonomous Institutions

 The students entering non-autonomous institutions have widely varying competencies, cognitive
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abilities, and motivations.

 Curricula and instruction in the non-autonomous institutions cannot and should not emulate IITs
and NITs.
 Motivations and knowledge of higher education vary considerably among non-autonomous
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institutions.
 Maintaining financial viability and quality of learning is a major challenge to many institutions.
 With many options available for careers the demand for engineering programs is reducing.
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Managements
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of Private Universities and Non-autonomous/Autonomous Colleges

 Have their primary concern as the financial viability which requires admissions should be high
(say >75%)
 Need to ensure periodic recognition by AICTE and accreditation by NBA and sometimes by NAAC.
 Assume admissions will be high if pass percentages are high and placements are good.
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Unfortunately, these can be at variance.

 Expect faculty to perform to meet these requirements.
 Communicate their expectations through HODs, and this leads to some very rigid processes that
prevent good learning.

NATE-Module 3-Week 10 N J Rao & K Rajanikanth 10

 
 Teachers of Non-autonomous Colleges

 The teachers are mostly products of affiliated and non-autonomous institutions and have varying
competencies and communication abilities.
 They are ill equipped particularly with respect to teaching and learning.
 They find it difficult to instruct an overloaded curriculum.

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 They consider the time (about 30%) spent in administration and documentation activities is an
additional burden.
 They need to operate in a very constrained environment.
 A teacher can still make a difference to the quality of learning.

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 Use some elements of NATE

To Start With

 Feel positive that you want to and can make a difference.

 We know only a little how brain functions and how people learn.
 Note that emotions greatly influence learning (affective domain).

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 Acknowledge and list the factors that influence learning in your instructional situation.
 Identify the factors that you can influence.
 Do not be in a hurry to generalize your personal experiences.
 Form groups with colleagues of the Department, Institute and on the Internet exclusively for
teaching and learning activities. One constructs knowledge more effectively through social
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interactions (group activities).
 We are responsible for all aspects (including administration and documentation) of teaching and
learning.
 The program, especially the core courses, is the responsibility of all faculty of the Department.
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Treat your department colleagues as members of a team.

 Learn to document your own observations and reflections and be willing to share where required.
 Try new instruction methods. Note that new experiment does not necessarily work the first time.
Do not abandon if it fails the first time.
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 Use ICT as much as you can.

 Note that maximum impact can be made through assessment. Whenever you alter assessment
from the existing practices, the students need to be informed and prepared.
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 We need to facilitate students to attain Program Outcomes as given by NBA.

 Keep spending some time in understanding how people learn and pedagogy of engineering
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education.

Teachers and Students

 Teachers should keep reminding themselves that they exist because of students.
 Students can be challenges but not adversaries.
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 Teachers need to work with students they have, and cannot expect to have ideal students
 Requirements of students are many in addition to learning as per the curriculum, because of the
age group they are in.

NATE-Module 3-Week 10 N J Rao & K Rajanikanth 11

 
 Things Teachers Can Do

 Discuss with colleagues and write the context and overview of the courses you teach.
 Rewrite, if necessary, Course Outcomes (for the course whose syllabus is given by the University)
that address a selected subset of POs in collaboration with your colleagues.
 Design the courses in the framework of ADDIE and document the same.

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 Design good item banks with proper tagging for all the courses you teach, with inputs from the
Internet and colleagues. Share them with the Department.
 Do not limit yourself to lecturing (one-way communication).
 Select an instructional approach, from the approaches presented in NATE or from others you

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explored, of your preference for each CO/Competency. Give reasons for your choice. Generate
the instructional material in the form that can be shared.
 Make effort in making the students engage with the new knowledge and skills they are expected
to attain.
 Keep learning about teaching, learning and the Brain.

Exercise

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 Write about the activities you undertook, despite all the limitations of your instructional situation,
to facilitate better learning by your students. (maximum 500 words)
Thank you for sharing the results of the exercises at nate.iiscta@gmail.com
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M3 U9 Outcome

 With M3 U8 we come to the end of the limited presentations on Instruction. Good Instruction
Practices are many and each one is context dependent, subject specific and teacher dependent.
 The remaining Units in the Module 3 address the ten Criteria of NBA.
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 M3 U9 address some sub-criteria of Criterion 1 of NBA, and some ways and means of effectively
meeting those sub-criteria.
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 M3 U9: Vision, Mission, and PEOs-1
Recap

 Understood what a teacher can do in her instructional situation.

