Preface

Paradigm Shift in the new NBA policy...This assessment plan is a vital outcome of the revised requirements of the NBA accreditation criteria that were first published in June 2009. The application details were accessible to intending applicant-colleges via the NBA website only around March 2010.

The revised norms envisage a paradigm shift from the “resources, content or input-based approach to education” to the “output or outcome-based approach”. Major new concepts, such as ‘programme educational objectives’, ‘programme outcomes’, ‘course objectives’, ‘course outcomes’, etc are now introduced. Thus, colleges offering engineering/technology programmes are to develop documentary evidence of programme planning, implementation and evaluation details.

This assessment plan has been developed in accordance with NBA guidelines as well as on the basis of other pertinent references available in the literature, e.g. ABET.

Strategic Planning at the Fashion Technology (FT) DepartmentThe FT Department has been functioning in a planned and systematic manner right from inception of the BTech Textile Technology (FT) programme in 2005-06. It has since developed two strategic plans, one for 2007-2009 and another for 2009-2012.

These plans include inputs for specific quality improvement parameters like the vision, mission, thrust areas, strategic goals, objectives, work plan and action plans, etc written in fine detail. The plans have been in implementation for student, programme and department improvement, through appropriate need-based thrust areas identified by means of a comprehensive SWOT-analysis procedure.

When the revised NBA terminology was announced, the department thought it wise to include the concepts as a new initiative under its thrust area Quality Improvement. That’s how this assessment plan has emerged in 2010-2011.

Since applying for the NBA accreditation in July 2010, the programme educational objectives (PEOs) and the programme outcomes (POs) of the department have been modified, as understanding of the new concepts has improved vastly since then.

Changing curricula...The FT programme has passed through a turbulent phase since its inception in 2005. Besides having to establish itself as a programme of promise to prospective incumbents, it also had to contend with four curricula in the last five years:

1. Regulations-2004 Anna University (AU) Chennai 3. AUT-CBE Regulations-2008

2. Anna University of Technology-Coimbatore (AUT-CBE) Regulations-2007

4. Regulations-2010, Autonomous Curricula of Sona College of Technology

However, the curricular changes have been minor, resulting only in the inclusion or exclusion of only a few courses and the introduction of the credit system. The revised PEOs and the POs of the programme thus remain the same for all of the curricula.

This plan is more than just a plan...This plan document is written not merely as an assessment plan but also as a guide to young faculty who will be called upon to understand, appreciate, assimilate and apply the concepts in their daily academic routine at college. It therefore includes definitions, figures, explanations, examples and so on, to make reading, comprehension and implementation easy (and hopefully enjoyable!).

This document is a result of extended discussions with the FT faculty at several formal and informal meetings that happened almost every day over the last six months! Their contribution and the hours they spent in making it happen are gratefully acknowledged.

Dr. C. V. Koushik/Professor and Head – FT Department

I – Introduction

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1. A Bird’s Eye View of Sona College

Sona College of Technology is a premier institution for education in engineering and technology, established in June 1997 in the ‘Steel City’ of Salem, the fifth largest city in the state of Tamilnadu in South India.

It is the delightful culmination of devoted effort by the visionary industrialist and Founder Shri. M. S. Chockalingam, its dedicated Chairman Shri. C. Valliappa and the dynamic Secretary Shri. A. Dhirajlal.

It is a proud member of the Sona Group of Institutions, the fore-runner of which is Thiagarajar Polytechnic College, established way back in 1958 and reputed for its excellence in the diploma stream of technical education for over five decades now. Thiagarajar is the best polytechnic in Tamilnadu and among the top five polytechnics in India.

Sona College is approved by AICTE and is affiliated to Anna University of Technology, Coimbatore. It is also an ISO-9001:2008 certified institution.

The college was conferred with the autonomous status in 2010 on the strength of its continuous commitment to institutional excellence. As of today, it is one of the top 30 engineering colleges in India and ranks in holistic performance along with some of the ‘Meccas of Technical Education’ like the IITs and the NITs.

Sona provides the right ambience for total learning on a green and immaculate campus.

It presently offers 7 UG, 8 PG and 13 PhD programmes besides the MBA and MCA.

The UG programmes are listed below:

BE Degree Programmes BTech Degree Programmes Mechanical Engineering Information Technology Electrical and Electronics Engineering Textile Technology (Fashion Technology) Computer Science and Engineering Electronics and Communication Engineering Civil Engineering

All of its eligible UG programmes and 70% of its PG programmes are accredited by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA).

The spacious and picturesque buildings interspersed with colourfully-landscaped courtyards, pathways and manicured lawns, emphasize the character of a centre of learning par excellence.

The campus hosts discipline-wise academic blocks, computer centres, lecture halls, libraries, laboratories, a full-fledged centre for advanced research, conference halls, staff quarters, hostel, a full-size sports ground and a sports complex complete with, yoga centre, billiards tables and a half-Olympic-size swimming pool, besides the basic utilities like a cooperative store and two ATMs, a medical centre for staff and students and adequate transport facilities.

All in all, Sona has the feel of a friendly, enchanting hamlet while offering all the benefits typical of a citadel of learning.

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2. A Profile of the School of Garment and Fashion Technology

The erstwhile BSc (AFT) programme: The school was established in 2001, and until 2005, offered a three-year BSc programme in Apparel and Fashion Technology (AFT). About 110 graduates emerged successfully in the four years from 2004 to 2007. Fourteen of them came out with university ranks, of which four were gold-medal winning toppers.

The current BTech programme: As of June 2005, the BSc programme was replaced with a four-year BTech programme in Textile Technology (Fashion Technology) in view of industry’s need for garment technologists with a wider range of technical skills.

Two batches of graduates have emerged from this programme, one each in 2009 and 2010. Both of the batches have enjoyed 100% placement in reputed garment industries. The graduates include a total of eight university ranks including two gold-medallists.

The major features of the department are listed below:

It offers a four-year BTech programme in Textile Technology (Fashion Technology), the curriculum for which is prescribed by Anna University, Coimbatore.

The department is an Anna-University recognised Collaborative Research Centre for offering PhD programmes.

Dedicated and experienced faculty consisting of a doctorate and 10 postgraduates, five of whom are pursuing PhD programmes

A complete education and training package designed to meet learner and industry needs

Organised many short-term training programmes, two EDPs, three national conferences, a national seminar and two industry executives training programmes

Nearly 50 papers published by the faulty in leading national and international journals, and in various seminars and conferences

About 10 books published (textile textbooks, book-of-papers of the national conferences on specific themes like technical textiles, eco-friendly textiles and quality issues, pedagogy, self-development, etc)

Well-equipped and spacious laboratories with up-to-date industry-grade machinery and equipment related to garment and textile technology

Sponsored industrial training projects worth about Rs. 12 lakhs from Salem Steel Plant, etc

A Learning Resources Centre with 1200 volumes, CD-ROMs, access to e-journals, etc

100% placement with good salaries for its first and second batches (2009 and 2010)

Research and Development with specific focus on fabric finishing, fabric comfort, garment technology and dyeing effluent treatment

Value-added training for students that facilitates the acquisition of a wider range of practical skills and the development of soft skills, both of which the garment industry is always on the lookout for

Textile and garment testing and consultancy services are offered to industries in the region

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Short-term courses for interested members of the community and customised skill-development courses for industry are also offered.

3. The New Accreditation Criteria of NBA

The Washington Accord, at a meeting in 2007, has admitted the NBA as a provisional member of the accord. The membership was renewed in 2009.

The permanent-member signatories of the accord have recognised the potential of the engineering education system in India and have given it a period of two years until 2011, to revamp its engineering programmes, the curricula and syllabi, the examination and evaluation systems, and the NBA’s accreditation system and bring them on par with international standards.

The NBA constituted a committee of learned and experienced educators who came up with revised norms for accreditation in 2009. The new norms were uploaded in the NBA website in early 2010.

The revised criteria and norms for accreditation show a visible shift from the traditional content-based criteria to those that are predominantly outcome-based.

Revised accreditation criteria1. Organisation and Governance, Resources, Institutional Support, Development and

Planning (Max 150 points – Qualifying Min: 100)

2. Evaluation and Teaching-Learning Process (Max 175 points – Qualifying Min: 100)

3. Students’ Entry and Outputs (150 points – Qualifying Min: 100)

4. Faculty Contributions (150 points – Qualifying Min: 100)

5. Facilities and Technical Support (75 points)

6. Continuous Improvements (75 points)

7. Curriculum (125 points)

8. Program Educational Objectives – their Compliance and Outcomes (100 points)

4. FT Department’s Initiatives for Curricular and Academic Excellence

Initial Efforts: In the year 2005, when the four-year BTech degree programme was introduced, the FT department (then the AFT Department) reflected on ways to enhance the quality of the prevailing educational system. The fact that Sona College was already an ISO-certified institution and that it had developed its Quality Management System (QMS) contributed immensely to this initiative. A system for quality in everything that was done at the school was put in place.

Sharpening the Focus on Quality: In August 2006, the school documented the processes and procedures established in the school in a brief department-level write-up entitled “The AFT Quality Document”.

The document provides a synoptic insight into the academic and related practices that the school followed assiduously at that time. Many of these had been developed by the college and implemented by all its departments.

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The Ultimate Strategy – The School’s First Strategic Plan : In early 2007, almost two years had elapsed since the introduction of the BTech degree programme and the school was at the crucial point of devising ways to tackle the following challenges it faced: Inexplicably low levels of admissions to the programme

Low calibre of candidates entering the school

Low salary levels offered to graduates by the textile/garment industry

The lure of IT jobs, etc.

It was about March 2007 when the idea dawned on the school that it could do very well to develop its own strategic plan as the only way to tackle these and several other issues that it faced. This was how the first strategic plan was born.

The School’s Second Strategic Plan: In July 2009, the school developed its second strategic plan, updating it with the prevailing SWOT data and planning requirements for the three-year period from 2009 to 2012.

The change in cycle period is due to the school’s excellent all-round performance in the implementation of its first strategic plan.

5. Linkages in the FT Programme Assessment Plan

Hierarchy of linkages: The vision, mission and development plan of Sona College, the FT Department and the FT Programme are depicted in the figure on the following page. The hierarchy and the inter-relationships are clearly highlighted.

Institutional Plan: Every activity in a university / college of engineering and technology begins with its vision, mission and development plan (the long-term strategic goals, the Quality Policy, the Quality Management System and its strategic long-term goals, in the case of Sona College).

Departmental Plan: The vision, mission and development plan of the divisional units or departments of the institution come next, care being taken to ensure that these planning outputs are in alignment with those of the parent institution.

Programme Plan: The programme offered by individual departments comes next in hierarchy. Details such as the programme’s vision and mission, the PEOs, POs, COBs, COTs and the assessment methods and evaluation are to be developed and documented for all to see.

The Inter-relationships: The alignment between the major components of the institutional plan and those of the department are to be highlighted. Similarly, there should be alignment between the PEOs, and the departmental and institutional plan components. Likewise, the PEOs and the POs must be ‘mapped’ with each other to ensure the conformity in the relationships; next the POs and the courses offered in the programme are to be mapped as also the POs with the Course Objectives (and thus the Course Outcomes.)

Finally, the assessment methods and the evaluation techniques to be used, and the results of the programme assessment process are to be arrived at. When all of the above information is ready, the basis for decisions on programme improvement would have been established.

The cascading effect: All of the planning outputs from the institution cascade to those of its constituent units and then to the programmes they offer; this cascading effect represents one of the special features of outcome-based education.

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Institu

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Institutional Vision

Institutional Mission

Departmental Vision

Departmental Mission

Programme Vision

Programme Mission

Institutional Goals / Objectives(Quality Policy and QMS)

Departmental Goals / Objectives (Strategic Plan)

Programme Educational Objectives

Programme Outcomes

Programme Curriculum

Course Objectives

Performance Criteria Course Outcomes (CO)

(Learning Outcomes/Objectives)

Graduate/Student Performance

Data Collection

PEO Assessment Tools

CO Assessment Tools

Evaluation

FT Programme Assessment Plan – The Linkages

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6. An Overview of “Outcome-Based Engineering/Technology Education”

There is a vast amount of literature on this topic and the faculty are advised to review them for the enormous learning experience they provide. A synoptic view of this emerging educational concept is provided in this page and the next.

