CO-PO ATTAINMENT HANDBOOK

School of Computing
College of Engineering and Technology
SRM Institute of Science and Technology
May 2023
SRM INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, KATTANKULTHUR
SCHOOL OF COMPUTING

CO-PO ATTAINMENT HANDBOOK

CONTENT

Page No.

1. Mission & Vision Statements 3

2. Programme Educational Objectives (PEO) 4

3. Programme Outcomes (PO) 4

4. Programme Specific Outcomes (PSO) 5

5. Terminology 6

6. Level of Correlation and Attainment 8

7. Attainment of Cos 8

8. Calculation of CO Attainment 10

9. Calculation of PO/PSO Attainment 14

10. Comparison Charts 15

11. Evaluation of CO & PO 16

12. CO attainment for Project & Internship 18

13. Programme Level PO/PSO Attainment 23

14. CO Attainment and Gap Analysis 24

15. Continuous Improvement in PO/PSO Attainment 25

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 1. VISION AND MISSION STATEMENTS

UNIVERSITY VISION
To emerge as a world-class University in creating and disseminating knowledge and providing
students a unique learning experience in science, technology, medicine, management and other
areas of scholarship that will best serve the world and betterment of mankind.

UNIVERSITY MISSION
TO MOVE UP through international alliances and collaborative initiatives to achieve global
excellence.
TO ACCOMPLISH A PROCESS to advance knowledge in a rigorous academic and research
environment.
TO ATTRACT AND BUILD PEOPLE in a rewarding and inspiring environment by
fostering freedom, empowerment, creativity and innovation.

SCHOOL OF COMPUTING VISION

To become a world class School in importing high quality education and in providing students
a unique learning and research experience in the field of Computer Science and Engineering
and its related fields.

SCHOOL OF COMPUTING MISSION

• To impart knowledge in cutting edge technologies on par with industrial standards
• To collaborate with renowned academic institutions in research and development
• To instil societal and ethical responsibilities in all professional activities

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 2. PROGRAMME EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES (PEO)
• Graduates will be able to perform in technical/managerial roles ranging from design,
development, problem solving to production support in software industries and R&D
sectors.
• Graduates will be able to successfully pursue higher education in reputed institutions.
• Graduates will have the ability to adapt, contribute and innovate new technologies and
systems in the key domains of Computer Science and Engineering.
• Graduates will be ethically and socially responsible solution providers and entrepreneurs
in Computer Science and other engineering disciplines.

3. PROGRAMME OUTCOMES (PO)

PO 1: Engineering knowledge: Apply the knowledge of mathematics, science, engineering
fundamentals, and an engineering specialisation for the solution of complex engineering
problems.
PO 2: Problem analysis: Identify, formulate, research literature, and analyse complex
engineering problems reaching substantiated conclusions using first principles of mathematics,
natural sciences, and engineering sciences.
PO 3: Design/Development of Solutions: Design solutions for complex engineering problems
and design system components or processes that meet the specified needs with appropriate
consideration for public health and safety, and cultural, societal, and environmental
considerations.
PO 4: Conduct investigations of complex problems: Use research-based knowledge and
research methods including design of experiments, analysis and interpretation of data, and
synthesis of the information to provide valid conclusions.
PO 5: Modern tool usage: Create, select, and apply appropriate techniques, resources, and
modern engineering and IT tools including prediction and modelling to complex engineering
activities with an understanding of the limitations.
PO 6: The engineer and society: Apply reasoning informed by the contextual knowledge to
assess societal, health, safety, legal, and cultural issues and the consequent responsibilities
relevant to the professional engineering practice.
PO 7: Environment and sustainability: Understand the impact of the professional
engineering solutions in societal and environmental contexts, and demonstrate the knowledge
of, and the need for sustainable development.

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PO 8: Ethics: Apply ethical principles and commit to professional ethics and responsibilities
and norms of the engineering practice.
PO 9: Individual and team work: Function effectively as an individual, and as a member or
leader in diverse teams, and in multidisciplinary settings.
PO 10: Communication: Communicate effectively on complex engineering activities with
the engineering community and with the society at large, such as being able to comprehend
and write effective reports and design documentation, make effective presentations, and give
and receive clear instructions
PO 11: Project management and finance: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of
the engineering and management principles and apply these to one’s work, as a member and
leader in a team, to manage projects and in multidisciplinary environments.
PO 12: Life-long learning: Recognise the need for, and have the preparation and ability to
engage in independent and life-long learning in the broadest context of technological change.