M3 U9: Outcome

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 Understand the nature of Vision, Mission, and PEOs of the Department. (Criterion 1 of SAR –
Sub-Criteria 1.1, 1.2, and1.3)

SAR Criteria – A Recap

Criteria Tier 1 Tier II

Criteria

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No. Marks Marks

Program Level Criteria

1. Vision, Mission and Program Educational Objectives 50 60

2. Program Curriculum and Teaching-Learning Processes 100 120

3. Program Outcomes and Course Outcomes 175 120

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4. Students’ Performance 100 150

5. Faculty Information and Contributions 200 200

6. Facilities and Technical Support 80 80

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7. Continuous Improvement 75 50

Institute Level Criteria

8. First Year Academics 50 50

9. Student Support Systems 50 50

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Governance, Institutional Support, and Financial

10. 120 120
Resources

Total 1000 1000

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Sub-Criteria, Marks, Exhibits/Context

 Each Criterion has several sub-criteria.

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 The number of sub-criteria under a given criterion, and marks allocated to them may be different
for Tier I institute from those of Tier II institute.
 For each sub-criterion, certain Exhibits/Contexts are to be Observed / Assessed by the visiting
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team.
 Department must have the required exhibits ready for assessment by the visiting team.
 The required exhibits must be properly indexed for easy retrieval.

Criterion 1: Vision, Mission, and PEOs

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 Criterion 1 is concerned with the Vision and Mission of the department and the Program
Educational Objectives (PEOs) of the program for which accreditation is being sought.
 This criterion, its sub-criteria, the required processes, and the exhibits are all the same for both
Tier 1 and Tier II institutes. However, the allocation of marks is different.

NATE-Module 3-Week 10 N J Rao & K Rajanikanth 13

 
 Allocation of Marks

Sub-Criterion Tier I Tier II

1.1 State the Vision and Mission of the Department and Institute 5 5

1.2 State the Program Educational Objectives (PEOs) 5 5

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1.3 Indicate where and how the Vision, Mission and PEOs are published and 15 10
disseminated among stakeholders

1.4 State the process for defining the Vision and Mission of the 15 25
Department, and PEOs of the program

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1.5 Establish consistency of PEOs with Mission of the Department 10 15

TOTAL 50 60

Sub-Criterion 1.1

State the Vision and Mission of the Department and Institute.

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 Evaluation:
Allocation of marks is same for both Tier I and Tier II institutes.
 Guidelines:
A. Availability of the Vision & Mission statements of the Department – 1 Mark
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B. B. Appropriateness/Relevance of the Statements – 2 Marks
C. Consistency of the Department statements with the Institute statements – 2 Marks
Total: 5 Marks
 Exhibits/Context to be Observed/Assessed:
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A. Availability of the Vision & Mission statements of the Department

B. Appropriateness/Relevance of the Statements: Correctness from definition perspective.
Subjective evaluation by the visiting team.
C. Consistency of the Department statements with the Institute statements. Subjective
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evaluation by the visiting team.

Vision of the Department

E

 Aspirations of the department.

 Where the department “sees” itself down the road.
 Growth is implied.
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 Better to avoid, in general, “heavy and flowery” words like “world-class excellence”.
 Typically one sentence or two sentences utmost!
 Must result from a well-defined and recorded process!

Mission of the Department

N

 Vision is where the department wants to be in future. Mission is what the department “does” to
get there.
 Specific plans for realizing the vision.
 Typically, 2 - 4 sentences.

NATE-Module 3-Week 10 N J Rao & K Rajanikanth 14

 
  As with Vision statement, better to avoid generally “flowery” phrases like “Global excellence”.
 Mission also must result from a well-defined and recorded process!

Vision and Mission of the Institute

 The Vision and Mission of the department must be consistent with the vision and mission of the

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institute.
 Vision and Mission of the institute are stated here to show such consistency.
 The evaluation of the quality of the Vision and Mission statements of the institute is addressed in
Criterion 10.

Samples of Vision and Mission Statements

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 There is considerable variation in the Vision and Mission statements of the departments and
institutes.
 Such a variation is to be expected as the aspirations and contexts of different departments and
institutes do differ significantly.
 The samples presented here are from some of the accredited programs as reported in the web

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sites of those institutes.
 These are being presented for illustrative purposes only.

