Ministry of Education

Test Blueprint for national Exit Examination to be held in 2015E. C

Band: IV

Program: - Bachelor of Science Degree in Agricultural Engineering

Compiled By: Mr. Ashebir Shimelis (Haramaya University)
Mr. Mustefa Jarso (Haramaya University)
Mr. Abera Tesfaye (Hawassa University)

January, 2023

Debre Markos, Ethiopia

 Contents

1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................1

2. Significance of blueprint..............................................................................................................1

3. Expected Profiles of Graduates...................................................................................................2

3.1. General objective..................................................................................................................2

3.2. Specific objectives................................................................................................................3

4. Theme and list of courses............................................................................................................6

5. Conclusion.................................................................................................................................17

i
1. Introduction

Agricultural Engineering (AgEg) is the art and science of the application of engineering to the
field of agriculture and agro-processing. Its major tasks are to apply technology and engineering
tools that help to increase agricultural production and efficiency with the main intention of
practicing appropriate technologies in agriculture under conditions of scarce resources,
developing and exporting new varieties of agricultural products, agriculture-related industrial
products, systems, and advanced know-how. To assure those professionals, an exit exam may
help a university make pertinent decisions to improve the quality of institution-wide education
and, in some cases, can help assess the standard of education in specific courses. Exit exams are
also regarded as helpful in instituting a system of accountability and transparency through which
students, instructors, higher education institutions, and academic leaders can be measured for
their success or failure, based on student outcomes. Based on the graduation profile, competency,
and learning outcomes, some courses are considered to be included in the exit exam. This
blueprint for the national exit examination was drafted for 2015 E.C. graduates of Agricultural
Engineering program based on the three main learning domains in accordance with the validated
core courses competence and curriculum of the program.

2. Significance of blueprint

Test blueprint preparation is generally opted to assist the preparation of a test that is
representative, broadly sampled, and consists of the complete knowledge domain expected of
Ethiopian higher education students on completion of their study program. The specific
objectives of the test blueprint are to:
 Facilitate the construction of representative and balanced test items for the
selected courses in accordance with the competencies identified in the
Agricultural Engineering program.
 Guide test developers or writers to write or set appropriate test items for
Agricultural Engineering program.

1
3. Expected Profiles of Graduates

Due to his/her strong background, a B.Sc. Agricultural Engineering graduates can

accomplish the following tasks after a brief period of on-job training.
 Design farmstead structures
 Design agricultural tools &implements
 Design irrigation and drainage schemes
 Skill in farm machinery management
 Skill in the maintenance of agricultural machinery
 Skill in evaluation and testing of farm machinery
 Skill in post-harvest handling of agricultural products
 Supervise food, feed, and fiber processing or manufacturing operation
 Skill in conducting research
 Consulting activities related with Agricultural Engineering discipline
 Manage environmental management projects in agriculture
 Soils & water conservation structures
 Watershed management activities
 Manage irrigation and drainage projects, greenhouse activities, and
farmstead structure control installations and structures.
 Manage land preparation and cultivation operations.

3.1. General objective

The general objective of Agricultural Engineering related to skills, attitude and
knowledge in an undergraduate degree program acquires many requirements. An
undergraduate Agricultural Engineering program meant to produce such graduates
must be designed to provide the students with a sufficiently broad and deep base of
the following requirements: The Agricultural Engineering profession can be acquired
and mastered by graduates who are well educated to enter into and dedicate to
continue growing in the profession.

2
3.2. Specific objectives
A. In terms of knowledge
 Knowledge of

 basic manufacturing technologies

 system analysis in farm implement and machine design

 the mechanics of materials,

 farm machinery management, maintenance principles, performance evaluation and

testing, promotion and sell

 renewable energy resources handling and utilization

 post-harvest handling and small scale processing of agricultural produce

 animal feed handling and processing

 fluid flow mechanisms, and heat and mass transfer

 irrigation scheme design, construction and management, drainage structure design,

water harvesting structures design, project planning and management, Know-how of
soil and water conservation structures design, farmstead structures and greenhouse
design and construction, groundwater and surface water hydrology, working know-how
of flow measurement in open and closed channels