Outcome Based Education (OBE) is the paradigm shift resulting from the failure of Traditional Education, which focused narrowly on the content and produced students with varying degrees of achievement levels. Thus this model did not produce learners who could perform effectively at the work place.

OBE has changed the focus of learning institutions from the content to the learner.

Three goals drive this approach to creating academic curricula:a) All students can learn and succeed, but may be not on the same day or in the

same way. b) Each success by a student breeds more success. c) Academic institutions control the conditions of success.

Curriculum Design for OBEOBE is a methodology of curriculum design and teaching that focuses on what students can actually do after they are taught. OBE focuses on these key questions:

a) What should the students learn?

b) What is the motivation for the students to learn it?

c) How can the academic institution and its resources help students learn it?

d) How will it be determined what the students have learned (assessment)?

Thus, the OBE’s instructional planning process is a reverse of that associated with traditional educational planning. The desired outcome is determined first and the curriculum, instructional materials and assessments are designed around to support and facilitate the intended outcome. All curriculum and teaching decisions are made on the basis of how best to facilitate the desired final outcome.

The Benefits of OBEThe benefits of OBE are as follows:

a) OBE is able to measure what students are capable of performing; this goes much deeper at a cognitive level than the traditional education system. OBE not only provides the students with facts (content) but also takes the approach of problem solving. Hence the student is intellectually engaged in solving problems which are quite varied and situational.

b) OBE is not only interested in content but more so in context which lends the relevancy to the content itself. Classroom practices have to allow the students to demonstrate what they have learned in many different ways. Ideally, students should have an understanding of the content and context, and must have internalised the subject matter at a cognitive level and gained mastery over it.

c) OBE goes beyond ‘structured tasks’ (e.g. memorisation) by demanding that a student demonstrate his/her skills through more challenging tasks like designing and project building. They should engage in analysis and synthesis and apply it to problem solving. Many times they should utilise other partner’s resources in the equation of problem solving. The students learn the value of cooperation in place of mindless competition that is detrimental to team spirit and resources development, which are critical to complex problem situation and solution.

d) Thus, OBE involves students in a complete course of learning—from developing their skills in designing to completing a whole process. OBE also identifies higher

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levels of thinking (e.g. creativity, ability to analyse and synthesise information, ability to plan and organise tasks). Such skills are emphasised especially when students are assigned to organise and work as a community or in teams to propose solutions to problems and market their solutions.

The Four Basic principles of OBEa) Clarity of focus about outcomes

• Always have the significant, culminating exit outcomes as the focus.

• Let the students know what they are aiming for.

There could be two types of outcomes: major ones such as the exit outcome of the programme (programme objectives and outcomes) and minor ones that are developed by the instructor for achieving the instructional goals (course objectives and outcomes).

b) Designing backwards

• Design curriculum backwards by using the major outcomes as the focus and linking all planning, teaching and assessment decisions directly to these outcomes.

c) Consistent, high expectations of success

• Set the expectation that OBE is for all learners.

• Expect students to succeed by providing them encouragement to engage deeply with the issues they are learning and to achieve the high challenging standards set

d) Expanded opportunity (Inclusive)

• Develop curriculum to give scope to every learner to learn at his/her own pace.

• Cater for individual needs and differences, for example, expansion of available time and resources so that all students succeed in reaching the exit outcomes.

Outcome-Based Assessment (OBA) ModelOBA is the culminating part of OBE. ABET’s model is outlined as follows:

a) Each programme has major defining constituencies.

b) The constituencies define the Programme Education Objectives (long term and broad outcomes).

c) ABET assessment is based on Outcome Based Education’s methodology, and defines ‘a’ through ‘k’ components for the Programme’s Outcomes as the ‘General Criteria’.

d) Every engineering or technology programme defines the programme specific outcomes as the ‘Program Criteria’.

e) Each programme designs a curriculum that incorporates the General Criteria and Programme Criteria as the Programme’s Outcomes, defined in terms of the Programme Educational Objectives (PEOs).

f) Each programme accomplishes Outcome Based Assessment as an integral part of the Outcome Based Education. This process utilises multiple tools to assess and evaluate, which in turn translates into Continuous Improvement of Outcome Based Education.

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II – The Institutional Context

Sona College – Vision, Mission and Quality Policy

Institutional Vision

To become an institute of great repute, in the fields of science, applied science, engineering, technology and management studies, by offering a full range of programmes of global standard, to foster research, and to transform the students into globally competent personalities.

Institutional Mission

To provide under-graduate, post-graduate, doctoral and other value-added programmes beneficial for the students

To provide state-of-the-art resources required to achieve excellence in teaching-learning, and supplementary processes

To provide faculty and staff with the required qualification and competence and to provide opportunity to upgrade their knowledge and skills

To motivate the students to pursue higher education, competitive exams, and other value added programmes for their holistic development

To provide opportunity to the students to bring out their inherent talent

To establish centres of excellence in the emerging areas of research

To have regular interaction with the industries in the area of R-and-D, and offer consultancy, training and testing services

To offer continuing education, and non-formal vocational education programmes beneficial to the society

Institutional Quality Policy

Sona College of Technology is committed to provide quality education to the students enabling them to excel in the fields of science, engineering, technology and management to cater to the changing and challenging needs of society and industry by,

Contributing to the academic standing and overall knowledge development of the students

Maintaining state-of-the art infrastructure and congenial learning environment

Enhancing the competence of faculty to a very high level and to make them adopt all modern and innovative methods in teaching learning process

Inculcating moral and ethical values among students and staff

Collaborating with institutions and industries

Promoting research and development programme for the growth of economy

Disseminating technical knowledge in the region through continuing education programmes

Ensuring continual improvement of quality management systems

QMS and Long-term Goals: The college has a well-entrenched Quality Management System (QMS) and strategic long-term goals that provide direction and development.

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III – The Departmental Context

1. Strategic Planning Initiative of the Department

a) Why Strategic Planning?

Strategic planning is an ideal way to optimise the resources of an organisation (or

any of its units) to deal with its circumstances in order to achieve and exceed its

mission.

As the department finds itself in changing and challenging circumstances most of

the time, it was believed that strategic planning will be a viable alternative to

address the above issues with greater clarity and focus.

b) The Stages of Strategic Planning in 2007

The SPG: A team of staff members of the school, called the Strategic Planning

Group (SPG), was trained through a series of meetings and interactions on

strategic planning by Dr. C. V. Koushik, Head of the School in April and May 2007.

The Stakeholders: The SPG worked together and involved the representatives of

the school’s stakeholders like the management, students, alumni, departmental

staff and the industry, in the planning process, to unite them for a common

purpose.

The Mandate, Vision and Mission statements of the school were developed

through consensus of all the staff and key stakeholders.

SWOT Data: Extensive data on the internal and external environments were

obtained from all of the key stakeholders by means of questionnaires and

interview schedules. From this data, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and

threats (SWOT) of the school were identified and recorded.

Thrust Areas: The SPG then reviewed all of this information in conjunction with the

mandate and mission statements and came up with an array of thrust areas, i.e.

the areas in which the school required change.

These were prioritised at an SPG meeting and clustered into six major thrust

areas. Six of the faculty were assigned a thrust area each for further development

and action, and assigned the designation of Thrust Area Manager (TAM).

Goals, Objectives and Work Plan: At further SPG meetings, the members identified

goals, goal statements and the objectives for all of the thrust areas. The objective

statements, the work plan and the action plans, prepared by the individual TAMs,

were also discussed at the meetings and validated by the SPG.

Indicators of Effectiveness or Indicators of Success: The SPG identified indicators

of success for each of the objectives along with the development of the action

plans. The indicators acted as targets for successful achievement of the action

plans (objectives).

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Implementation and Sustainability: Lastly, structures and procedures for monitoring the implementation of the strategic plan and those for ensuring sustainability of the strategic planning and implementation processes were evolved.

Conforming to Sona-QMS requirements: Objectives in the plan that were similar to those in the Process Manual of the Sona-QMS were compared to ensure that the process steps in both the documents were not at variance with each other.

Summary of Outputs: The whole process resulted in the following outputs:

MANDATE → VISION → MISSION → SWOT DATA → SIX THRUST AREAS →

SIX STRATEGIC GOALS → 32 OBJECTIVES → WORK PLAN →

32 ACTION PLANS → STRUCTURES AND PROCEDURES

All of these outputs were documented and compiled into a comprehensive strategic plan document.

Versions of the SP document: Three versions of the SP document were prepared:

i) The detailed (long) version: for departmental use in plan implementation

and monitoring

ii) The corporate (short) version: for sharing highlights of the plan with

industry stakeholders

iii) The brief (flyer) version: for sharing key features of the plan with other

stakeholders, like students, parents, alumni, etc and visitors

Monitoring implementation of the plan: This was achieved through periodic (weekly/fortnightly) meetings of a committee called the Strategic Planning and Implementation Committee (SPIC) consisting of all the FT staff members. The SPG became redundant as soon as SPIC started operating.

c) Impact of Implementation of the School’s Maiden Strategic Plan

The highlights of the implementation of our first SP and the successes we experienced are stated below:

All the labs have machinery and equipment according to Anna University requirements. Some labs even exceed the requirements.

The systems related to academic planning, monitoring classroom delivery and student evaluation are internalised by the faculty and are also institutionalised.

The school ranks first among the institutions offering fashion technology with regard to academic performance. There is an increasing trend in the number of students obtaining a pass in the first attempt in subjects like mathematics in Semesters 3 and 4.

Student development is well planned and organised effectively. Student

performance in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities has shown a

marked improvement in the last two years. They have brought many laurels to

the school.

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Placement training has been implemented according to plan and all the job-

seeking graduates of the first BTech-FT batch of 2009 have been placed in less

than two months after programme completion. The placement rate for the

batch was 100%.

The staff-members are keen on registering for higher studies and also for

courses like pedagogy, subject updating, etc and for industrial training.

Interaction with industry has increased reasonably and there have been tie-ups

with industry involving testing, training, continuing education and consultancy.

Above all, there is increased team work, understanding and transparency

among the staff. They are always focussed on excellence and are willing to

contribute to the school’s successes, even if it means going the extra mile. This

is by far the most significant impact of our first strategic plan.

d) Planning Process in 2009 for the Second Strategic Plan

SWOT Data: The original SWOT data was updated through feedback from the key

stakeholders, namely students, staff, alumni and industry, using revised

questionnaires. Industry feedback has shown good improvement over the last

time in terms of the number of units responding. This was achieved through

personal interviews at industry sites organised by the faculty. Alumni response,

like before, has not been encouraging.

Vision and Mission Statements: The vision and mission statements have been

spruced up keeping in mind the changes in the college, student and industry

fronts.

Thrust Areas: There is a considerable increase in the number of thrust areas (TAs)

in the second plan. There are now ten thrust areas in all, five more coming in

place of community-academia interaction of the first plan.

This has been done with a view to step up performance in areas like Industry-

School Interaction, Continuing Education, Public Relations and Quality

Improvement, each of which is now a new thrust area. Placement and

Entrepreneurship Training is a separate thrust area to ensure still better

performance over the last plan.

Thrust Area Managers: New faculty have been inducted into the plan as Thrust

Area Managers (TAMs). So there are 10 TAMs and 10 Joint TAMs; many a TAM

doubles as a Joint TAM.

Strategic Goals: Each of the thrust areas has a strategic goal and each of the

strategic goals has four to six objectives.

Objectives: Thus there are 10 thrust areas, 10 strategic goals and a total of 54

objectives.

Work Plan: As before, there is a work plan with timelines to give a bird’s eye view of the implementation periods for the objectives.

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Action Plans: Each of the objectives has an action plan with related details for action, giving a total of 54 action plans that are numbered sequentially in the plan for easy reference.

There are minor changes in the terms of reference (ToRs) for the Strategic Planning and Implementation Committee (SPIC), the ToRs for the Industry-Academia Committee (IAC) and in the structures and procedures for sustaining the planning and implementation processes.

Summary of Outputs: Our second exercise in planning has resulted in the following outputs:

MANDATE → VISION → MISSION → SWOT DATA → TEN THRUST AREAS →

TEN STRATEGIC GOALS → 54 OBJECTIVES → WORK PLAN →

54 ACTION PLANS → STRUCTURES AND PROCEDURES

Versions of the SP document: Three versions of the SP document, as explained for the first SP document, were prepared for the second strategic plan as well.