Sample - A

 Vision of the Institute:

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To become a leading engineering institute by providing quality technical
education and research with professional ethics.
 Mission of the Institute:

o To continually improve quality education system that produces engineers having good
N

technical capabilities with human values.

o To nurture a good eco-system that encourages faculty and students to engage in meaningful
research and development.
o To strengthen industry institute interface for promoting team work, internship and
-

entrepreneurship.
o To enhance educational opportunities to the rural and weaker sections of the society.
E

 Vision of the Department:

To be recognized as a premier center in the field of mechanical engineering
education and research that produces competent engineers.
AT

 Mission of the Department:

o To impart technical education through effective teaching learning processes.

o To create research ambience to face the emerging technological challenges for the benefit of
society.
N

o To strengthen industry-institute interface for developing teamwork, internship and

entrepreneur skills.

NATE-Module 3-Week 10 N J Rao & K Rajanikanth 15

 
 Sample – B

 Vision of the Institute:

To be a premier technical institute in the country that imparts innovation-driven engineering
education to nurture value-based competent future professionals.
 Mission of the Institute:

20
The institute is committed to put well directed and honest efforts through teamwork for molding
young minds into ethical professionals and the growth of all stakeholders.
 Vision of the Department:
To produce quality Civil Engineers with the knowledge of latest trends and

20
research technologies to meet the developing needs of industry and society.
 Mission of the Department:

o To impart quality education in line with quality teaching-learning process.

o To provide a better environment to encourage and support innovative research and
development.
o To develop linkage between industry-academia for overall improvement of students

EL
Sub-Criterion 1.2

State the Program Educational Objectives (PEOs).

 Evaluation: Allocation of marks is same for both Tier I and Tier II institutes.
PT
 Guidelines:
A. Listing of the Program Educational Objectives (3 to 5) of the program under consideration - 5
Marks
Total: 5 Marks
 Exhibits/Context to be Observed/Assessed:
N

Availability and correctness of the PEO statements. Subjective evaluation of the correctness by the
visiting team.

Program Educational Objectives (PEOs)

-

 PEOs are what the graduates of the program are expected to achieve within 4 to 5 years of
completing the program.
 Number of PEOs should be 3 to 5.
E

 PEOs also must result from a well-defined and recorded process!

 We have already discussed PEOs in Module 1 Unit 6.
AT

 A sample from that Unit is reproduced here.

Sample PEOs

Graduates of BE EEE program, four years after graduation, will

PEO1. Engage in designing, manufacturing, testing, operating and/or maintaining systems in the field
N

of electrical and electronics engineering and allied engineering industries

PEO2. Solve problems of social relevance applying the knowledge of electrical and electronics
engineering, and/or pursue higher education and research
PEO3. Work effectively as individuals and as team members in multidisciplinary projects

NATE-Module 3-Week 10 N J Rao & K Rajanikanth 16

 
 PEO4. Engage in lifelong learning, career enhancement and adopt to changing professional and
societal needs

Sub-Criterion 1.3

Indicate where and how the Vision, Mission and PEOs are published and disseminated among

20
stakeholders
 Evaluation:
Allocation of marks is different for Tier I and Tier II institutes!
 Guidelines:

Evaluation Guideline Tier I Tier II

20
Adequacy in respect of publication & dissemination 3 2

Process of dissemination among stakeholders 3 2

Extent of awareness of Vision, Mission & PEOs among the stakeholders 9 6

EL
TOTAL 15 10

 Exhibits/Context to be Observed/Assessed:
A. Adequacy of dissemination of Vision, Mission and PEOs of the Department:
o Availability
PT
o On Institute website under relevant program link
o On the department notice boards
o In HoD’s Chamber; Faculty rooms
o In Laboratories, Classrooms, Library and Seminar Hall of the department
N

o Department website, if available

o In department level documents/course of study including Test Booklets, Laboratory Records
etc
 Exhibits/Context to be Observed/Assessed:
-

B. Process of dissemination: Documentary evidence to indicate the process which ensures

awareness among internal and external stakeholders with effective process implementation.

o Internal stakeholders may include Management, Members of bodies like Governing Board,
E

Academic Council; faculty, support staff, students etc.

o External stakeholders may include alumni, employers, industry etc.
AT

 The stake holders change:

o New students join the institute every year

o New faculty and support staff join the institute
o Members of Governing Board, Academic Council may change
N

o ……

 A process must be established and implemented to ensure that the information regarding the
Vision, Mission and PEOs of the Department is disseminated periodically and also when the stake
holders change.

