Evaluation of Electrical Engineering Education in Germany - Results of a Pilot Project

BUECHNER, Peter ¹& LANGE, Otto²

¹ Dresden University of Technology, Electrical Power Engineering, D-01062 Dresden, buechner@eti.et.tu-dresden.de, http://eeiwzb.et.tu-dresden.de
² Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg, Computer Science II, Harburger Schloßstraße 20, D-21079 Hamburg, lange@tu-harburg.de, http://www.ti2.tu-harburg.de/URL

Abstract: Globalization in economy and the entrance in an information age strongly request new ideas in electrical and information engineering education (EE&IE-E). The technical universities in Germany have adapted many new ideas in all branches of engineering education. The results of this process are: additional academic degrees corresponding to the Anglo-American system, new private universities, a variety of new curricula in electrical and information engineering, and the preparation of a German accreditation procedure guided by the Standing Conference of the State Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (Kultusministerkonferenz - KMK) of the Federal Republic of Germany. At the front end of such changes the German Assembly of Electrical and Information Engineering Departments (Fakultaetentag fuer Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik - FTEI) started in 1997 a pilot project to evaluate several member departments. The following report tries to illustrate the justification, the procedure and the results of the evaluation and shows the connection between the different tools evaluation and accreditation, both suitable for the warranty of a study towards a modern electrical engineer.
Using the results of the pilot project referring to the Department of Electrical Engineering of the Dresden University of Technology and the Electrical Engineering School of Study of the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg, some more details of the evaluation process and its influence on the educational process will be given.

Keywords: evaluation, accreditation, electrical engineering, education, pilot project

1 Introduction

Electrical and Information Engineering are essential contributors to the development of the world economy at the beginning of the new century not only in their own fields, but also together with computer science (software tools), mechanical engineering (mechatronics, renewable energy systems) and natural sciences (new semiconductor materials, new energy storage technologies). Due to the tendency to systems engineering many different special fields are merging more and more and will be strongly influenced by software engineering and the technique of embedded controllers. That development forces the institutions of higher learning to introduce new paradigm in electrical and information engineering education (EE&IE-E), where the following tendencies can be observed:

• engineers should be prepared in their basic study for a life long learning which is based on a broad and deep basic knowledge of mathematics, electrical engineering, systems theory, computer science and engineering fundamentals. The content of this knowledge should be comparable in different national education systems to make sure that all engineers speak the same technical language.
• due to the fast developing technologies the specialization in the main study should not be to narrow. It seems better to use specialization as an example to show the students the scientific and engineering approach to typical tasks they will be responsible for in their later environment.
• engineers should be able to work in international teams with mostly English language as common language. Therefore non-technical, social and cultural skills should belong to a modern EE&IE-E in a higher level than now. Team-work is not a matter of lectures but a matter of "learning by doing" in processing laboratory work and group projects.

The process of changing the EE&IE-E to the fast developing requirements of the information age is worldwide under way and is a matter of the universities and their associations from inside and also a matter of political attention done by the governments and engineering associations from outside. Both efforts are strongly connected with the terms evaluation and accreditation.

2 Evaluation of Units as a Closed Quality Loop

Evaluation is a procedure of self and outside assessment done by experts with competence for the EE&IE-E process. It is the systematic inventory, interpretation and assessment of facts and data of the teaching process and the scientific environment of a department or school of learning (unit) with the aim to reflect the current level of its own EE&IE-E in comparison to the mission and vision of the unit and the common accepted requirements of a modern education. Evaluation is a mean to force pressure of change in the sense of quality assurance [1].

The absence of sufficient objective criteria of the quality of EE&IE-E is substituted by the assessment of an internal evaluation report, written by a team of professors, scientific co-workers and students of the unit, together with a several days visit of a group of peers (professors from other universities and engineers from industry) in the unit. The peers group writes the external evaluation report with special recommendations for changes in the unit.

To make sure that the internal report gives a straightforward view on the unit and following the conviction that the results of external evaluation have always subjective components, the procedure of evaluation should function without administrative pressure or monetary consequences for the unit and should be voluntary.It is therefore problematic and not the intention of the evaluation to use the results for a ranking of the units. Later will be shown that a positive evaluated unit has better and faster chances to get the accreditation of its study programs.

The procedure of evaluation runs in the way of a closed quality enhancement loop shown in figure 1, where the different steps of action and the resulting papers are given. The most work for the unit is done in puzzling together the internal report, for the peers group however in visiting the unit and in writing down the external report with recommendations for the unit. But the most important role in the loop plays the list of measures and its realization in the unit to reach a higher level in the quality of EE&IE-E.