2. Department’s Vision, Mission, Thrust Areas, Strategic Goals and Objectives

a) The Department’s Vision (What we dream to become in about 2020!)

Short (Focussed) Vision Statement (A revised statement as of Dec 2010)

The School of Garment and Fashion Technology is recognised as a premier school offering a broad range of career-based programmes with up-to-date infrastructure and highly-qualified and dedicated staff-members.

Its graduates are in exclusive demand globally for their exemplary technical and professional competencies and outstanding organisational citizenship behaviour*.

The school is unique for its value-based education and a systematic approach to everything that it does.

It is well-known as an active participant in the technical, educational and socio-economic development of Tamilnadu State with its sharp focus on research and development, appropriate corporate linkages and customised non-formal and continuing education.

[*Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) is defined by Dennis Organ, the father of this concept, as “individual behaviour that is discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, and that in the aggregate promotes the effective functioning of the organization”. Organ’s definition of OCB includes three critical aspects that are central to this construct. First, OCBs are thought of as discretionary behaviours, which are not part of the job description, and are performed by the employee as a result of personal choice. Second, OCBs go above and beyond that which is an enforceable requirement of the job description. Finally, OCBs contribute positively to overall organisational effectiveness.]

Elaborate Vision Statement – This may be gleaned from the corporate or detailed version of the strategic plan document (SP-II) of 2009-2012.

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b) The Department’s Mission (What we do to realise our vision!)

Short (focussed) Mission Statement

We provide students with holistic education and training to bring out industry-ready graduates who exactly meet the technical manpower needs of the garment industry and business.

Elaborate Mission Statement

The School of Garment and Fashion Technology (GFT) is a faculty of Sona College of Technology, a premier engineering college situated in Salem, Tamilnadu. The school offers a four-year BTech degree programme in Fashion Technology.

The school aspires to develop, for the garment industry and business, technically sound persons who will emerge as proactive and responsible citizens, and good technical leaders of the country.

The school achieves its mission with commendable effect by,

Equipping all of the school’s laboratories and activity-centres with modern and industry-relevant machinery, equipment and instruments, and putting in place a formal system for their regular maintenance and upkeep

Establishing a Learning Resources Centre (LRC) in the school with a good range of titles, volumes and CBTs; having a career corner as a part of the LRC with useful resources related to competitive exams, PG-institutional profiles, company profiles, etc

Encouraging staff development by providing opportunities for higher-education or other formal short-term programmes in subject updating, instructional skills and management development, and also specific need-based industry training

Providing a conducive learning environment and opportunities for holistic student development that takes into consideration technical competence, soft skills, personality development, nurturing latent talent and the spirit of innovation

Strengthening the multiple-activity centre Sona-REACH (Sona Centre for Research in Textiles/Garments and Extension Activities) so it focuses primarily on promoting applied research in the areas of textiles and garments and enhances community-school interaction

o Maintaining a continuous and effective interaction with industry and

business that benefits both industry and the school

o Reaching out to the educational and training needs of the community at

large by offering formal and non-formal need-based continuing education and entrepreneurship programmes aimed at enhancing the employment potential of the people in the district

Establishing a more viable network with the school’s alumni to enhance mutual interaction and contribution of an increasing number of alumni to student development and the school’s activities

Promoting the development of women both within and outside the school through planned and structured training activities

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Nurturing the creative potential and competencies of the staff and students alike by encouraging their active participation in the activities of Sona-REACH and by creating an environment of academic freedom

Demonstrating a concern for the environment by spreading environment awareness among the staff and students and by assiduously following practices that preserve the environment as nature intended it to be.

Our core values are,

Unity Quality in everything we do Equity Commitment to high quality education and training Team spirit Demonstration of an environment-friendly attitude Transparenc

y Spontaneity in responding to the needs of our stakeholders

c) Thrust Areas → Strategic Goals → Objectives

The overall focus of the strategic plan is to enhance student performance through

programme and departmental development. A review of the list of thrust areas,

strategic goals, objectives (and action plans) included in the current plan will

make this very clear.

Thrust Area 1.0: Physical Facilities (PF)

Strategic Goal 1.1: To Enhance the Physical Facilities in the School

Objective Titles1.1.1 Enhance laboratory facilities to cater to industry requirements and research needs1.1.2 Establish a teacher-and-learner-friendly ambience in the classrooms 1.1.3 Augment the quality and functioning of the Learning Resources Centre (LRC)1.1.4 Perform lab-housekeeping and machinery/equipment maintenance periodically1.1.5 Follow a systematic procedure for lab equipment that need periodic calibration

Thrust Area 2.0: Academic Excellence (AE)

Strategic Goal 2.1: To Streamline the Teaching-Learning Process for Producing Job-Ready Graduates

Objective Titles2.1.1. Improve and implement the system for effective classroom delivery / laboratory

training2.1.2. Reinforce student learning through student-centred learning techniques2.1.3. Refine the system for the continuous evaluation of student learning2.1.4. Organise special practical training that goes beyond the university curriculum2.1.5. Enhance the effectiveness of the student counselling system2.1.6. Recognise and reward student effort to achieve excellence

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Thrust Area 3.0: Student Development (STUD)

Strategic Goal 3.1: To Organise Appropriate Student Training for All-Round Student Development

Objective Titles3.1.1 Prepare a calendar of events and a budget for all student-development activities3.1.2 Enhance the effectiveness of the CPS3.1.3 Organise personality development / soft skills / learning skills workshops3.1.4 Provide opportunities for upgrading technical knowledge, practising soft skills and

giving expression to creativity3.1.5 Reinforce awareness of environment-friendly living, women issues and social

accountability/compliance and enhance general knowledge3.1.6 Encourage students to participate in sports, yoga and cultural activities

Thrust Area 4.0: Staff Development (STAD)

Strategic Goal 4.1: To Provide Opportunities for Staff Development

Objective Titles4.1.1 Assess the training needs of the staff and develop a staff development plan4.1.2 Encourage staff to pursue recognised programmes of higher learning in textile/

garment technology4.1.3 Organise subject updating / industrial training programmes4.1.4 Provide opportunities for the staff to enhance their teacher competencies4.1.5 Present staff with opportunities to enhance their communication/presentation

skills4.1.6 Organise technical conferences / seminars / symposia / SDPs

Thrust Area 6.0: Industry-School Interaction (ISI)

Strategic Goal 6.1: To Strengthen Interaction between the School and the Industry

Objective Titles

6.1.1 Develop a list of proposed ISI activities and prepare an annual budget6.1.2 Update the database of textile/garment/home-textile industries and visit them

regularly6.1.3 Enhance clientele for the school’s industrial testing services6.1.4 Organise an IAC meeting annually for ways to bolster the teaching-learning

process6.1.5 Take up and execute industrial consultancy projects6.1.6 Strengthen the bond between the FT alumni and the school

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Thrust Area 5.0: Research and Development (RD)

Strategic Goal 5.1: To Focus on Applied Textile and Garment Research Work

Objective Titles

5.1.1 Develop a plan for R and D in emerging areas of textile and garment technology and prepare a related annual budget

5.1.2 Prepare and implement action plans for each of the research projects5.1.3 Initiate and pursue R and D projects funded by external agencies5.1.4 Publish technical papers in reputed journals / conferences 5.1.5 File / commercialise a patent every year

Thrust Area 7.0: Continuing Education (CE)

Strategic Goal 7.1: To offer need-based CE courses

Objective Titles

7.1.1 Identify a list of need-based CE courses and develop a plan for organising them7.1.2 Market the school CE courses to outside community and organise them according

to plan7.1.3 Partner with other organisations to meet industry-specific training needs7.1.4 Organise CE courses in advanced garment-making in collaboration with SCNFVE

Thrust Area 8.0: Placement and Entrepreneurship Training (PET)

Strategic Goal 8.1: To establish a system for student placement and entrepreneurship

training

Objective Titles

8.1.1 Disseminate information on career opportunities and help students generate personal career plans

8.1.2 Develop an all-inclusive placement training plan and an associated budget 8.1.3 Organise pre-scheduled training/tests/sessions in the technical skills, aptitude, etc8.1.4 Conduct workshops on skills like resume writing. GD and interview skills,

entrepreneurship, 8.1.5 Expose students to real-world technical experience / exercises / case studies

involving industry experts.8.1.6 Organise on-campus/off-campus interviews and maintain records

Thrust Area 9.0: Quality Improvement (QI)

Strategic Goal 9.1: To formulate and implement strategies for continuous

improvement in quality

Objective Titles

9.1.1 Create awareness of Sona-QMS in new staff and periodically evaluate it for all staff9.1.2 Ensure conformity of the SP initiatives with Sona-QMS policies and processes9.1.3 Develop a list of SMART departmental objectives under the Sona-QMS9.1.4 Organise announced and surprise audits of the QMS at the departmental level9.1.5 Prepare the department for accreditation by NBA9.1.6 Ensure that quality pervades all of the activities in the school

Thrust Area 10.0: Public Relations (PR)

Strategic Goal 10.1: To widen the school’s public relations efforts and enhance its recognition in the outside world

Objective Titles10.1.1 Maintain an updated record of the school’s achievements10.1.2 Liaise with the PRO of Sona College for effective publicity of the school10.1.3 Ensure that the school-related information in the college archives is always current10.1.4 Disseminate information about the school and the FT programme to the society10.1.5 Explore the possibilities of a tie-up with leading overseas universities

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3. How the Department’s Vision, Mission and Thrust areas fit the Institutional Context

The mission statement of Sona College states that it...

The department’s vision/mission/thrust area in

alignment with the Sona mission...“provides graduate, post-graduate, doctoral and other value-added programmes beneficial for the students...”

“provides state-of-the-art resources required to achieve excellence in teaching-learning, and supplementary processes...”

“provides faculty and staff with the required qualification and competence and to provide opportunity to upgrade their knowledge and skills...”

The department’s vision states that it is... “a premier school offering a broad range of career-based programmes with up-to-date infrastructure and highly-qualified and dedicated staff-members”

Its mission statement includes specific focus on infrastructure and staff development.

There are individual thrust areas that focus on ‘Physical Facilities’, and ‘Staff Development’.

“motivates the students to pursue higher education, competitive exams, and other value added programmes for their holistic development”

“provides opportunity to the students to bring out their inherent talent”

The vision states that the department’s “graduates are in exclusive demand globally for their exemplary technical and professional competencies and outstanding organisational citizenship behaviour”.

The mission also states explicitly that it has specific ways to ‘develop students’.

The departmental plan includes a thrust area exclusively for ‘Student Development’.

“establishes centres of excellence in the emerging areas of research”

The multiple-activity centre Sona-REACH is included in the departmental mission.

There is a separate thrust area for ‘Research and Development’.

“has regular interaction with the Industries in the area of R-and-D, and offer consultancy, training and testing services”

The thrust area on ‘Industry-School Interaction’ has comprehensive activities that elates specially to industry.

“offers continuing education, and non-formal vocational education programmes beneficial to the society”

Both the vision and mission statements include specific initiatives on continuing education.

A separate thrust area on ‘Continuing Education’ is part of the departmental plan.

It is clear from the above table that the department’s plan components are in close

conformity with Sona’s vision. The department is clearly moving in the same direction

as Sona and it can thus help Sona attain its mission.

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The Quality Policy of Sona College includes the following initiatives, each of which is addressed through the thrust areas and the related action-plans in SP-II of the department.

Sona College’s Quality Policy Components

The Department’s Thrust Areas

Contributing to the academic standing and overall knowledge development of the students

Physical Facilities

Maintaining state-of-the art infrastructure and congenial learning environment

-do-

Enhancing the competence of faculty to a very high level and to make them adopt all modern and innovative methods in teaching learning process

Staff Development

Inculcating moral and ethical values among students and staff

Staff Development Student Development Quality Improvement

Collaborating with Institutions and Industries Industry-School Interaction

Promoting research and development programme for the growth of economy

Research and Development

Disseminating technical knowledge in the region through Continuing Education Programmes

Continuing Education

Ensuring continual improvement of Quality Management Systems

Quality Improvement

The thrust areas of the department are precisely in line with all of the components of

Sona’s quality policy. Implementation of the action plans formulated for each of the

thrust areas will ensure that Sona’s quality policy will be fully met.