4. PROGRAMME SPECIFIC OUTCOMES (PSO) for CSE Core

PSO1 : Ability to understand client requirements and suggest solutions
PSO2 : Ability to create Software for automation and function
PSO3 : Ability to demonstrate logical, Reasoning and problem solving Skills

Key Constituents of Outcome Based Education (OBE)

Vision and Mission of

SRMIST

Vision and Mission of School of Computing & Department

Design

Attainment

Programme Educational Objectives (PEO)

Programme Outcomes (PO/PSO)

Course Course Course

Outcome-1 Outcome-2
…………
Outcome-n
.

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 5. TERMINOLOGY

• Outcome-Based Education (OBE): OBE is a system where all the parts and aspects
of education are focused on the outcomes of the course. The students take up courses
with a certain goal of developing skills or gaining knowledge and they have to
complete the goal by end of the course.

• Programme Educational Objectives (PEO) : These are broad statements that

describe what graduates are expected to attain within the four years of graduation.

• Programme Outcomes (PO): Programme outcomes are statements that describe what
the knowledge, skills and attitudes students should have at the time of graduation from
an engineering program. And at present POs are 12 in number and they are identified
by NBA and are applicable to all engineering programmes.

• Programme Specific Outcomes (PSO): PSOs are outcomes that are specific to a
Domain/Specialization. PSOs characterize the specificity of the core courses of a
programme. PSOs can be 2 to 4 in number.

• Course Outcomes (CO): Course Outcomes are specific and measurable statements
that define the knowledge, skills, and attitudes learners will demonstrate by the
completion of a course

• Course Articulation Matrix (CAM) : This is the mapping between Course Outcomes
and the Programme Outcomes of a specific Course.

• Program Articulation Matrix (PAM) : This is the mapping between the courses of a
Programme with Programme outcomes of a specific programme.

• Course Assessment Plan (CAP) : A well planned layout that shows how assessment
methods are aligned to the Course Outcomes(CO)

• Level of Thinking : Bloom’s Six Levels of Thinking. They are Remember(1),

Understand(2), Apply(3), Analyse(4), Evaluate(5) and Create(6).

• Expected Proficiency % : The Expected percentage of scores to attain a particular CO

or PO. For ex., if the Expected Proficiency is 60% for CO1 of a course, then 60% of
CO1 mark is needed to attain the CO

• Expected Attainment % : The expected percentage of students to get the expected

proficiency. For ex., if Expected Attainment is 70% for CO1 of a course, the 70% of
students are expected to get the expected proficiency % in CO1.

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 • Continuous Internal Assessment (CIA) : Continuous Internal Assessment evaluates
a student's progress throughout a prescribed course. There are 4 CIAs namely CIA1,
CIA2, CIA3 and CIA4 for all theory and lab courses

Ex. Course Articulation Matrix in Syllabus

Course Objectives: The purpose of learning this course is to: Learning Program Outcomes (PO)
1 Introduce the key role of an Operating system 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
2 Insist the Process Management functions of an Operating system
Emphasize the importance of Memory Management concepts of an Operating

Environment & Sustainability

3

Analysis, Design, Research

Level of Thinking (Bloom)
system

Expected Proficiency (%)

Expected Attainment (%)

Individual & Team Work

Engineering Knowledge
4 Realize the significance of Device Management part of an Operating system

Design & Development

Project Mgt. & Finance

5 Comprehend the need of File Management functions of an Operating system

Modern Tool Usage

Life Long Learning

6 Explore the services offered by the Operating system practically

Society & Culture

Problem Analysis

Communication

PSO – 3
PSO - 1

PSO - 2
Course Outcomes (CO): At the end of this course, learners will be able to:

Ethics
CO1 Express the fundamental concepts in Operating Systems. 2 60 70 3 3 2

CO2 Implement synchronization and scheduling in Operating System 3 70 75 2 1 3 2

CO3 Apply fragmentation, paging and segmentation in memory management. 3 70 75 3 2 2 2

Incorporate page fault handling, demand paging and page buffering techniques
CO4 4 60 70 3 2 2 2
in Operating System.

