The impact of alternative assessments in assessing the seventh component of the Washington Accord’s knowledge profile

Abstract

Engineering is an essential activity in meeting the needs of the people, enhancing the economic development as well as providing services to the society. Engineering practices safeguard people’s health, safety, the environment and manage risks throughout the entire lifecycle of a system. Such knowledge is categorised as the seventh curriculum component of the Washington Accord (WA)’s Knowledge Profile. In Malaysia, this component of knowledge profile is commonly assessed via traditional assessments such as written assignments or end-of-semester examination. Such assessments, however, do not promote the holistic outcomes as well as the students’ learning process. This paper presents the application of alternative assessments in assessing the mentioned curriculum component among the engineering students in Tunku Abdul Rahman University College, Malaysia. The effectiveness and acceptance of alternative assessments by focusing on authentic and flipped assessment methods were investigated. The qualitative analysis conducted on 208 engineering students revealed positive experience towards the implementation of alternative assessments, acknowledging that these assessment approaches promote cooperative learning and reinforce their understanding of the course materials in an active manner. Similarly, the quantitative analysis supported the effectiveness of alternative assessments with improvement of 6.6 to 7.8% in all course outcomes.