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IV – The Programme Context

1. Programme Vision (or the reputation that we dream the programme will have five years from now, i.e. in 2015)

The vision of the BTech degree programme in Textile Technology (Fashion Technology) is to be a programme of first-choice for aspiring young pass-outs of the Higher Secondary School Certificate examination seeking admission to engineering or technology programmes and textile-related diploma-holders wishing to pursue a UG programme on Fashion Technology.

The programme has the reputation in industry and higher-education institutions of bringing out globally-competent graduates with holistic education that caters to their precise needs.

2. Programme Mission (or what we intend to do in the programme to ensure that the

programme vision is realised)

The mission of the BTech degree programme in Textile Technology (Fashion Technology) is to educate (through industry-specific courses, internship, project work, special workshops, etc) students coming from the Higher Secondary and Diploma streams in the fundamental skills, knowledge and practice of garment technology to prepare them for,

a) positions in the manufacturing or service sectors of the garment industry and

b) continuing advanced degrees in fashion design/technology, textile technology or fashion/general management.

The programme will promote a commitment to continued scholarship and service among its graduates and foster a spirit of innovation. It will also promote an environment that is inclusive and diverse.

2. Programme Educational Objectives (or what we expect the graduates to be capable of demonstrating 3-5 years after graduation, i.e. 7-9 years from joining the programme)

Programme Educational Objectives are defined as the knowledge, skills, performance, abilities, capacities, values, attitudes or disposition that the FT graduates are expected to accomplish 3 to 5 years after graduation.

The PEOs reflect the application of what has been taught in the curriculum once the student has had time to contextualise their undergraduate education.

They describe the career and professional accomplishments that the FT programme is preparing graduates to achieve during the first few years after graduation.

They should be clearly stated, realistic, achievable and measurable.

The PEOs of the FT Programme

PEO #1

Preparation: Prepare students to be job-ready, globally-competent graduates for the garment industry or entrepreneurship, or to pursue higher education programmes, through holistic education and training

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PEO #2

Core Competence: Provide students with a good foundation in mathematics, science, basics of engineering and computers, and industry-related garment manufacturing processes that enables them to build successful careers in industry or pursue higher studies

PEO #3

Breadth: Train students with a good breadth and depth of knowledge in garment manufacture so as to enable them to analyse garment production processes for efficiency, design and create novel garment products and find solutions to real-world industrial workplace problems

PEO #4Professionalism: Inculcate in students professional and ethical attitudes, effective communication skills, teamwork skills, an ability to relate garment industry issues to broader social contexts and the soft skills related to good organisational citizenship behaviour

PEO #5

Learning Environment: Provide students with a good academic environment to make them aware of the spirit of excellence and leadership, ethical codes and guidelines and the life-long learning needed for a successful professional career

a) Programme Constituencies

The above PEOs are developed and evaluated through a regular consultation and examination process that involves four constituencies, namely, students, faculty, alumni and industry.

i) Students’ suggestions on the PEOs are obtained through regular written feedback, student representation in Class Committee meetings and exit interviews with graduating students.

ii) Faculty input is obtained through individual written feedback and through discussions at regular departmental staff meetings (SPIC Meetings).

iii) Alumni suggestions and concurrence on the PEOs are obtained through surveys with FT alumni by mail, or through individual interaction and discussion with visiting alumni or through the exit surveys of graduating students.

iv) Industry input is obtained through discussion with industry members at Board of Studies (which has replaced the Industry-Academia Committee) meetings or through personal interviews with industry personnel at the manufacturing premises.

In addition, formal participation of the constituencies in the development and evaluation of the PEOs is facilitated through,

inclusion of the PEOs in FT web page of the Sona College website and

through posters at vantage points in the department.

b) How the PEOS Fit the Institutional Context

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Each of the PEOs is related to a relevant part of Sona’s vision, mission and quality policy as discussed in the following table.

Institutional Context How the PEOs Match ItSona’s vision states that its programmes will “...transform students into globally competent personalities...”

PEO #1 states that the FT programme will “prepare students to be ...globally-competent graduates...”

Sona’s mission is, among other things, “...to motivate students to pursue higher

education... for their holistic development”

“...to provide students with the opportunity to bring out their inherent talent...”

“...to offer continuing education... to the society (of which students are an important part)...”

These points are addressed specifically in different PEOs.

Sona’s quality policy commits itself, among many things, to,

“...contributing to the academic standing and overall knowledge development of the students”

“...maintaining state-of-the-art infrastructure and a congenial learning environment”

“...inculcating moral and ethical values

These quality points are included in one or another of the PEOs in specific terms.

All of the PEOs are clearly seen to be substantially aligned with Sona’s vision, mission and quality policy.

c) How the PEOS Fit the Departmental Context

PEO No. Related Departmental Thrust Areas

1 Academic Excellence Placement and Entrepreneurship Training

2 Academic Excellence3 Academic Excellence

4 Academic Excellence Student Development

5

Physical Facilities Student Development Continuing Education Placement and Entrepreneurship Training

As the PEOs are all focussed on student learning behaviour, the five student-related thrust areas listed above will contribute, through their action plans, to the achievement of the PEOs.

The strategic plan of the department goes well beyond the expected student performance in the future as stated in the PEOs by incorporating five additional thrust areas that indirectly support and contribute to student development.

d) How the PEOs Match the Programme Vision and Mission

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PEO No. How the PEO matches the Programme Vision and Mission

1 to 5

The programme vision dreams of “...a programme that has a reputation in industry and higher education institutions of bring out globally-competent graduates with holistic education that caters to their precise needs”. All of the PEOs together will help realise this vision.

1

The programme mission is clearly, “...to prepare them (students) for positions in the manufacturing and service sectors of the garment industry and continuing advanced degrees in fashion design/technology...etc”; this is also reflected in PEO #1.

2, 3, 4

These three PEOs include the core competence and breadth of knowledge inputs conforms to the mission where it states, “... to educate through industry-specific courses, internship, project work, special workshops, etc) students... to prepare them...”

4 and 5

These two PEOs match the last part of the mission where it states that, “The programme will promote a commitment to continued scholarship and service among its graduates... It will also promote an environment that is inclusive and diverse.”

When the PEOs are realised 3-5 years after completion of the FT programme by

the graduates, the programme mission would also be attained.

e) Challenges in Achieving the PEOs and Strategies to Overcome Them

The major challenges that could be faced in the development of a fashion technology curriculum designed to achieve the objectives and the strategies (action plans) that have been put in place (through the SP-II) or are proposed to be put in place are listed below.

The Challenges The Strategies

i) In spite of the huge career opportunities available in the garment industry, the demand for the FT programme is relatively low compared with other branches of study.

Specific Action Plans in the following four thrust areas of the department’s SP-II address most of the challenges listed.

Academic Excellence

Student Development

Placement and

Entrepreneurship

Public Relations

ii) There is a marked diversity in the calibre and background of the students entering the FT programme.

Regular Students : Students admitted through the Single-Window (Government) Counselling in the first year have much lower qualifying marks (normalised plus-two score out of 200) compared with those for other branches of study.

Lateral-Entry Students : As all of the seats are not filled up at the start of the first year, there is a greater number of lateral-entry diploma-stream students (than the stipulated 10% of intake) from the second year onwards. These students generally have poor communication

The strategies already in place or those planned for the future are also mentioned separately against some of the

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skills.

Also, the lateral-entry students miss the science, mathematics, computer programming and basic engineering input given during the first year of the programme, which is usually common for all branches of study. This puts them at a great disadvantage when they face courses like advanced maths, OOPS, mechanical and electrical engineering in Semesters 3 and 4.

challenges.Students of the second year (Semesters 3 and 4) are split into two batches to enable teachers to give special attention to needy students especially in the challenging courses.

Students joining FT as a last recourse : Students with low qualifying marks join the FT programme as a last resort and somewhat against their will, often due to parental or peer pressure, etc.

Such students are counselled and informed of the advantages of joining the FT programme.

Last-minute learning : There appears to be a general trend among students to prepare for tests/exams only just before the scheduled dates.

Faculty having to teach such a diverse group of students face an imposing task.

Training in proper time management will be stepped up and students’ time plans will be monitored more frequently.

iii) One of the issues of the semester system of study is that students treat different courses as individual entities and often fail to ‘see’ the interconnections. Thus they find it difficult to recall subject matter learnt in lower semesters. As a result, many students find the job interviews ‘tough’.

This issue is addressed well in the thrust area of ‘Academic Excellence’ and ’Placement Training and Entrepreneurship’. The proposed ideas will be reviewed to improve upon them.

iv) The textile/garment industry’s starting salary for BTech graduates is generally lower that other core-engineering industries.

Placement training is

streamlined in SP-II to aim

at placement of students in

companies offering higher

than average salaries.

v) The lure of IT jobs of late has only accentuated the disparity in salary, with companies offering huge starting salaries for BE/BTech graduates. Because of this, some FT graduates are attracted towards IT jobs.

Special training in technical skills expected by IT companies will be organised for interested FT students through the college initiative.

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3. Programme Outcomes (POs) (or what we expect the students to be capable of demonstrating immediately upon graduation, i.e. four years from joining the programme)

Students graduating from the Department of Fashion Technology will be expected and prepared to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, understanding and abilities listed below from ‘a’ to ‘k’.

a. An appropriate mastery of the knowledge, techniques, skills, and modern tools of garment/fashion technology

b. An ability to apply current knowledge and adapt to emerging applications of mathematics, science, engineering and garment/fashion technology

c. An ability to conduct, analyse and interpret experiments, and apply experimental results to improve processes related to fashion / garment technology

d. An ability to apply creativity in the design of systems, components, or processes related to garment production, appropriate to the FT programme’s educational objectives

e. An ability to function effectively on teams working on textile/fashion/garment related projects

f. An ability to identify, analyse and solve technical problems

g. An ability to communicate effectively

h. A recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in lifelong learning

i. An ability to understand professional, ethical and social responsibilities

j. A respect for diversity and a knowledge of contemporary professional, societal and global issues

k. A commitment to quality, timeliness and continuous improvement

a) How the POs are related to the PEOs (Mapping the POs with the PEOs)

The relationships between individual POs and the PEOs are shown below.

‘’ indicates a relationship and a blank space none.

Programme Educational Objectives

Programme Outcomes

a b c d e f g h i j k

1 2 3 4 5

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b) Mapping the Autonomous FT Curriculum and Supporting Practices with the Programme Outcomes

Course Code

Core CourseProgramme Outcomes (POs)

a b c d e f g h i j k

Semester 1U10GE101 Technical English I IU10GE102 Engineering Mathematics I IU10GE103 Engineering Physics I IU10GE104 Engineering Chemistry I IU10GE105 Engineering Graphics IU10GE106 Fundamentals of Computing and

Computer ProgrammingI

U10GE107 Physics & Chemistry Laboratory I P IU10GE108 Computer Practice Laboratory I P IU10GE109 Engineering Practices Laboratory P I

Semester 2U10GE201 Technical English II RU10GE202 Mathematics II IU10GE203F Engineering Physics II RU10GE204F Engineering Chemistry II RU10FT209 Fibre Science and Technology I IU10FT210 Fundamentals of Yarn Manufacture I IU10GE211 Physics & Chemistry Laboratory II P RU10GE212 C Programming Laboratory P R

Key: I – Introduced P – Practised R – Reinforced Blank Space – No alignment

NOTE: The curriculum for Semesters 3 to 8 is in the process of development.