NATE-Module 3-Week 10 N J Rao & K Rajanikanth 17

 
  A department-level committee must be constituted to ensure such timely dissemination of the
information.
 IQAC, if it exists, can coordinate with the committee.
 Records of communication must be maintained.
(Note: There are some considerations common to any “process” in the context of SAR. We will discuss

20
them in the next unit.)
 Exhibits/Context to be Observed/Assessed:
C. Extent of Awareness:
o Based on interaction with internal and external stakeholders.
o It is essential that all the stake holders are well aware of the Vision, Mission and PEOs of the

20
Department.
o Such an awareness must get reflected clearly during the interactions with the visiting team.
o It would be helpful if the department discusses its Vision, Mission and PEOs in all its periodic
meetings with the stake holders.

Exercise

EL
1. Comment on the samples of Vision, Mission, and PEOs provided in this presentation.
2. Indicate the Vision and Mission of your Institute and the Vision, Mission, and PEOs of your
department.
Thank you for sharing the results of the exercises at nate.iiscta@gmail.com
PT
M3 U10

 Understand the process for defining the Vision, Mission, and PEOs of the department. (Criterion
1 of SAR - Sub-Criteria 1.4 and 1.5)
N
-
E
AT
N

NATE-Module 3-Week 10 N J Rao & K Rajanikanth 18

 
 M3 U10: Vision, Mission, and PEOs-2
Recap

 Understood the nature of Vision, Mission, and PEOs of the Department. (Criterion 1 of SAR –
Sub-Criteria 1.1, 1.2, and1.3)

20
M3 U10: Outcomes

M3 U10 - 1: Understand the processes for defining the Vision, Mission, and PEOs of the department.
M3 U10 - 2: Understand the nature of the matrix of PEOs – Elements of Mission statements and
justifications for their correlations.
(Criterion 1 of SAR – Sub-Criteria 1. 4 and 1.5)

20
Process

 In the previous Unit, we saw that sub-criterion 1.3 requires the details of the process for
dissemination of the Vision, Mission, and PEOs of the department among all the stake holders.
 Sub-criteria 1.4 and 1.5 also require descriptions of some processes (as we shall see presently).
 Many other criteria also require descriptions of certain processes.

EL
 Wherever the word “process” is used in the SAR document, its meaning is:
o process formulation
o notification to all the concerned
o implementation
PT
 Process formulation:
o A clear description of the activities that constitute the process
o The textual description can be supplemented with a graphic presentation. This will be quite
effective in making the process clear.
N

 Notification to all the concerned:

o For each process, the department must maintain the list of the stake holders to whom the
process document needs to be communicated.
o Department must maintain a record indicating the communication of the process document
-

to the stake holders concerned.

o This becomes part of the process implementation record.
E

 Implementation:
o The process must be implemented, in true spirit, as stated in the process document.
Implementation records must be maintained.
AT

o
Example:
o Process document specified that a brainstorming session must be held with all the stake
holders.
o A record must be maintained of the implementation of this step of the process.
N

o The record must include details like the date on which the brainstorming took place,
members present, signatures of the members, and minutes of the session etc

 Thus, wherever SAR specifies “process”, the department must have:

o A process document

NATE-Module 3-Week 10 N J Rao & K Rajanikanth 19

 
 o Implementation records (including the communication to the stake holders concerned and
the detailed records of process implementation)

Sub-Criterion 1.4
State the process for defining the Vision and Mission of the Department, and PEOs of the Program.
 Evaluation:

20
Allocation of marks is different for Tier I and Tier II institutes!
 Guidelines:

Evaluation Guideline Tier I Tier II

7 10

20
A. Description of process involved in defining the Vision, Mission of the
Department

B. Description of process involved in defining the PEOs of the program 8 15

TOTAL 15 25

 Exhibits/Context to be Observed/Assessed:
Documentary evidence to indicate the process which ensures effective participation of internal and

EL
external department stakeholders with effective process implementation.
A. Description of process involved in defining the Vision, Mission of the Department:
An outline of such a process:
 Brain storming with all the stake holders concerned including Management, Faculty, Current
PT
Students, Alumni, Employers, and Industry Experts. There can be multiple follow-up sessions.
 Formulation of the Vision and Mission statements.
 Validation by experts from academia and industry.
 The above three steps may have to be iterated to arrive at the final version.
N

 It is a good practice to establish a department – level committee that can assume responsibility
for this process.
 If the institute has an IQAC, it must be involved in the process to ensure uniformity and quality
across all the departments of the institute.
-

 The vision and mission of the institute must be defined first.