Demonstrate the storage management techniques through various File

CO5 3 60 70 3 2 2 2
Management techniques
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Course Outcomes
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Ex. Course Assessment Plan in Syllabus

Learning Assessment
Continuous Learning Assessment (50% weightage) Final Examination
Bloom’s (50% weightage)
CLA – 1 (10%) CLA – 2 (15%) CLA – 3 (15%) CLA – 4 (10%)
Level of
Thinking Theory Practice Theory Practice Theory Practice Theory Practice Theory Practice
(5%) (5%) (7.5%) (7.5%) (7.5%) (7.5%) (5%) (5%) (25%) (25%)
Level 1 Remember 20% 15% 15% 15%
Level 2 Understand 20% 25% 25% 25% 20%
Level 3 Apply 45% 30% 40% 35% 40% 40% 20% 20% 45% 30%
Level 4 Analyze 15% 40% 20% 35% 20% 30% 20% 50% 20% 35%
Level 5 Evaluate 30% 30% 30% 25% 30% 35%
Level 6 Create
Total 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 % 100% 100% 100% 100%

Bloom’s Level
Continuous Learning Assessment End Semester Examination

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 6. LEVEL OF CORRELATION AND ATTAINMENT

Level of Correlation/Mapping Factor

It indicates to what extent a certain component mapped with the other. The correlation
between CO - PO describes the level at which a particular PO is addressed through a CO.

3 - indicates Substantial/High mapping (high correlation towards attainment)

2 - indicates Moderate mapping (moderate correlation towards attainment)
1 - indicates Low mapping (low correlation towards attainment)

CO Attainment Targets
Targets are quantized into certain levels, 3 being the most common number of levels. CO
Attainment targets are finalized by the course coordinator before commencing course
delivery in a semester.
For Example, we can set a target as below:
Level 3: x% Students scoring >= p% of max marks allocated to CO
Level 2 : y% Students scoring >= p% of max marks allocated to CO
Level 1 : z% Students scoring >= p% of max marks allocated to CO

p% à The expected Proficiency % to attain a CO. For ex. It can be 60%

x% à The High expected Attainment %. For ex., it can be set as 85%
y% à The moderate expected attainment %. For ex., it can be set as 70%
z% à The low expected attainment %. For ex., it can be set as 60%

7. ATTAINMENT OF COs

• Attainment of COs can be measured directly and indirectly

• Direct attainment of COs can be determined from the performance of students in all
relevant assessment instruments.

Direct CO attainment
• Direct attainment of COs is determined from the performances of students in
Continuous Internal Assessment (CIA) and Semester End Examination (SEE).
• The proportional weightages of CIA: SEE will be as per the academic regulations in
force.
• Direct attainment of a specific COs is determined from the performances of students in
all the assessment items related to that particular CO.
• Hence, every assessment item needs to be tagged with the relevant CO.
• Also, we need data about performance of students assessment item – wise.
• Continuous Internal Assessment (CIA) is conducted and evaluated by the relevant
department itself. Thus, institution have access to question-wise marks in all assessment
instruments in Continuous Internal Assessment (CIA).
• When questions are tagged with relevant COs, the department has access to
performances of students with respect to each CO.

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• For the Semester End Examinations, the direct attainment is calculated from the final
mark for all COs.

Indirect CO attainment
• Indirect attainment of COs can be determined from the course exit survey.
• The exit survey form should be designed to get feedback from students on all the COs.

GAP ANALYSIS

• If targets are achieved for that year, higher targets can be set (increase the target by 2%
to 5%) for the following academic year as a part of continuous improvement.

• If targets are not achieved, an action plan should be performed to attain the target in the
subsequent years.

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 8. CALCULATION OF CO ATTAINMENT

Step 1: For every course, 4-6 course outcomes (CO) are defined and mapped to Program
outcomes (PO) on a scale of 0 to 3. The average of each POs are calculated. CO attainment
targets are finalized by the course coordinators before commencement of the course delivery.

CO PO1 PO2 PO3 PO4 PO5 PO6 PO7 PO8 PO9 PO10 PO11 PO12 PSO1 PSO2 PSO3

CO205.1 3 - 3 - - - - - - - - - 2 - -
CO205.2 2 1 3 - - - - - - - - - - 2 -
CO205.3
3 2 2 - - - - - - - - - 2 - -
CO205.4
3 2 2 - - - - - - - - - - 2 -
CO205.5 3 - 2 2 - - - - - - - - 2 - -

Average 2.80 1.67 2.40 2.00 - - - - - - - - 2.00 2.00 -

Step 2: For every CIA, Enter maximum marks for each question and its corresponding CO in
the relevant columns

Max. Marks for each Question Marks earned by student CO for each Question

Step 3: Enter mark for each student question-wise. Mark zero(0) if the student failed to answer
for mandatory questions. Leave blank only for choice questions. We find the total mark of the
students in last column.