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27

SUPPORTING CURRICULAR, CO-CURRICULAR AND EXTRA-CURRICULAR PRACTICES

Programme Outcomes

a b c d e f g h i j k

Guest lectures R R

Seminars (Classrooms / Symposia) R P R R R

Quizzes R P R

Industrial visits R R R R

In-plant training (or Internship) R P R R R

Workshops R R R

OPTIONAL PRACTICES

Student Association (SONAFTA) P R R

Student Clubs (NCC / NSS / YRC / Tremors / GD & Aptitude / Fine Arts / Literary, etc)

P R

Sports and Games P

Key: I – Introduced P – Practised R – Reinforced Blank Space – No alignment

c) Measurable Performance Criteria for the POs

The measurable performance criteria for the POs are normally the course objectives and the course outcomes. Every course of a curriculum has typically two sets of performance criteria: course objectives and course outcomes. The extent to which the POs are achieved can be determined by assessing the course objectives of all of the courses in the programme. Likewise, the extent to which the course objectives of a course are achieved can be assessed effectively by assessing how well the course outcomes of the course have been met.

i) Course ObjectivesCourse objectives (COBs) are broad ‘statements of learning’ a teacher hopes to generate as a result of teaching a whole course. They are thus ‘educational objectives’ expressed as generic statements pertaining to major/macro parts (units) of a course as a whole.COBs for any course are to be written by faculty who first teach the course; COBs are also written when a new course is being developed or when an existing course is being revised; while doing so, the faculty, being experts in the subject, would do well to keep in mind the anticipated student behaviour when the whole course has been taught; this can be correctly visualised if the faculty focuses on individual units of the course and develops one COB per unit of the course.COBs usually begin with ‘action verbs’. However, as COBs are ‘general objectives’, this is often not a hard and fast rule and deviations do prevail. More on action verbs and the domains of learning, namely, the cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains may be gleaned from the Teacher’s Resource Book handed out at pedagogical (instructional skills) training programmes organised by the HR Department.COBs are commonly included as the first part of the syllabi of individual courses, and as there are generally five units in a course syllabus, it would be ideal for assessment if there were five course objectives for the course, one for each unit. Courses with a greater or lower number of units could have COBs that equal the exact number of units.COBs for any course may be revised at any time to meet curricular or industry requirements. Also, as they are statements of learning, they are preferably written from the standpoint of the student.Examples of Course ObjectivesTotal Quality Management (AUT-CBE R2008)

COBs: To enable students to, Explain the fundamental concepts and principles of TQM and the various

quality management tools Discuss statistical tools for quality control State the fundamental features of prevailing types of quality systemsEmbroidery and Surface Ornamentation (AUT-CBE R2008)

COBs: To enable students to, Describe various hand embroidery stitches and techniques Explain various surface ornamentation techniques Discuss embroidery software and computerised embroidery machinesQuality Assurance in Apparel Production (AUT-CBE R2008)

COBs: To enable students to,

Define and explain quality, quality control, quality assurance, sampling and inspection

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Give brief accounts of specific quality standards and discuss case studies of their practice in the apparel industry

Describe control forms and stages of quality control in the apparel industry Cite typical fabric and garment defects and describe the quality standards and

quality control methods used in industry right from fabric to fully-packaged garments

U10FT209 Fibre Science and Technology (Autonomous Curriculum R2010)COBs: To enable students to,

Classify textile fibres, define fundamental FST terms and briefly explain concepts related to fibre structure and properties

Explain the cultivation / production of major natural fibres and state their properties and uses

Describe the common man-made spinning techniques and explain the production, properties and uses of major natural-polymer and synthetic fibres

Outline the production sequence of typical specialty fibres and the special features of some fibres of emerging importance in garments

Describe the identification methods of common fibres and explain the common linear density systems for man-made fibres

ii) Departmental Initiative to Develop Course ObjectivesAs the implementation of the Autonomous FT Curriculum has only just begun in 2010, COBs have been developed only for the two discipline-related courses of Semester 2, viz. Fibre Science and Technology and Fundamentals of Yarn Manufacture.Note: The examples of COBs noted for the first three of the courses in the above section are taken from the COBs developed by faculty for the courses of Semesters 5 to 8 of the Anna University of Technology, Coimbatore Curriculum-2008.

iii) Course OutcomesCourse outcomes (COTs) are statements that describe what a teacher expects the students to be able to do at the end of teaching specific topics or sub-topics of a unit of a course.COTs are also referred to as learning outcomes as they express the ‘learning objectives’ of the course. They pertain to the specific, micro-level aspects (i.e. topics and sub-topics) of a course as against the course objectives which relate to the holistic (unit-level) aspects of the course.COTs for any course are developed by faculty teaching the course as measurable products of learning; they should be well-defined, clear and precise; most importantly, they should be assessable; thus they normally begin with measurable (action) verbs, as stated for the COBs.

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COTs often consist of three elements: The performance element (i.e. the behaviour expected of the learner at the

end of learning); this component is mandatory for any COT. A condition element (or the constraint/s under which the expected behaviour

is to be demonstrated) and A criterion element (or the quality or level of performance that the teacher

would consider acceptable). COTs that include the condition and criteria elements are most often found in lab courses and only sometimes for the theory courses. The Teacher’s Resource Book referred to above contains details of how COTs may be written and the typical action verbs that are used for the three domains of learning.While there are usually five COBs per 5-unit course, the COTs will normally be greater in number. For the Autonomous FT Curriculum, there shall be 25 to 30 COTs per course, i.e. 5-6 COTs per COB of the course. This is merely to enable precise assessment of the COTs and hence the COBs.Literature on the topic differentiates between the terms ‘course outcomes’ and ‘learning objectives’, suggesting that the former relates specifically to assessable student behaviour, while the latter focuses more on what the teacher sets out to teach. However, for the purpose of this assessment plan, the two terms will be regarded as one and the same and may be used interchangeably.The following hierarchy and terminology will be used in this assessment plan:

PEOs POs Course Objectives Course Outcomes

Long term Medium term Short term Short term

Assessed3-5 yr after graduation

Assessed upongraduation

Usually included as a part of the course syllabus and

assessed through the COTs

Assessedduring and at the end

of the semester

Bloom’s Taxonomy of COTs: It is customary to use the concepts propagated by Benjamin Bloom and popularly referred to as Bloom’s Taxonomy (classification). According to Bloom, course outcomes may be classified at various levels in each of the three domains of learning as explained clearly in the ABET website. Faculty are encouraged to use, where feasible, the action verbs related to the six levels (knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation) in the cognitive domain of learning for the courses they are assigned to teach.Examples of Course OutcomesThe examples of COTs given below are for the same courses for which examples of COBs have been given above. They have been taken from the records of individual faculty who have developed them as a part of course planning for the AUT-CBE R-2008 curriculum. Total Quality Management (AUT-CBE R2008)COTs: At the end of a study of the topics included in the course on ‘Total Quality Management’, the student should be able to, State various definitions and dimensions of quality (knowledge level) Analyse the various barriers to TQM implementation (analysis level) Discuss the important aspects of performance appraisal (comprehension level)

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Explain Taguchi’s quality loss function (comprehension level) Compare the features of ISO 9000, ISO 9001, ISO 9002, ISO 9003, ISO 9004

and ISO 14000 standards (analysis level)Embroidery and Surface Ornamentation (AUT-CBE R2008)COTs: At the end of a study of the topics included in the course on ‘Embroidery and Surface Ornamentation’, the student should be able to, Explain the care to be taken during the embroidery of different fabrics Demonstrate the embroidery of knotted stitches, fish bone, back stitch, fly

stitch (application level) Explain the stitches, colours, materials and motifs used in Kutch work Discuss the various possible methods of ornamentation using bobbin thread Identify the suitable pressing equipment and conditions for embroidered

articles (comprehension level)

Quality Assurance in Apparel Production (AUT-CBE R2008)COTs: At the end of a study of the topics included in the course on ‘Quality Assurance in Apparel Production’, the student should be able to,

Compare and contrast 100% inspection and sampling inspection Explain the importance of Statistical quality control Describe the features of SA-8000 Mention the types of control forms and to explain them briefly Explain the quality control of trims and accessories

U10FT209 Fibre Science and Technology (Autonomous Curriculum R2010)COTs: At the end of a study of the topics included in the course on ‘Fibre Science and Technology’, the student should be able to,

Differentiate between orientation and crystallinity in textile fibres (analysis level)

State at least ten physical properties and ten chemical properties of cotton (kl) Compare the chemical compositions of jute and flax (analysis level) Discuss the operations in the production of reeled silk (kl)

List the three common techniques of spinning man-made fibres(kl)

d) Relationship Between the COBs and the POs for Individual Courses

Faculty are to identify the relationship between the COBs of the courses they are assigned to teach and the POs. They are to present the relationship in tabular form, as shown for the relationship between the PEOs and the POs [Vide Section (a) on Page 25.]

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V – Programme Assessment

1. The FT Assessment Process for Student Learning

Figure 2 shows the overall assessment process in the FT Department.

Figure 2 – FT Programme Assessment ProcessThe first part of the process begins with the major programme constituencies, who are involved at various stages of the whole process. The PEOs are first developed and then the POs. Following a logical sequence, the course objectives and the course outcomes are then developed. All of this is a part of programme planning.

In the assessment part of the process, the sequence of steps is reversed. The course outcomes, and thus the course objectives, are assessed first, as shown in the ‘course loop’. The POs are then assessed as indicated by the ‘programme loop’. Finally, the PEOs are assessed, as shown in the ‘profession-world loop’.

If assessment in the courses loop is complete and effective, those of the programme and professional-world loops will automatically lead to acceptable results.

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Course

LoopCourse

Constituencies

Alumni (3)

Programme Educational Objectives (PEOs)

Employers (4)Faculty (1) Students

(2)

Board of Studies

Programme Outcomes (POs)

Course Outcomes (COTs)

Course Objectives (COBs)

COURSES LOOP

DataAnalysis

AssessmentTools

ContinuousImprovement

PROGRAMME LOOP

AssessmentTools

ContinuousImprovement

DataAnalysis

PROFESSIONAL-WORLD LOOP

2. Methods for the Assessment of Course Outcomes

a) Resources and records required for the assessment

All faculty will have access to the following resources, records and tools for the systematic assessment of COTs.

Items No. (iii), (iv) and (v) for any course are to be developed / prepared by the faculty teaching that course.

i) A computer with regular accessoriesii) A copy of the handout on the development of course outcomes from the course

syllabus [The handout is provided to faculty participating in the pedagogical training programmes (instructional skills workshops or ISWs) organised by the HR Department at least twice a year.]

iii) A list of five course-wise COBs per course, one per unit; also a list of five to six COTs per COB, making it a total of 25-30 COTs per course

[As stated earlier, the HR Department provides ISW participants with a ‘Teacher’s Resource Book’ that includes ‘Learning Objectives’ as a topic.]

iv) A comprehensive Question Bank that includes all the types of questions in the QP pattern, namely 1-mark multiple-choice questions, 2-mark short-answer questions and 14-mark detailed-answer questions. The questions should relate to the topics and sub-topics in the course syllabi and specifically to the COTs.

The COT numbers are to be included in brackets at the end of the questions to which they are related.

v) A Faculty Record Book (FRB) duly filled-in for the course concerned; each course will have a separate FRB.

vi) Students’ Test Notebooks

vii) Students’ assignment sheets (if assignments are included as an assessment method)

viii)Students’ motivated-study / innovative project submissions (if such projects are included as an assessment method)

ix) MIS intranet

b) Kinds of Methods Used for Assessment of Course Outcomes

There are two broad kinds of assessment methods: direct methods and indirect methods. The following table displays a typical list of methods, direct and indirect, that are used in the assessment of course outcomes. The ticked ones are those that have been used in the course-embedded assessment system implemented during the last three years as part of the programme assessment policies of,

i) AUT-CBE ii) Sona College and iii) The FT Department (strategic plan)

Typical List of Assessment Methods

33

Direct Assessment (Required)

i) Weekly Test (WT) ii) Assignment iii) Seminar (Class Presentation) iv) Motivated Study (Paper or Mini-Project) v) Mini-Project vi) Main (Capstone) Project vii) Performance Improvement Test (PIT) or Retests viii) Model Exams / Final Evaluation Exam (FEE) ix) Semester-end Exam (SEE) x) Direct Observation xi) Portfolios xii) External examiner xiii) Standardized Exam (GATE) xiv) Simulations xv) Theses / Dissertation / Senior papers

Indirect Assessment (Supplemental)

i) Surveys o Student exit survey o Alumni surveyo Employer survey

ii) Interview o Alumni interviewo Employer interview

iii) Focus group iv) Case study Note: While surveys and interviews have been used to collect SWOT data in strategic planning, they have yet to be used for assessment of student learning.

c) Specification of Evaluation Methods for the FT Autonomous Curriculum

i) The programme planning path for the UG programmes according to the New NBA policy is as stated below. The objectives and the outcomes, in particular, will need to be assessed in a systematic manner.Programme Vision Programme Mission Programme Educational Objectives (PEOs) Programme Outcomes (POs) Course Objectives (COBs) Course Outcomes (COTs)

ii) The syllabus for the theory courses consists of five units each. Faculty assigned to teach a course shall develop five course objectives (COBs), one for each of the units of the course.