 conduct applied research

 entrepreneurship,

B. In terms of Skill

 Design of

 farmstead structures

 agricultural tools &implements

 household-level food processing devices

 small scale feed processing devices

 biomass related energy processing plants

3
  irrigation and drainage schemes

 Develops technologies that optimize livestock production

 Execute agricultural water management activities

 Plan & execute reclamation of problematic soils

 Skill in

 farm machinery management

 sales, marketing, and promotion of agricultural machineries

 maintenance of agricultural machineries

 evaluation and testing of farm machineries

 post-harvest handling of agricultural products

 conducting research

 conducting environmental impact assessment

 Supervise food, feed, and fiber processing or manufacturing operation

 Consulting activities related with Agricultural Engineering discipline

 Manage

 land reclamation projects in agriculture

 environmental management projects in agriculture (Soils & water conservation

structures and Watershed management activities)

 Irrigation and drainage projects, greenhouse activities, and farmstead structure

control installations and structures.

 land preparation and cultivation operations

 farm implements and machineries

C. Interims of attitudes

 Increase in labor productivity, land productivity and decrease the cost of production and
attitude of perception availability and utilization of modern agricultural technology
4
 An Attitude of Perception on water availability and utilization of these resources
for sustainable development
 Attitude of making citizen of Ethiopia to be food self-sufficient by applying modern
agricultural farming techniques to increase productivity

5
4. Theme and list of courses with credit hour
Table 1. Selected course for Exit Exam of Agricultural Engineering

No. Selected Courses for the Exit Exam Course Code Cr.hr
1 Fluid Mechanics AgEg 2101 3
2 Design of machine elements AgEg 3132 3
3 Agricultural Processing Eng. I AgEg 3161 3
4 Agricultural Processing Eng. II AgEg 3163 3
5 Alter. Energy Resources AgEg 3181 3
6 Soil Physics & Mechanics AgEg 2092 2
7 Farm Power Unit AgEg 3182 3
8 Farm Implement & Machinery AgEg 3191 2
9 Maintenance of Agricultural Machineries AgEg 4193 4
10 Soil and Water Conservation Eng. I AgEg 3211 3
11 Soil and Water Conservation Eng. II AgEg 4212 3
12 Research Methods in Agricultural Engineering AgEg 5141 3
13 Selection and mgt of Farm Machinery AgEg 3192 3
14 Performance Evaluation &Testing AgEg 5204 3
15 Irrigation Engineering I AgEg 3213 3
16 Farm Management AREM 5144 3
Total credit hour 47

6
 Minister of education
Higher education sub-sector
Table 2. Test Blueprint (Table Specification) for BSC in Agricultural Engineering
Themes and Name and Share General Learning outcomes

No. of items (%)

Share of the of the Courses in objective/Competency Specific objectives /learning Cognitive (%)

Psychomot
themes in % % outcomes

Affective
Applica
Underst
Remem

Analysi
Evaluat

Creatio
Cr.hr
Theme one: Soil Physics and 3 To give students the required  To give students the required
Applied Mechanics(%) = 7 knowledge and skill in knowledge and skill;
science for fundamentals of soil physics fundamentals of soil physics
Agricultural and Mechanics. and Mechanics, in plant-water-
Engineering soil interactions, in the
1 2 1 1 1 - 1 - 7%
(%) =13 kinematics of soils.
 Evaluate basic soil weight-
volume relationships for soil
and related characterization
and classification schemes,
Fluid 3 To learn how to calculate  Understand concepts, - 2 1 1 1 - 1 - 6%
Mechanics(%) = 6 static and dynamic water principles, laws, observations,
pressure on structures; and models of fluids at rest
hydraulic phenomena in and in motion,
open and closed conduits;  Provides basis for
compute head losses and understanding fluid behavior