Step 4: Compute the “Number of students attempted” the questions for each question.
For ex. Content of cell D72 = COUNTA(D8:D71)
Here, Column D represent the marks earned by the students for Q.No.1

Step 5: Compute the “Number of students who score >= p% marks” for each question.
For ex. Content of cell D73 = COUNTIF(D8:D71,">="&0.6*D4)
Here, We compute the numbers of students who scores >=60% for Q.No.1

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Step 6: Find the Percentage of students who scores >=p% for each question

Percentage of students who got more than p% of marks = No. of students who got more than p% of marks
No. of students attempted the Question

Step 7: Compute the average percentage of students who got more than p% of marks for each
CO.

CO Attainment for CO2 CO Attainment for CO3

Step 8: Compute the CO attainment for each CIA using the following formula.

CO Attainment Level = 3, if (the avg. % of students who got >=p% for each CO ) >=x
= 2, if (the avg. % of students who got >=p% for each CO ) >=y
= 1, if (the avg. % of students who got >=p% for each CO ) >=z

Step 9: Repeat steps 2 to 8 for each CIA components. Use separate sheet for each CIA

Step 10: Enter the Grades earned by the students in Semester End Examinations. Calculate its
corresponding numeric grades in the next column. For example, Grade “O” will be converted
as 10 in numeric. Also compute the percentage of students who got more than 60% of marks
in Semester End Examinations.

Grades earned by students Numeric Value for Grades

Grade O A+ A B+ B C Other
Numeric Value 10 9 8 7 6 5 0

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Step 11: Course Exit Survey will be conducted among students for Indirect CO attainment.
The exit survey feedback must include questionnaire for all COs.

Sample Exit survey Questions

Step 12: Convert the exit survey responses into its numerical equivalent and compute the
percentage of each CO values.

Survey Responses Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

Numerical Equivalent 5 4 3 2 1

Sum of survey responses (CO Wise)

% of Survey responses (CO Wise)

Step 13: Calculate Consolidated Continuous Internal Assessment (CIA) for each CO as
follows: Avg. % of students who got >= p% of marks Avg. % of students who got >= p% of marks
in all CIA components for theory assessment + in all CIA components for theory assessment
CIA =
2 2
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Step 14: Calculate CO Attainment Level for CIA as follows :
Attainment Level for Continuous Internal Assessment (CIA) = 3 if CIA >= x%
= 2 if y% <= CIA < x%
= 1 if z% <= CIA < y%

Step 15: “Percentage of students who got more than 6% of marks in Semester End
Examination” will be considered as SEE(Semester End Examination) for all COs.

Now Calculate CO Attainment Level for SEE as in step 14.

Step 16: Direct CO Attainment score is calculated as follows:

Direct Attainment Score = 50% of CIA + 50% of SEE

Direct Attainment Level is calculated from Direct Attainment Score as follows:

Direct attainment level = 3, if direct Attainment Score >= x%

= 2 if y% <= direct Attainment Score < x%
= 1 if z% <= direct Attainment Score < y%

Step 17: Indirect Attainment Score is the “% of Exit survey responses” that we have
calculated in step 12.

Now calculate the indirect attainment level from indirect attainment score as same as in step
no. 16

Step 18: Final Attainment score is calculated as follows:

Final Attainment Score = 70% of Direct Attainment Score+ 30% of Indirect Attainment Score

Final Attainment Level is calculated from final attainment score as follows:

Final attainment level = 3, if final Attainment Score >= x%

= 2 if y% <= final Attainment Score < x%
= 1 if z% <= final Attainment Score < y%

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 9. CALCULATION OF PO/PSO ATTAINMENT

Step 1 : To calculate PO attainment we refer the following values.

(i) Final Attainment Level of COs [ Refer Step 18 in the previous section ]
(ii) CO-PO mapping correlations. [ Refer Step 1 in the previous section ]
(iii) Maximum Correlation Value. ie; 3

CO PO Mapping Correlation Value

CO Wise Final Attainment Level

Step 2 : The PO attainment for each CO is calculated as follows:

PO/PSO Attainment = Final CO Attainment Level * CO-PO Mapping Correlation value

Max. Correlation Value

i.e, Final Attainment for CO1 is 2.65, CO1-PO1 mapping is 3, So the PO1 attainment w.r.to
CO1 is = [ 2.65 / 3 ] * 3 = 2.65

Step 3 : Repeat the calculation for all POs/PSOs

Step 4 : Compute the average PO attainment for each POs/PSOs

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 10. COMPARISION CHARTS

1. CO Attainment Score Comparison

The values of IA, UA, Direct attainment Score, Indirect Attainment Score and Final
Attainment Scores are compared in the following chart.