iii) Each of the COBs may be broken down into five or six course outcomes (COTs), such that the entire unit represented by a COB is covered. This will give a list of 25-30 COTs per course that may be numbered serially.

iv) The faculty will develop a question bank for the course that includes a whole range of multiple-choice, short-answer and detailed-answer questions such that they are aligned with one or another of the COTs, this being indicated by showing the related COT number within brackets for all of the questions.

v) Assessment of student learning will include assessment of the objectives and the outcomes as stated in Point (i) above, but the assessment path will be in reverse order as follows:COTs COBs POs PEOs ( Programme Mission Programme Vision)

vi) The quality of student learning in a course can be assessed by evaluating the extent to which the COTs have been achieved. This can be done systematically by using direct assessment methods/tools such as the internal tests (ITs), performance-improvement test (PIT), the final examination (FE) and lastly the semester-end examination (SEE).

vii) Three ITs may be used to assess the COTs of Units 1, 2 and 3 respectively, such that at least 80 per cent of the COTs in each unit are assessed through the various types of questions in the tests. The pattern for the theory-course ITs will be as follows:

o Eight multiple-choice 1-mark questions, o Seven 2-mark short-answer questions and

34

o Two detailed-answer 14-mark whole questions or those with 2/3 partso This gives a total of 17 questions to specifically assess 5-6 COTs for a

total of 50 markso Duration of the test: 90 minuteso The faculty setting an IT question paper is to ensure that the questions

test student cognitive learning of 80 percent of the COTs of the unit. Thus the COTs of the first three units would be assessed.

viii) A performance-improvement test is organised after the three ITs for students who wish to enhance their internal marks in any one of them; this is an opportunity for students who were not in their element during any of the ITs.

ix) A 3-hour final examination for assessing the entire syllabus of the course for 100 marks; roughly one-quarter of the FE will focus on the first three units while the remaining three-quarters will be exclusively for Units 4 and 5. The Standard Pattern for a 3-hour exam is given below:

Part A: 10 Multiple-choice questions x 1 mark = 10 marksPart B: 10 short-answer questions x 2 marks = 20 marksPart C: 5 detailed-answer questions x 14 marks = 70 Total: 10 + 20 + 70 = 100 marks

This pattern will be modified to give more weighting for Units 4 and 5, the COTs of which are being assessed for the first time; the COTs of Units 1, 2 and 3, which have already been assessed, get a lower weighting in the FE. Thus the questions in the FE will have the following composition:

QP Part Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Unit 5

A4 Qs covering the 3 units = 4

marks3 Qs =

3 marks2 Qs = 3 marks

B4 Qs covering the 3 units = 8

marks3 Qs = 6 marks

2 Qs = 6 marks

C1 question of 3 parts; one part per

unit; two parts of 5 marks each and one of 4 marks = 14 marks

2 Qs = 28 marks

2 Qs = 28 marks

100 marks 26 marks 37 marks 37 marks

The FE is yet another opportunity for both faculty and student to test the achievement of the COTs.

x) The 3-hour semester-end examination (SEE) is to assess student learning of the entire course syllabus for a course; it will be for 100 marks and the ultimate opportunity for students to check achievement of the COTs of the course. The question paper pattern for the SEE will be the standard pattern stated above.

d) Relating the COBs and the Assessment Tools for Individual CoursesThe faculty are to record the assessment pattern for each of the theory courses in tabular form as shown below to highlight the relationship between the COBs and the assessment tools.

Unit No.

Course ObjectivesAssessment Tools

IT 1 IT 2 IT 3 PIT FE SEE

1Classify textile fibres, define fundamental FST terms and briefly... properties

- -Units

1,2 or 3

2Explain the cultivation / production of major natural fibres... and uses

- -

3Describe the common man-made spinning techniques... synthetic fibres

- -

35

4Outline the production sequence of typical specialty fibres... in garments

- - - -

5Describe the identification methods of common fibres... for man-made fibres

- - - -

e) Relative Weighting of Marks for Internal and External AssessmentThe autonomous regulations stipulate that the weighting for the internal and external marks for all courses shall be 25:75. The internal marks are split up into two parts as follows: 20 marks for the internal evaluation of the COTs through the ITs and the FE

o The marks for the ITs, the PIT and the FE are each reduced to 5 marks;o The total of the best three of the reduced marks of the three ITs and the

PIT, plus the reduced marks for the FE will give the internal assessment marks out of 20 for student performance in achieving the COTs for the course concerned.

A score of up to five marks are allocated for student attendance in individual courses as follows:o 96-100% attendance – 5 marks o 91-95% attendance – 4 markso 86-90% attendance – 3 markso 81-85% attendance – 2 markso 80% attendance – 1 mark

The internal marks (IM) of individual students may then be recorded as shown below, care being taken to record both unit-wise and total marks for FE.

S. No.

Name of Student

Marks for Attendance IT1/5 IT2/5 IT3/5 PIT/5

FEIM/25FE/5 U

1,2,3 U4 U5

1 A. bcd 4 3.8 3.6 3.9 - 4.0 3.9 4.0 4.1 19.3

2 E. fgh 5 4.3 4.2 3.2 4.6 4.4 4.1 4.4 4.6 22.6

3 I. jkle 5 4.1 ab 4.4 4.2 4.3 4.0 4.2 4.4 21.8

4

etc

Average class marks

-3.9 3.8 4.1

-4.2 4.0 4.2 4.5 -

f) Record of Student Performance in Achieving the COBs Faculty shall compute the class-average marks for the courses they have taught every semester for each of the assessment tools used, as displayed in the table above. They shall then evaluate the extent of student achievement of the COBs by recording the class-average marks as shown in the table below:

Unit No.

Course ObjectivesAssessment Tools

IT 1 IT 2 IT 3 PIT FE SEE

1Classify textile fibres, define fundamental FST terms and briefly... properties

3.9 - -

- 4.0

92/100

2Explain the cultivation / production of major natural fibres... and uses

- 3.8 -

3Describe the common man-made spinning techniques... synthetic fibres

- - 4.1

4 Outline the production sequence of typical specialty fibres... in garments

- - - - 4.2

36

5Describe the identification methods of common fibres... for man-made fibres

- - - - 4.5

Note: The class-average marks for the SEE is a holistic score for the COBs of the course, as the assessment is not recorded unit-wise.

The benchmark for the achievement of COBs for any course shall be 70%.In the example course cited above, all of the COBs are well above 70% and it may therefore be concluded that the course in question may be carried forward over the next batch of students without and changes in syllabi or the COBS and the COTs.

g) Assessment of Laboratory CoursesThe faculty will develop COBs and COTs for the laboratory courses as explained for the theory courses. However, there are differences, as listed below. Every lab course shall have only one COB and up to five COTs. The internal assessment of student lab work shall be assessed by the faculty

assigned to teach the course on the basis of three criteria as listed below and shown in Rubric No. 6 in Appendix – 2: o Observation of student performance during the related lab classes and the

quality of reports submitted by them. Each lab class shall be evaluated for 10 marks, the focus being on achievement of the related COTs, and the average marks of all of the lab classes for the entire course shall be converted to 15 marks.

o Attendance at lab classes – 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 marks awarded respectively for 80 / 81-85/86-90 / 91-95 / 96-100% attendance

o Viva-voce – maximum 5 marksThe strategic plan provides specific guidelines for student assessment of lab class performances.Thus the COBs of all of the lab courses shall be assessed for their COTs and COBs. The benchmark for the achievement of COBs for the lab courses shall be 80%.

3. Assessment Schedule for the COTs and COBs of the Courses of Semester 2The following schedule, approved by the Academic Council, will come into effect for the assessment of the COTs and COBs of the FT Autonomous Curriculum for Semester 2.

S. No.

Assessment Tool

When Who will organise it Assessment Cycle

Theory Courses

1 IT 1 14-02-2011 onwards

Coordinator,Departmental Tests/ Exams

Assessment of the COTs (and thus the COBs) will be done every semester for all the courses taught.

All of the courses in the programme will thus be assessed for achievement of the COTs once every batch.

2 IT 2 07-03-2011 onwards

-ditto-

3 IT 3 28-03-2011 onwards

-ditto-

4 PIT 25-04-2011 -ditto-

5 FE 02-05-2011 to 07-05-2011

-ditto-

6 SEE 25-05-2011 onwards

COE, Sona Tech

Laboratory Courses

The schedule for the model examinations will be organised by the 1st year lab-course faculty.

The SEEs for the lab courses will be organised by the concerned lab course faculty during the 37

period: 09-05-2011 to 14-05-2011

a) Assessment schedule for the remaining semestersThe autonomous FT curriculum pertaining to the remaining semesters (3 to 8) will be developed with the guidance of the Board of Studies for FT and the directions provided by the Chairman, Academic Council in the days to come.The approval process for the curriculum and syllabi would be expected to take place once every academic year. As and when the courses and the syllabi for the year are approved, the assessment process as explained in detail above and the corresponding assessment schedules will be developed and implemented.

b) Role of Faculty in Sustaining the Assessment ProcessThe course faculty are to maintain the assessment records for all of the courses they teach every semester. At a SPIC Meeting, convened by the Thrust Area Manager for Academic Excellence at the end of every semester for review of internal assessment of the course-wise COTs and COBs, the faculty shall place assessment reports for discussion and approval. The approved reports are then to be submitted to the Controller of Examinations, Autonomous Examinations for further process.All of the data on student performance thus collected will be a comprehensive record of the assessment results of the COBs and the COTs for each course of the FT curriculum. The data will be used for taking decisions on appropriate changes to the syllabi or the curriculum itself, in consultation with the Chairman of the Academic Council of the college.

4. Assessment of the POsAll of the POs will be addressed through curricular and co-curricula components of the autonomous FT programme that are in the process of development.The extent to which the POs have been realised for the autonomous curriculum can be determined from the extent to which the COTs and the COBs have been achieved.In this respect, a benchmark for the average CGPA of a graduating batch for the entire programme is set at 7.0.When a batch of graduates achieves or exceeds this benchmark, it will be considered to have achieved all of the POs.

a) Other Supporting Practices that Contribute to the Achievement of the POsIn Section 3 (b) above, supporting activities outside of the regular curricular theory and laboratory courses are mentioned. These practices have been instituted to help students reinforce effort in the achievement the POs.Appendix – 2 provides a list of rubrics that have been developed for the evaluation of student performance in practices such as class-seminars, in-plant training, project work, etc. Some of these have already been used for the Anna University, Coimbatore R-2007 and R-2008 curricula. The supporting practices for the autonomous curriculum are yet to be finalised. When the approved list is available, the faculty are to use the appropriate rubrics for student assessment and ensure that all students meet the related benchmarks, through additional opportunities of assessment, where necessary.

The assessment cycle for the POs shall be once for every batch of students.

5. Assessment of the PEOsThe PEOs for the 2005-2009 batch of graduates will be assessed in 2012-2013 by means of surveys and interviews of alumni and industry. Responses by mail of both of these constituencies have been found from past experience to be quite poor.

38

To obtain encouraging responses, strategies like collecting feedback in person from the alumni during the annual Alumni Association Meetings, organising personal interviews with industry personnel, etc will be resorted to.The assessment cycle for the PEOs is tentatively proposed as once in two years from 2012-2013 onwards.

39

VI – ConclusionThe FT Department has since long committed itself to ‘quality’ in everything it

does and the pay-off in terms of results and achievements on many fronts is

highly motivating and encourages us to seek further frontiers of quality in our

journey of excellence.

This assessment plan is a document based on the principles of ‘outcome-based

education’. It is also very much on the lines of the new NBA accreditation

guidelines.

It is a major initiative of the “Quality Improvement” thrust area of the

department’s strategic plan. And as the ‘autonomous curriculum’ passes through

its transition phase over the next few years, changes in the regulation and fine

tuning of the systems will occur. This will engender further streamlining of the

assessment plan, so it gets more and more precise.

We believe that this assessment plan, developed with great effort and passion,

will take us still further ahead, to those quality frontiers that we seek so ardently.

All of the constituents of the FT Department, especially the staff and students,

and the industry and alumni, have contributed in good measure to bring out this

document.

We sincerely hope that this cooperation and enthusiasm will gather momentum

in the days to come and that the implementation of the plan will lead to the

expected outcomes and results and enable the programme mission and vision

also to be realised to the complete satisfaction of all the constituents.