7
 flows in simple pipes and for engineering design and
channels control of fluid systems,
 Develop competence with
mass, energy and momentum
balances for determining
resultant interactions of flows
in an engineering and natural
systems,
 Learn how to calculate static
and dynamic water pressure on
structures,
 Learn how to calculate
hydraulic phenomena in open
and closed conduits,
 Learn methods for computing
head losses and flows in
simple pipes and channels,
 Provide basis for
understanding of different
hydraulic structures.
Theme one total 6
Cr.hr
Theme Two: 3 To introduce various types  Machine design concepts and
Design of
- 1 2 2 - 1 1 - 7%
Design (%) of machine elements that are procedure of designing of
Machine Elements

8
=19 commonly used as machine components
components, parts machines  Identification or selection of
and equipment proper safety factor to avoid
failure before the expected life
of the component;
 Stress concentration
 Fatigue life and fatigue
strength of machine elements;
 Causes of stress concentration
(%) = 7 in machine elements;
 Analysis of the strength of
bolted, welded, riveted and
interference-fitted joints;
 Design of keys, splines and
pins;
 Analysis of pressure vessels,
valves and sealing
mechanisms;
 Design of springs.
Research Methods 3 Introduce students into the  Identify some techniques for - 1 1 1 - 1 2 - 6%
in Agricultural basic principles of scientific improving writing skills,
Engineering (%) = research, sample size  Introduce students with the
6 determination, experimental basic principles of scientific
design, data collection and research, sample size

9
 analysis, graphs determination, experimental
design, data collection and
analysis
 Develop well organized
reports to the reader
 Introduced to techniques of
research writing and
documenting sources using
accepted formats
3 Working knowledge of farm  Agricultural management
machinery management, principle,
basic concepts of decision  Concepts, tools and techniques
support system management used in decision making or
and highlight the need to solving production problems,
Farm management
maintain economic viability  Concepts tools, and techniques - 1 1 1 1 1 1 - 6%
(%) =6
of products and systems for of planning farm activities,
affordability  Farm record keeping,
analyzing the outcome of the
plan and managing resources
for efficient utilization.
Theme two total 9
Cr.hr

Knowledge of post-harvest 
Theme three: Processing 2 Understand and reiterate the 1 1 1 - - - 1 - 4%
Engineering I (%) scope of agricultural
handling and small scale

10
Manufacturin processing & the challenges in
processing of agricultural
g post-harvest handling of
produces
Engineering agricultural products;
(%) =49  Identify and measure the basic
physical properties of plant
products for use in engineering
=4
unit operation and storage
structures;
 Demonstrate a confidential
knowledge in analyzing size
reduction and drying of cereals
& feed grains.
Processing 3 Apply engineering and  Identify & categorize various - 1 1 - 1 - 2 1 6%
Engineering II (%) technology to agricultural products based on their post-
=6 product handling and harvest behaviors;
processing  Evaluate post-harvest losses
with their causes &
recommend appropriate
measures to maintain their
quality;
 Assist in selecting the right
technique & operation from
those available for harvesting,
cleaning, size reduction &

11
 drying products of a given
farm;
 Conduct a case study on post-
harvest problems of a crop &
participate in the management
of local producers &
community owned processing
establishments.
2 Get acquaintance with the  Acquaint students with the
working principle and working principle and
applications of alternative applications of alternative
energy source mainly solar, energy source mainly solar,
Alternative
wind, hydro, biomass and wind, hydro, and geothermal
Energy Resources - 1 2 - - 1 1 - 5%
geothermal energies. energies ;
(%) = 5
 Help students to design and
implement alternative energy
source in the rural areas.