2. CO Attainment Level Comparison

The Final attainment level is compared with target attainment level

3. Overall Attainment Comparison

The Target attainment score, 50% of IA, 50% UA, Student exit survey score and Final
attainment scores are compared

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 11. CO ATTAINMENT FOR PROJECT & INTERNSHIP

Step 1: Define CO for project/internship

Step 2: Map the CO with PO/PSO

Step 3: The continuous progress is assessed through periodic review by project panel members
(first, second and third review before final viva-voce) based on specific rubrics framed by the
department.

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Step 4: Rubrics for Review-1, Review-2, Review-3, Project Report and Final Viva

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Step 5: Review Marks are recorded based on the rubrics. Each Rubric components are
mapped with its corresponding COs.

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Step 6: Calculate CO attainment for each CO.

Step 7: Repeat Step 5 & 6 for all the reviews

Step 8: Enter Semester End Examination result (Final Viva Marks) in the corresponding
sheet

Step 9: Conduct Programme exit survey from the passed out students and alumni contacts.
Record the responses in numeric value. Find the average for each CO and consider it as direct
attainment score.

Step 10: Calculate Attainment Score for Continuous Internal assessment (CIA) from all
review scores. Also record Semester End Examinations marks as SEE.

Step 11: Calculate Direct attainment score from 50% of CIA and 50% SEE.

Step 12: Calculate Direct attainment levels and Indirect attainment levels using the formula
as follows:
Attainment level = 3, if Attainment Score >= x%
= 2 if y% <= Attainment Score < x%
= 1 if z% <= Attainment Score < y%

Step 13: Final Attainment score is calculated as follows:

Final Attainment Score = 70% of Direct Attainment Score+ 30% of Indirect Attainment Score

Final Attainment Level is calculated from final attainment score as per the formula in
Step no. 12

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 12. PROGRAMME LEVEL PO/PSO ATTAINMENT

The PO attainments of all the core courses are listed and the average PO attainments are
calculated. Then the average PO attainments are compared with the target PO to check
whether the POs are attained at programme level or not.

Direct Attainment
PO attainments of all the core courses are listed in the above table and its average is
computed. So Direct attainment is the average PO attainment of all the courses of a programme.

Indirect Attainment
Programme exit survey and alumni survey will be conducted similar to course exit
survey. These survey questionnaires will verify the attainment of all POs of a programme.

Final Attainment
80% of direct attainment and 20% of indirect attainments are added to find the final PO
attainment of a programme.

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 13. CO ATTAINMENT AND GAP ANALYSIS

The CO attainment for each course will be compared with CO attainment target and the
CO gaps can be closed by either enhancing the CO target or by enhancing the Teaching
Learning process.

Course

is defined with has

CO Targets
Course Outcomes

Are assessed by

Direct Measurement Indirect Measurement

determines

Students’ CO Attainment CO Attainment Gap

determines Leads to a

PO/PSO Attainment Plan for CO GAP to close

§ Every course of a programme is defined with respect to course outcomes and each course
coordinator will define a CO attainment target at the beginning of a course delivery (i.e, at
the beginning of a semester).

§ Course outcomes are measured by direct methods like Continuous Internal Assessments
(CIAs) and the CO will be measured indirectly through course exit survey at the end of the
semester.

§ CO attainment of individual sections will be added and the average CO attainment of a

course will be calculated by the course coordinators.

§ This CO attainment level is compared with CO target to check whether the students attained
the target or not. If any CO is not attained, the course coordinator may suggest his plan to
attain the CO in future. CO target may be redefined if needed.

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 14. CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT IN PO/PSO ATTAINMENT

Based on the PO/PSO Attainment for a course, we take appropriate action to refine the course
if target is not achieved. Also we can suggest to refine the PO/PSO attainment target in future.

Course Refinement

Target Level Attainment Level

Yes No
Target
Attained ?

Target Level Attained Appropriate action taken

Every Faculty needs to compute two main attainment values as mentioned below. Based on
that if target is not attained then appropriate actions should be taken.
• CO attainment
• PO attainment w.r.to CO
Course audit professor will analysis the PO/PSO attainment section-wise and recommends for
further actions.

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