- The FT Staff

APPENDICES

APPENDIX – IAssessment Strategies in Place for AUT-CBE R-2007 and R-2008 FT Curricula Sona College of Technology was conferred the Autonomous Status only from the

academic year 2010-2011 onwards. The assessment process planned for students admitted under the autonomous

curriculum from 2010 onwards has been described in detail in the preceding pages. Prior to becoming autonomous, the curricula for all of the college’s programmes were

specified by Anna University of Technology, Coimbatore. The university’s R-2007 FT curriculum will be in force only for the 2007-2011 batch of

FT students. Similarly, the R-2008 FT curriculum will apply to the 2008-2012 and 2009-2013

batches of FT students.40

The two batches of graduates of the FT Department, namely those of the 2005-2009 and 2006-2010 came under Anna University, Chennai, and the curriculum in operation was the R-2004 curriculum of the university.

As stated in the preface itself, the curricular changes over the past few years have been restricted to inclusion or exclusion of only a few courses; the transition to the credit system came with Anna University, Coimbatore from the 2007-2011 batch onwards.

It was also mentioned in the preface that in view of the minor changes in curricula, the PEOs and POs that were developed for the FT programme only in 2010, initially for the NBA application and later modified for the autonomous curriculum, also equally apply to the R-2004, R-2007 and R-2008 university-specified curricula.

Even before the new NBA policy incorporating outcome-based programme planning and assessment came into being, the department has been meticulously implementing its comprehensive plans, Strategic Plan – I from 2007 to 2009 and Strategic Plan – II from 2009 onwards. Major features of these plans are provided in the previous pages under the head ‘The Departmental Context’ (Pages 10 to19). The fine details can be gleaned from Strategic Plan – II document.

The three batches of FT students of 2007-2011, 2008-2012 and 2009-2013 were assessed for their learning through the implementation of the two strategic plans.

The alignment of the R-2008 curriculum with the revised POs is shown in the following pages as Part – A of this appendix.

All of the faculty have been trained in the development of course outcomes (COTs) for the courses they were assigned to teach. So there are COTs for all of the courses taught during the last three years. The COTs are referred to as learning objectives in the training handout / faculty training manual.

Question banks too were developed to complement the COTs and around 75 per cent of the COTs have been assessed through assessment tools described in the following pages for the theory and lab courses.

In conclusion, it may be stated that the FT Department has been very systematic in the assessment of student learning since 2007 and that the new policy of the NBA reinforces this aspect of the assessment process.

41

Part – A: Alignment of the courses of AUT-CBE R-2008 Curriculum with the Programme Outcomes

42

43

Course Code

Core CourseProgramme Outcomes (POs)

a b c d e f g h i j k

080020001 Technical English I I080030001 Mathematics – I I080040001 Engineering Physics - I I080010001 Engineering Chemistry - I I

080230001Fundamentals of Computing and Computer programming

I

080120001 Engineering Graphics I080230002 Computer Practice Laboratory –I P I080510001 Engineering Practices Laboratory P I

Physics and Chemistry Laboratory I P I080020003 Technical English II R080030004 Mathematics II I080040002 Engineering Physics – II R080010002 Engineering Chemistry –II R080120002 Engineering Mechanics I

080280011Basic Electrical and Electronics Engineering

I

080230006 Computer Practice Laboratory-II P R080640001 Physics and Chemistry Laboratory P R

080120008Computer Aided Drafting and Modelling Laboratory

P R

Key: I – Introduced P – Practised R – Reinforced Blank Space – No alignment

44

Course Code

Core CourseProgramme Outcomes (POs)

a b c d e f g h i j k

MA 2211 Transforms and Partial Differential Equation I

GE 2211 Environmental Science and Engineering I I I I

TT 2202 Mechanical Engineering I

TT 2201 Electrical Engineering I

FT 2201 Pattern Making I I

FT 2202 Textile Science I ITT 2207 Electrical Engineering Lab P P P

TT 2208 Mechanical Engineering Lab P P P

FT 2207 Pattern Making and Grading Lab P P P P P P

MA 2263 Probability and Statistics IFT 2251 Garment Construction I I

FT 2252 Fabric Manufacture I

FT 2253 Woven Fabric Structure and Design I I

FT 2255 Dyeing, Printing and Pollution Control I R R

FT 2254 Garment Production Machinery and Equipment I I R I

FT 2257 Basic Garment Construction Lab P P P P P P

FT 2258 Dyeing and Printing Lab P P P P P

FT 2259 Textile CAD and Fabric Structure Lab P P P P P P

NA Total Quality Management I I R I I

NA Embroidery and Surface Ornamentation I I P

NA Men’s and Children’s Wear R R

NA Women’s Wear and Lingerie R R

NA Clothing Care and Garment Finishing I I

Key: I – Introduced; P – Practised; R – Reinforced; Blank Space – No alignment; NA – Not Available

45

Course Code

Core CourseProgramme Outcomes (POs)

a b c d e f g h i j k

NATesting and Quality Control of Textiles and Apparel

I I

NA Testing and Quality Control Lab P P R P P R

NA Garment Construction Lab – I P P R R R

NA Technical Seminar R P P R

NA Principles of Management I I I

NA Apparel Production Management I I I

NA Knitted Fabric Structure I I

NAQuality Assurance in Apparel Production

I I I R

NA Clothing Size and Fit R R R R R

NA Computer-Aided Garment Design Lab P P P R

NA Garment Construction Lab – II R R R R

NA Design Collection Lab P P R P R

NA Management of Apparel Units R R R RNA Apparel Merchandising and Marketing R R R RNA Export Documentation and Costing I I R RNA Disaster Management I I I INA Mini-Project and Design Collection Lab P P P R R RNA Apparel Machinery Lab P P P RNA Presentation Skills and Seminar R RNA Professional Ethics and Human Values R R R

NA Project Work - Phase II P P P P R R R

NA Comprehension R R R R

Key: I – Introduced; P – Practised; R – Reinforced; Blank Space – No alignment; NA – Not Available

46

Course Code

ELECTIVE COURSEProgramme Outcomes (POs)

a b c d e f g h i j k

NA Advanced Pattern Making R R R

NA CAD / CAM in Apparel Production R R R

NAComputer Applications in the Apparel Industry

R R R

NACreativity, Innovation and New Product Development

R

NA Eco-Friendly Dyes and Chemicals R R

NA Fashion Marketing R R R

NA Fashion Photography R

NA Functional Clothing R R R

NA Home Textiles R

NA Industrial Engineering R R P

NA Operational Research R

NA Product Engineering and Plant Layout R R

NA Retailing and Brand Management R R

NALogistics and Supply Chain Management

R R

NA Visual Merchandising R R R

NA Entrepreneurship Development R R R

Key: I – Introduced; P – Practised; R – Reinforced; Blank Space – No alignment; NA – Not Available

SUPPORTING CURRICULAR, CO-CURRICULAR AND EXTRA-CURRICULAR PRACTICES

Programme Outcomes

a b c d e f g h i j k

Guest lectures R R

Seminars (Classrooms / Symposia) R P R R R

Quizzes R P R

Industrial visits R R R R

In-plant training (or Internship) R P R R R

Workshops R R R

OPTIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

Student Association (SONAFTA) P R R

Student Clubs (NCC / NSS / YRC / Tremors / GD & Aptitude / Fine Arts / Literary, etc)

P R

Sports and Games P

Key: I – Introduced; P – Practised; R – Reinforced; Blank Space – No alignment; NA – Not Available

Part – B: Methods in Place for Assessing Student Learning in the Courses of AUT-CBE R-2007 and R-2008 CurriculaThe following assessment procedure is in practice for the AUT-CBE R-2008 FT Curriculum. It will be in force up to and until the 2008-2012 FT batch, as the subsequent batches will come under the Autonomous Assessment Procedure. The FT faculty have developed COBs for the courses in which they were absent in the R-2008 Curriculum.

This was so for the courses of Semesters 5 to 8 and the elective courses. The course faculty have also developed the corresponding COTs. The matching relationship between the number of COBs and COTs was not as precise as those developed for the courses of the Autonomous FT Curriculum. For many of the theory courses, the number of COTs is much greater than the related COBs.

The faculty evaluate the COTs of all the theory courses according to the specifications stated below and in accordance with the procedure described in the Strategic Plan – II document (Pages 45-50).

Assessment Method Frequency of Assessment and Marks Related Record / Evaluation Results Posted to…

Theory Courses (AUT-CBE R-2007 and R-2008 Curricula)

1 Weekly Test (WT) Twice a week; every Monday and Wednesday 1st period; Three WTs per course, 25 marks each, average marks reduced to 30 marks

Test notebooks / FRB / MIS / Parents / Exam Cell

2 Retest Every Saturday; 2-5 p.m.; covers the tests of the week, for the WT absentees and for students aiming at performance improvement

Test notebooks / Separate sheets / FRB

3 AssignmentTwo per course per semester; course-related topic; submission according to a schedule; 10 marks each; Scoring Rubric 1 used (vide Appendix – 2); average marks reduced to 10 marks

Assignment books or sheets / FRB / MIS / Exam Cell

4 Motivated-study PaperOne per course per semester; topic beyond syllabus; submission according to schedule; 10 marks; Scoring Rubric 2 used (vide Appendix – 2)

Separate book or sheets / FRB / MIS / Exam CellTotal of items 1, 3 and 4 for individual courses equals internal marks out of 50

5Model Exams similar to AUT-CBE exams (Called ‘ICE’ in FT Department)

Three per course; 1st one for one half of the syllabus, 2nd one for the other half and the 3rd one for the whole of the syllabus; each exam of 100 marks; used to prepare student for the AUT-CBE exams

Separate sheets / FRB

6 Special Exam Organised according to individual student needs, as determined by faculty; this is a confidence-building initiative before the AUT exams.

Separate sheets

7 Semester-end Exam (AUT-CBE)

One per course, 100-mark exams, score reduced to 50 marks AUT-CBE website and AUT-CBE marks sheets

47

Assessment Method Frequency of Assessment and MarksRelated Record / Evaluation

Results Posted to…

Lab Courses (AUT-CBE R-2007 and R-2008 Curricula)

1Faculty evaluation of student performance in lab work through observation

All regular lab courses; evaluation of (i) overall quality of experimental results or skill-

related output (25 marks)(ii) Lab record (15 marks)(iii) Viva-voce (10 marks)Scoring Rubric 5 used for internal assessment Internal assessment = 50 marks

Internal Marks report

2 Model examOne per lab course, 100-mark exam reduced to 25 marks and included in Component (i) above

Separate sheets / FRB

3Mini-project / Portfolio / Design output / External examination

Design Collection Lab Course Phase 1 in Semester 6; phase 2 in Semester 7

Portfolio, PP presentation, design output / FRB / MIS / Exam Cell

4Main Project Work (PW) dissertation / External examination

PW Course Phase 1 in Semester 7; phase 2 in Semester 8; three PW reviews of progress

PW Report and presentation /

5Semester-end Exam (AUT-CBE) / Oral external examination

One for each of the lab courses, including those against Items 3 and 4; 100-mark exams reduced to 50 marks (external assessment)

Regular lab courses: 50 marks Design Collection Lab: 200 marks Project Work: R-2007: 300

marks / R-2008: 200 marks

48

Part – C: Assessment of POs and PEOs

a) Assessment of the POs for the university-driven curricula

The COTs and the COBs for all of theory and laboratory courses of the university are assessed as explained above. This assessment would also therefore enable the assessment of the course-related POs for the university-specified curricula.

b) Assessment of the POs related to Other Supporting Practices

The faculty are to use the Scoring Rubrics included in Appendix – 2 to assess student achievement of the POs by means of the supporting practices and ensure that the stated benchmarks are attained or exceeded.

c) Assessment of the PEOs

As stated on Page 39, the PEOs of the programme will be assessed for the first time in during the period starting in July 2012 and ending by June 2015. This assessment would be for the 2005-2009 batch of graduates.

The subsequent batches of FT graduates will be assessed for the PEOs thereafter, such that the PEOs are assessed once in two years.