It is worth mentioning again that the evaluation will work best, if it is a complete self-controlled procedure without influence of the university management or ministries of education. The unit itself, hopefully supported by the university, has to take the costs for the evaluation. To make it sure that the (sometimes not cost-neutral realizable) recommendations of the peers can be realized in the EE&IE-E, the unit should negotiate with the university management and set up a plan of the realization for the period up to the next evaluation. A sufficient interval between evaluations seems to be five years.

3 Accreditation of Study Programs

Accreditation of a study program (Bachelor-, Master-, Dipl.-Ing.-degree courses) is the comparing of the curriculum and the official course and study regulations (Diplompruefungs-ordnung, Studienordnung) with a set of accepted minimal requirements for such a program in the country and worldwide, where not only the number of credits and the number of examinations is of importance, but also the content, the strategy and the subjects of the contributing fields of study. Additionally the scientific environment and the technical outfit of the unit are under consideration. The minimum criteria are a matter of agreement between the authorities of the national education policy and the engineering associations. Therefore accreditation is a procedure initiated by nationwide or worldwide authorized accreditation boards. The result of the accreditation is a certificate or a "Seal of quality" for the study program valid for the following five to seven years.

The unit where the study program runs applies for accreditation and the accreditation board selects a group of experts, comparable to a peers group, to do the assessment. The procedure

is normally combined again with a visit of the unit, but if the results of a recent positive evaluation are available, the experts can recommend the accreditation to the board only by a study of the documents. The certificate makes it sure for the applying students and for the

employing industry that the program runs with sufficient quality of EE&IE-E. Figure 2 shows the principle of accreditation in a graphic representation.

Accreditation has a long tradition in the USA (since 1933) and is well-organized [2]. From the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology, Inc. (ABET) [3] international activities have been started during the last years which have led to the Washington Accord in 1997 [4]. This is an agreement of several national accreditation boards to unify the rules and procedures

worldwide. In some European countries like France (since 1934) accreditation has a long tradition, too. In other European countries accreditations have started some years ago [5].

In Germany the membership of an EE&IE department in the Assembly of EE&IE Departments (FTEI, founded in 1956) is linked with an assessed quality level of the unit. This functions as a quasi-accreditation, because a group of experts visits the applying department and compares the EEE with the declared quality level and the requirements of the FTEI [6]. Since 1956 28 of 32 German EE&IE departments at universities have become members of the FTEI step by step.

The latest revision of the Federal Higher Education Act (Hochschulrahmengesetz HRG) in 1998 has introduced the possibility of creating new study programs leading to the academic degrees Bachelor and Master. As no framework regulations for these programs exist the Standing Conference of the State Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (Kultusminister-konferenz KMK) has decided to install in 1999 a Federal Council of Accreditation (Akkreditierungsrat) who is responsible as a governing council for the accreditation boards (Akkreditierungsagenturen) and for the framework regulations of the procedure. To collect first experiences the procedure will start as a pilot project during the next three years. At the moment the accreditation boards are under construction, where several partners are involved: the FTEI, the professional and industrial associations (VDE, VDI, ZVEI). The results of accreditation will not replace up to now the act of legal admission of a study course by the respective state ministry, but it may be developed as a precondition of the admission.

4 Justification of the Pilot Project

The first experiences with evaluation of universities and Fachhochschulen date back to the beginning of the nineties. A number of pilot projects started using the experiences especially in the Netherlands supported by the Federal Government and the some state governments. The FTEI decided on its 1997 Plenary Meeting in Dresden to start another pilot project with the following steps:

1. Selection of a questionnaire for the involved units and selection of the peers (June 1997)
2. Delivering of the internal report to the peers group (two professors from abroad, one professor of a German university, two persons from industry as representatives of the
   German Association of Electrical Engineers (VDE) and the Association of the German Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers (ZVEI) (October 1997)
3. Visits of two days in each involved department (Dresden, Hamburg-Harburg and Rostock) (December 1997, January 1998)
4. Delivering of the external evaluation reports to the departments and another one to the DFTE (March 1998)
5. Plan of measures of the departments and of the DFTE for further development of the procedure of evaluation (April 1998) [7]
6. Installation of a working group for further development of evaluation and accreditation in EE&IE-E on the 1999 Plenary Meeting in Hamburg-Harburg

The idea of such a pilot project was justified in the hope that at the end the following questions would be answerable:

• What is the effort of such a procedure in EE&IE-E on the side of the involved unit and on the side of the peers?
• Are the available questionnaires and guidelines for the departments and for the peers good enough for further evaluations in EE&IE?
• Is such a system realistic for all the 32 German university EE&IE departments?
• How realistic are the results depending from the procedure and the dialog between the peers and the faculty?
• What is the reaction of the university administration and of the state ministry?