Farm Power Units 4 Give basic understanding of  It provides the material needed - 2 1 - 1 - 2 3
(%) = 9 the operation of internal for a basic understanding of
combustion engine, Engine the operation of internal
systems, test and evaluate combustion engines related to
power unit. tractors.
 Both spark ignition and

12
 compression ignition engines
are covered, as are those
operating on four-stroke and
two-stroke cycles.
 It gives the students sufficient
knowledge of the different
systems of a tractor.
3 To comprehend the  Will understand farm
application of different types mechanization and its scope.
of tillage, planting,  Will comprehend the
Farm implements
harvesting, and threshing application of different types
& Machinery (%) 1 2 1 - - - 1 2 7%
machines on the farm. of tillage, planting; weed
=7
control, harvesting, and
threshing machines on the
farm
Selection and 3 Make key management  Select a mechanization system - 1 - 2 2 - 1 - 6%
Management of decisions such as: when to suitable to a policy
Farm Machinery replace mechanization: environment, soils, climate,
(%) = 6 inputs, comparing between crop and operation at hand;
hiring and owning a  Evaluate the performance of
mechanization input and labor, machine and power unit
comparing between involved in field operation,
mechanization alternatives identified data required for the
selection and management of

13
 agricultural mechanization
inputs;
 Estimate labor, machine and
power costs for various field
operations;
 Make key management
decisions such as: when to
replace mechanization: inputs,
comparing between hiring and
owning a mechanization input
and comparing between
mechanization alternatives.
3 Understand the theoretical  At the end of this course,

Maintenance of and practical aspects of students would be acquainted

Agricultural maintenance practice in with maintenance of motor - 1 1 - - 1 1 2 6%

Machinery(%) = 6 agricultural machineries. vehicles and different
agricultural machines.

To acquire Knowledge and 

Performance 3 Familiarize themselves with - 1 - 1 2 - 1 1 6%
Evaluation & recognized testing standards in
skill of performance
testing Ethiopia and elsewhere;
evaluation and testing of
of Farm  Test and evaluate the
farm machineries
machinery(%) = 6 performance of a power unit;
 Test and evaluate the
performance of Farm

14
 machinery;
 Take available test and
evaluation report to the end
user.
Theme three total 23
Cr.hr

the 
Theme four: 3 To introduce students with
To contribute to
Environment natural resources and their rate
endeavors to combat soil
al Sciences of depletion,
degradation and better
(%)
management of soil and  To introduce students with the
=19 Soil and Water basic concepts of soil erosion
water and introducing new
Conservation Eng. technologies in the use of mechanisms, and factors 2 2 1 - - - 1 - 6%
I (%) = 6 fertilizers and cultivation contributing for resources

practices depletion,
 To equip students with the
tools required for soil loss
assessment and estimation.
Soil and Water 3 Know-how of soil and water  The knowledge of wind and - 1 1 - 1 1 1 1 6%
Conservation Eng. conservation structures water initiated erosion
II (%) = 6 design, construction and processes,
management.  The concepts of agronomic
Have increased and mechanistic soil
understanding of the major conservation measures,
processes involved in soil  The skill to undertake soil and

15
 degradation and the capacity water conservation practices at
to design and implement a field level,
relevant interventions,  The skill to monitor and
techniques and strategies, control gully erosion,
easy decision on type of  The concept and skill of onsite
mechanization water conservation
 The concepts of soil and water
conservation economics.

To introduce students with 

3 To give students the required

Irrigation the basic concepts of soils, knowledge and skill in the

Engineering I (%) water, plant, their basics of surface irrigation 2 2 2 - - - 1 - 7%

=7 interactions, as well as methods

surface irrigation methods

Theme four total 9

Cr.hr

Total for the 47 100

program %
7 22 17 9 10 6 19 10
Share of domains in % 71 19 10

16
NB: Share of the Themes/Courses/Items in Percentage (%) in table above
a
 Share of themes (T) = x 100 ,Where “a” is the credit hour of a theme and “b” is the total
b
credit hour of the program. Credit hour of a theme is the sum of credit hours of courses in
the theme.
Credit hour of the course
 Share of courses per theme (C) = x 100
Credit hour of the theme
 Share of items per course = Share of thecourse X Total number of items

5. Conclusion

A blueprint for the national exit examination was drafted for 2015 E.C. graduates based on the
three main learning domains (cognitive, affective, and psychomotor) in accordance with the
validated core courses competence and curriculum of the program in order to meet the graduate
profile, competency and learning outcome in the profession of undergraduate in the Agricultural
Engineering program. Therefore, this test blueprint help to guide test developers or writers to
write or set appropriate test items.

17