A tentative schedule for the assessment of the PEOs is stated below:

S. No.

Years of StudyYear of

GraduationWhen Assessment of

PEOs is scheduled

12005-2009

AU – Chennai: R20042009 July 2012 – June 2013

22006-2010

AU – Chennai: R20042010

July 2014 – June 2015

32007-2011

AUT – Coimbatore: R20072011

42008-2012

AUT – Coimbatore: R20082012

July 2016 – June 2017

52009-2013

AUT – Coimbatore: R20082013

49

Appendix – II: The Scoring Rubrics

Rubric – 1: Evaluating Student Assignments (Topic usually Within Syllabus)

Academic Year: Semester: Course Code:

Course: Name of Faculty:

S. No.

Name of Student

CriterionTotal Score (Out of

10 marks)

Quality of Content(Ideas are

original, logical and clearly expressed)

Organisation of Content

(Each paragraph is developed with concrete and

relevant details)

Language Expression

(Spelling & Punctuation, Grammar & Usage, etc)

Quality of Presentatio

n

3 marks 3 marks 2 marks 2 marks

Rubric – 2: Evaluating Student Innovative / Motivated Study Paper

Academic Year: Semester: Name of Faculty:

Course Code: Course:

S. No.

Name of Student

CriterionTotal Score (Out of

5 marks)

Organising ideas clearly

Showing creativity or imagination

Appropriate references included

2 marks 2 marks 1 mark

Rubric – 3: Evaluating Student In-plant Training (To be evaluated by Faculty Advisors for their respective wards)

Academic Year: Semester: Name of Faculty Advisor:

POs Practised: a, e, f, i and k Benchmark Score: 30 marks (75%)

S. No.

Name of Ward, Name and Type of Industry

and Duration of IPT

Criterion

Score

Commitmenta) Attendance

(10) b) Extent of data /

info collected (10)

Quality of Reporta) Organisation of

Content (15) b) Timeliness of

Submission (5)

Industry Feedback*

20 marks 20 marks 10 marks 50 marks

(a) (b) (a) (b)

* Scores of 10/8/6/4/2 are given for Excellent / Very Good / Good / Average / Poor industry feedback, which may be a letter from industry or telephonic feedback of industry obtained by the FA .

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Rubric – 4: Evaluating Student Class Seminar / Presentations /Technical Seminar (Class Seminars to be presented by a designated set of students of a class per course)

Academic Year: Semester: Name of Faculty:

Course Code: Course:

Name of the Student: Topic of Presentation:

POs Practised: a, g, h and k Benchmark Score: 30 marks (75%)

S. No.

GradingInadequate Average Promising Admirable Outstanding

Score

1 2 3 4 5

1. KNOWLEDGE AND CONTENT (Place a mark in the appropriate space against each criterion)

a Depth of knowledge and understanding of topic

b Organization of presentation

c Appropriateness of material presented for the time allotted

2. PRESENTATION SKILLS (Place a mark in the appropriate space against each criterion)

a Quality of slides

b Clarity of speech (Articulation)

c Ability to answer questions

d Overall level of preparation

e Overall level of interest

SPECIFIC COMMENTS (Strengths / Areas of improvement)Total Score (Out of 40)

Rubric – 5: Internal Assessment of Lab Courses(Specified by AUT-CBE for R-2007 and R-2008)

Academic Year: Semester: Name of Faculty:

Course Code: Course:

S. No.

Name of StudentAverage of lab class

performance

Average of record book assessment

Viva-voce TotalPass / Fail(Min. pass marks 25 )

25 marks 15 marks 10 marks 50 marks

Rubric – 6: Internal Assessment of Lab Courses (Autonomous R-2010)

Academic Year: Semester: Name of Faculty:

Course Code: Course:

S. No.

Name of StudentContinuous Internal Assessment (CIE)

Total ScoreAttendance* %

Average of Lab class performance

Model examination and Viva-voce

5 marks 10 marks 5 + 5 marks 25 marks

* Marks of 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 respectively for attendance of 80% / 81-85% / 86-90% / 91-95% / 96-100%

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Rubric – 7: Internal Assessment of Student (Capstone) Project Work (Sona Autonomous Curriculum)

Academic Year: Semester: Name of Faculty Guide:

Project Site: Industry / College Title of Project Work:

INTERNAL ASSESSMENT

S. No.

Name of Student

Criteria for Continuous Internal Evaluation

Score1

(Out of100 marks)

Internal Marks

Commitmenta) Attendance

(20)

b) Literature Review and Work Plan (20)

Performance at Review Meetings

a) Depth of Understanding of Project Work (10)

b) Presentation Skills (5)

c) Ability to Answer Questions (5)

Quality of Dissertation

a) Organisation of Content (15)

b) Discussion of Results and Conclusion (25)

40 marks 20 marks 40 marks

(a)/20

(b)/20 (a)/10 (b)/5 (c)/5 (a)/15 (b)/25

1 This score is reduced to 25 (PW Phase-I) / 50 marks (PW Phase-II) to get the actual internal assessment marks for each student.

Rubric – 8: External Assessment of Student (Capstone) Project Work(Sona Autonomous Curriculum)

S. No.

Name of Student

Criteria for External Evaluation

Score2

(Out of 100

marks)

Internal Marks

Project Work Presentation

a) Depth of Understanding of Project Work(20)

b) Presentation Skills (10)

c) Ability to Answer Questions (10)

Quality of Dissertation

a) Organisation of Content (20)

b) Discussion of Results and Conclusion (40)

40 marks 60 marks

(a)/20 (b)/10 (c)/10 (a)/20 (b)/40

2 This score is reduced to 75 (PW Phase-I) / 150 marks (PW Phase-II) to get the actual external assessment marks for each student.

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Appendix – III

A Glossary of Academic Assessment Terms and Definitions

I – http://www.sl.edu/aac/dictionary.asp

Academic Assessment  Academic assessment is an on-going process of gathering and analysing data on the extent to which student learning outcomes have been attained and using the results of analysis to improve teaching and learning.

Activities are tasks that students do to demonstrate what they know. 

Assessment    Assessment is an ongoing process of gathering and analyzing data from multiple and diverse sources in order to decide whether an outcome has been achieved; the process culminates when the results of analysis are used for improvement (i.e. closing the loop).

Assessment Cycle    Once the assessment system is functional, an assessment cycle is established.  The assessment cycle is one iteration of the assessment process, beginning with reviewing and selecting learning outcomes to be assessed and ending with closing the loop, at which point the cycle begins again.  The time frame for the cycle must be determined and might take anywhere from one term to several years or more. 

Assessment System   An assessment system is a comprehensive and coordinated framework that provides feedback on student learning over time. An effective assessment system provides data on academic program strengths and weaknesses, as well as individual student learning, and runs through an established cycle: Define a set of learning outcomes (some of which may need to be assessed at

multiple times because of their importance or complexity) Set benchmarks for learning Create multiple activities (aligned to learning outcomes) to allow students to

demonstrate what they know and can do Establish multiple assessment instruments to measure student performance Set multiple data collection points (for example: Initial, Intermediate, and Final, as

defined below; NOTE: not all learning outcomes may require multiple data collection points)

Select learning outcomes to be measured in a given assessment cycle, such as a year. (NOTE: not all learning outcomes are measured in one cycle)

Initiate timelines for analyzing data on learning outcomes Institute methods of collecting, analyzing, and storing data on student learning Close the loop (make decisions to improve teaching and learning, report on the

results, review learning outcomes, and begin assessment cycle again)

Initial Assessment   An initial assessment is the first measurement (based, for example, on quizzes, papers, interviews, or other assessment instruments) of selected learning outcomes in an assessment system. In some programs, initial assessment is compared to an established benchmark to provide evidence of student achievement and program effectiveness.

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Intermediate Assessment   An intermediate assessment is a mid-way measurement (based, for example, on exams, papers, or other assessment instruments) of selected learning outcomes in an assessment system. Intermediate assessment should be compared to an established benchmark to provide evidence of student achievement and program effectiveness.

Final Assessment    A final assessment is the culminating measurement (based, for example, on comprehensive exams, projects, or other assessment instruments) of selected learning outcomes in an assessment system.   Final assessment should be compared to an established benchmark to provide evidence of student achievement and program effectiveness.

Benchmarks are expected levels of competency at a particular period in time.

Course-embedded Assessment     Course-embedded assessment is an assessment that uses the regular work that students produce in their courses (e.g., assignments, exams, projects) as data to be analyzed for the improvement of teaching and learning.

Evaluation is a judgment of student level of performance of meeting learning outcomes by comparing the performance to benchmarks.

Goals are broad statements that indicate what students will accomplish. Goals answer the question, "What will students know and be able to do at the end of the course or program?"

Instruments are the tools that are used to assess what students know (rubrics, exams, etc).

Objectives describe the behaviours that indicate that students have accomplished the learning goals. A learning objective is usually stated in three parts: Condition, Behaviour, and Criterion.

RubricA rubric is an explicit set of criteria used for assessing a particular type of work or performance.  Levels of achievement are often given numerical scores.  A summary score for the work being assessed may be produced by adding the scores for each criterion. The rubric may also include space for the judge to describe the reasons for each judgment.

Student Learning Portfolio     A portfolio is a system of learning and assessment based on process.  A variety of artefacts from a student's learning (papers, art, tests, video, rubrics, etc.) can be included in the portfolio as evidence of the student's growth or achievement in program-specific competencies.  The student selects artefacts and provides self-reflection explaining how the artefacts meet learning outcomes.  Thus, the portfolio serves as a tool for reflection as the student learns.  Finally, the portfolio can be adapted to emphasize assessment and/or employment purposes.

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II – Using Assessment for Program Improvement (Susan King, Director Office of Academic Assessment, University of Southern Maine)

http://usm.maine.edu/testing/assessment/pdfs/defprocess.pdf

Define Assessment

Assessment is a process that focuses on student learning, a process that involves reviewing and reflecting on practice as academics have always done, but in a more planned and careful way. (Ewell, 2000)

Assessment is an ongoing process of collecting information that is aimed at understanding and improving student learning and personal development. (Angelo, 1995)

Assessment is the systematic collection, review, and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development. (Marchese, 1993)

What Assessment IS and IS NOT

• Assessment is NOT episodic…..it should be ongoing and embedded in the culture by repeating a cycle of actions.

• Assessment is NOT just about measurement….it involves both gathering information and using it as feedback to modify a service/program/course.

• Assessment is NOT about evaluating the performance of an individual staff / faculty / student….it is aimed at improvement.

• Assessment is NOT solely an administrative process….it is a team effort and staff must be actively engaged in the assessment process.

• Assessment is NOT easy or quick….it is a complex process of comparing the intended outcomes and the actual learning outcomes of an educational experience.

AAHE: 9 Principles of Good Practice for Assessing Student Learning(American Association of Health Education, 1992)

1. Assessment of student learning begins with educational values.

2. Assessment is most effective when it reflects an understanding of learning as multidimensional, integrated, and revealed in performance over time.

3. Assessment works best when the programs it seeks to improve have clear, explicitly stated purposes.

4. Assessment requires attention to outcomes but also and equally to the experiences that lead to those outcomes.

5. Assessment works best when it is ongoing not episodic.

6. Assessment fosters wider improvement when representatives from across the educational community are involved.

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7. Assessment makes a difference when it begins with issues of use and illuminates questions that people really care about.

8. Assessment is most likely to lead to improvement when it is part of a larger set of conditions that promote change.

9. Through assessment, educators meet responsibilities to students and to the public.

III – http://www.uni.edu/assessment/definitionofassessment.shtml

A Definition of Assessment (from the Higher Learning Commission, USA)

The Higher Learning Commission defines assessment of student learning in the following way:

Assessment of student learning is a participatory, iterative process that,

Provides data/information you need on your students’ learning Engages you and others in analyzing and using this data/information to confirm and

improve teaching and learning Produces evidence that students are learning the outcomes you intended Guides you in making educational and institutional improvements Evaluates whether changes made improve/impact student learning, and documents

the learning and your efforts.” Fundamental Questions for Evaluation

How are your stated learning outcomes appropriate to your mission, programs, students and degrees?

How do you ensure shared responsibility for student learning and assessment of student learning?

What evidence do you have that students achieve your stated learning outcomes? In what ways do you analyse and use evidence of student learning? How do you evaluate and improve the effectiveness of your efforts to assess and

improve student learning? [From “Student Learning, Assessment and Accreditation: Criteria and Contexts”, presented at Making a Difference in Student Learning: Assessment as a Core Strategy, a workshop from the Higher Learning Commission, July 26-28, 2006.]

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