Fortunately at the end the most questions could be answered in a positive manner. The three involved departments are in concordance that the high effort of the pilot project was worth to be done. Some important results of the pilot project are following.

5 Results of the Pilot Project

The main discovery of the pilot project is the conviction that the procedure of self evaluation following well-articulated guidelines or better a manual causes a better understanding within the faculty and between the faculty and the students. The evaluation group is forced to start the dialog with all involved partners in the department to prepare the visit of the peers and to write down the internal report. A number of unexpected weak-points were found out in the curriculum, in the organization of the study and in the motivation of the students. This self-assessment seems to be the most important part of the procedure.

Another result is the secondary effect in relation to the university management. The overcoming of deficits mentioned by the peers in their external report is often easier after the evaluation than before, because external competence has a higher weight. A plan of measures should be written as an agreement between the university and the department, where the schedule and the deadlines are put together.

The evaluation is a valuable chance for the often problematic dialog between the department and the industry, because in the peers group persons from industry are members. Differences in opinions and views are easier to overcome directly with a dialog at the place of education. E.g., the explanation of the vision of the department can be supported by practical demonstrations and in direct contact with the students.

As examples the following anonymized details from the recommendations to the departments and their answers are mentioned:

1. There was a recommendation to reduce the average dwell time of students up to their mid-examination (pre-diploma after two years - Vordiplom).
   As measures can be found in the schedule of the department to reach that aim with
   -enlargement of the pre-course in mathematics and a better offer of tutorials under participation of the students
   - elaboration of new basic experimental exercises as group projects in EE
   
2. Another recommendation was to prepare the tutors better for their tasks.
   The department started therefore special lectures "To Learn Teaching for Tutors" and "Communication and Presentation".
   
3. To another department the recommendation referred to an enlargement of the hours in the field of microelectronics and computer engineering in the first two years. The reaction was a shifting in the curriculum in such a way that the number of hours in these fields is doubled now. A new lecture "Computer engineering" together with laboratory projects where all the labs of the department are contributing has been installed in the 3^rd and 4^th semester followed by a reduction of hours in electrical power engineering and engineering fundamentals.
   
4. The peers recommended the fast installation of the bachelor and master courses to get experiences in this field. That recommendation accelerated the legal admission of these courses by the state ministry.

For use in further development of evaluation the FTEI has got another report of the peers. The peers have recommended to work out better and specialized guidelines for the process of evaluation and perhaps accreditation in EE&IE. This manual is now available in German language on the homepage of the DFTE [1]. The authors tried to collect all the experiences from the pilot project of evaluation without writing a large volume. The manual gives enough freedom for the departments to describe their own specialties and their vision for educating modern electrical engineers. It is a first edition and has the following structure:

1. Introduction
2. Definition, aim and procedure of evaluation and accreditation
3. Proposal of the structure of an internal evaluation report
4. Proposal for the organization of the visit of the peers
5. Proposal of the external evaluation report
6. Proposal for the application of accreditation
7. Minimum criteria of accreditation

The manual will be further developed during the next years especially when the first experiences with the accreditation procedure are available.

6 Conclusions

The pilot project "evaluation" of the FTEI has shown in an impressive manner, that the EE&IE-E in Germany has a sufficient quality. As the three involved departments are members of the FTEI this statement should be valid also for the other departments, because they were all quasi-accredited by the rules of the FTEI.

The pilot project was suitable to bring the problems of quality assurance and quality enhancement more and more in the consciousness of the departments. The combination of a self controlled evaluation and the government controlled accreditation seems to be a good set of tools to care for a continuous quality enhancement following the developments of the globalization of industry and the shifting of focal point in electrical and information engineering [7].

The FTEI has demonstrated that it has the will and the competence to be involved in both parts of this procedure. It recommends its members to join on a voluntary basis to further evaluation groups. Additionally the FTEI will establish a special standing working group "Accreditation and Evaluation" to coordinate all the activities in this field.

References