 The vision and mission of the department must be compatible with the vision and mission of the
institute.
E

 The vision and mission statements must be reviewed periodically to ensure their quality and
relevance. Such a review can be done once every 5-6 years.
AT

A Sample:
 A Brainstorming session with the faculty and students of the Department is held and a
preliminary version of the Vision and Mission statements is prepared. The Vision and Mission
statements of reputed institutes operating in a similar context are also considered during this
initial session.
N

 The preliminary version of Vision and Mission statements is presented in the meeting with with all
the stake holders concerned including Management, Faculty, Current Students, Alumni,
Employers, and Industry Experts. In-depth discussions are held to arrive at the next version of
the vision and mission.

NATE-Module 3-Week 10 N J Rao & K Rajanikanth 20

 
  The updated version of the Vision and Mission is presented in the meeting of the Departmental
Advisory Board that consists of the stake holders representing faculty, industry and alumni.
Vision and Mission statements are reviewed, and the next version is developed.
 The updated version of Vision and Mission is validated by Academic experts from university and
other reputed institutions. Modifications are made as per their suggestions. The process may

20
return to the first step if the experts suggest the need for such a step. Otherwise, the version
after the suggested modifications becomes the near-final version of the Vision and Mission.
 This is further fine-tuned in a meeting involving all the stake holders concerned as well as the
experts from academia to arrive at the final version of the vision and mission statements of the
department.

20
 The Vision and Mission statements of the Department are reviewed and modified over a period of
about 4 to 5 years following the above procedure.
NOTE: The department can depict this process pictorially in a diagram such as a flow-chart. This is
strongly recommended.
B. Description of process involved in defining the PEOs of the program:
 The process for defining the PEOs is broadly similar to the process for defining the Vision and

EL
Mission of the department.
 Thus, the process would include similar steps of brainstorming among stake holders, validation
by experts, iterations as required and so on.
 However, the Vision and Mission of the department must be compatible with the Vision and
PT
Mission of the Institute.
 But, the PEOs are to be correlated to the elements of Mission statements of the department.

Sub-Criterion 1.5
Establish consistency of PEOs with Mission of the Department.
N

 Evaluation:
Allocation of marks is different for Tier I and Tier II institutes!
 Guidelines:

Evaluation Guideline Tier I Tier II

-

A. Preparation of a matrix of PEOs and elements of Mission statement 5 5

B. Consistency/justification of correlation parameters of the above matrix 5 10

E

TOTAL 10 15
AT

 Exhibits/Context to be Observed/Assessed:
A. Availability of a matrix having PEOs and Mission elements
B. Justification for each of the elements mapped in the matrix
A. Preparation of a matrix of PEOs and elements of Mission statement:

PEO M1 M2 … Mk
N

PEO1:

PEO2:

NATE-Module 3-Week 10 N J Rao & K Rajanikanth 21

 
 …

PEOn:

Matrix of PEOs and elements of Mission statement:

 M1, M2. . . Mk are distinct elements of Mission statements.

20
 They need not be full mission statements; they are elements of these statements.
 Enter correlation levels 1, 2 or 3
 1: Slight (Low) 2: Moderate (Medium) 3: Substantial (High)
B. Consistency/justification of correlation parameters of the above matrix:
 Every mapping between a PEO and an element of Mission statement shown in the matrix must be

20
justified.
 The justification may be presented in one or two sentences.
 Quality of the justifications is evaluated by the visiting team. This will be based on the perception
of the evaluators.
 Let the justification be logical and to the point. It is better to avoid verbose and vague

EL
justifications.
Example 1:
 PEO4: Act with global, ethical, societal, and ecological awareness expected of practicing
engineering professionals.
 M31: “responsible citizen with social, ethical and environmental awareness”
PT
 PEO4–M31: The mapping strength is marked as 3 (“substantial”)
Justification: The learning environment provided in the college is designed to mould the students
into responsible citizen with social, ethical and environmental awareness; this coupled with the
Program Curriculum will lead Graduates to Act with global, ethical, societal, and ecological
N

awareness.
Example 2:
 PEO2: Be successful professionals contributing to the society as responsible citizens with proven
technical expertise.
-

 M31: “learning environment conducive for acquiring professional competence”

 PEO2–M31: The mapping strength is marked as 2 (“moderate”)
Justification: The learning environment provided in the college is designed to promote
E

professional competence. This enables the graduates to be successful professionals known for
technical competence.
AT

Exercise
1. Describe the processes followed in your department for defining its Vision, Mission, and PEOs.
2. Show the matrix of PEOs – Elements of Mission statements and provide your justifications for
the indicated correlations.
Thank you for sharing the results of the exercises at nate.iiscta@gmail.com
N

M3 U11

 Understand Criterion 2 of SAR: Program Curriculum and Teaching–Learning Processes

NATE-Module 3-Week 10 N J Rao & K Rajanikanth 22