Using a Measure of Student Holistic Development for Quality Assurance

Abstract

Engineering is a global profession and engineering education has been charged to prepare engineers accordingly. Students’ knowledge and acquisition of technical skills in the field of engineering are necessary but insufficient in the preparation of future engineers. Personal and interpersonal skills and attitudes are also worthy and essential requirements in the preparation of engineers. Professional and other accrediting and Quality Assurance agencies which have the responsibility for the Quality Assurance of engineering programs are asking institutions to be held accountable for meeting these expanded and inclusive requirements. However, dimensions and domains of student and human development are some of the more difficult to be assessed, and are thus not well represented in the arsenal of instruments and strategies that focus on student development, more broadly defined. This chapter describes the work done in constructing an instrument, the Global Perspective Inventory that assesses students’ progress in their journey in becoming global citizens.