Abstract: This work details a survey of engineering capstone design courses nationwide conducted in 2005. The survey is a follow-up to one conducted in 1994 by Todd et al., reprising the questions of its predecessor plus requesting additional information. The 2005 survey was implemented online, with requests sent via email to representatives of all ABET-accredited engineering programs (1724 programs at 350 institutions, as of 2004). The online survey yielded a strong response, with 444 programs from 232 institutions submitting responses. This corresponds to a 26% response rate from engineering programs and a 66% response rate from institutions. The results of this survey, with a focus on developments in the past ten years, are presented graphically and discussed. Particular focus areas include course logistics, faculty involvement, project coordination, funding details, and industry sponsorship. The results serve as a snapshot of current practices in engineering capstone design education as well as an indication of trends over the past decade.

Abstract: This paper describes a framework for developing and implementing assessment instruments in capstone engineering design courses. The framework provides a structure for aligning learning outcomes, methods for examining performance related to these outcomes, and providing feedback that improves student learning in these outcome areas. The framework incorporates three different perspectives—that of the educational researcher, the student learner, and the professional practitioner. The paper concludes by highlighting which framework components inform different steps in a methodology currently being used to create sound, broadly-applicable, and efficient assessment instruments for capstone design courses.

Abstract: Research on the transition from school to work suggests that students entering the workplace struggle to adapt their writing and speaking to individual audiences. To address this problem, the article presents principles for using problem-based learning to design assignments that teach students to tailor communication to the needs of audiences. The approach focuses not on specific workplace documents but on the higher order workplace practice of effectively connecting documents and presentations to audience needs, and designing communication accordingly. A two-year study of capstone design courses suggests that the approach encourages students to explicitly consider audience needs when composing.

Abstract: A trend in agricultural education has been a shortage of graduates from preservice agricultural education programs who choose to enter the teaching profession, thus causing a deficit in the number of qualified teachers to fill vacancies. When examining preservice agricultural education programs, student teaching is often the capstone experience, during which, the student teacher works closely with the cooperating teacher. Given that the student teaching experience is often the final semester of preservice agricultural education programs, it is reasonable to assume that satisfaction with that experience contributed to a student teacher’s decision to enter the teaching profession. Because the decision to enter teaching is made by the student teacher, insight into their perceptions of the student teaching experience, particularly the cooperating teacher, is invaluable. The purpose of this study was to develop a model of cooperating teacher effectiveness by replicating the work of Roberts and Dyer (2004). The Delphi method was utilized with an expert panel (N = 13) of all the student teachers from the University of Florida. Thirty characteristics were identified and grouped into the categories of Teaching/Instruction, Professionalism, Student Teacher/Cooperating Teacher Relationship, and Personal Characteristics.

Abstract: A research writing course was developed to prepare chemistry majors to conduct and report on their capstone research projects. The course guides students through a multistep process of preparing a literature review and research proposal. Students learn how to identify and avoid plagiarism, critically read and summarize a scientific article, outline and prepare a first draft, revise and edit their paper, and conduct a peer review. In addition, students are taught how to prepare and deliver an oral presentation. Current and former students, as well as their faculty advisors, were surveyed to determine if the course met its goals. The majority of students noted that the course increased both their confidence in their scientific writing skills and their understanding of their research project. Faculty indicated that students showed significant improvement in the comprehension and oral reporting of their projects and moderate improvement in their scientific writing ability. The success of this course has led the department to convert it to a two-term sequence to provide students time to practice mock presentations as well as to introduce research ethics issues.

Abstract: National calls for enhanced preparation of engineering graduates have spawned and elevated efforts toward assessment-driven improvement of engineering education. Adoption of outcomes-based accreditation criteria by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) provided incentive for this change. A necessary first step is embedding attributes of engineering professionals in the program and course objectives of specific baccalaureate degrees. This paper presents a ‘profile of an engineer’ that encapsulates important roles performed by engineers and key observable behaviors associated with effective performance of these roles. The profile is then utilized to derive sample learning outcomes for a client-driven capstone design course. This involves identifying key roles in support of the course as well as the type of learning outcome best aligned with each of these roles. Outcomes derived in this manner provide rich definitions of desired student achievement that will aid in engineering design education and assessment.

Abstract: This article describes a case competition that reflects the four elements of a grounded learning exercise. These elements include creating a real-world experience, optimizing learning transfer, integrating theory and practice, and shifting learning responsibility to the students. The authors also provide details on implementing this exercise in an undergraduate capstone strategy course and using a real-time case that brings the competition to life.

Abstract: This work further details a survey of engineering capstone design courses nationwide conducted in 2005. The survey is a follow-up to one conducted in 1994 by Todd et al., reprising the questions of its predecessor plus requesting additional information. We implemented the 2005 survey online, with requests sent via email to representatives of all ABET-accredited engineering programs (1724 programs at 350 institutions, as of 2004). The online survey yielded a strong response, with 444 programs from 232 institutions submitting responses. This corresponds to a 26% response rate from engineering programs and a 66% response rate from institutions. This paper focuses on the additional questions in the 2005 survey that provide further insight about the current state of engineering capstone education. In particular, the paper discusses results relating to course management, student deliverables and evaluation, program funding, and perceived capstone course success.

Abstract: Assessment in capstone engineering design courses is vital to engineering education programs. The capstone design course is the climax of design education and often the context for much of the assessment done in engineering degree programs. Capstone design course instructors’ admittedly low confidence for assessing student performance in these courses poses a crucial obstacle to the assessment process. A key issue is a lack of clear outcomes definition for engineering design and sound, defensible assessments for these outcomes. This paper draws from findings in design literature and from engineering design education experience to construct a conceptual model of engineering design that guides development of associated design learning outcomes and assessment of student achievements in design. A conceptual model of design is vital to design education, because it is one of three essential cornerstones— model, observation, and interpretation— for constructing assessments. In the context of an engineering classroom, design performance produces two different and complementary types of outcomes: learner development and solution development. Further, design is: open-ended, iterative, creative, collaborative, goal-driven, process-intensive, productfocused, customer-oriented, value-added, and constrained by society. Learner and solution development usually progresses from a state of students’ fragmented understanding and ideas to a more mature state of integrated understanding and design solutions. The proposed conceptual model for engineering design identifies four areas of performance that describe design: (1) personal capacity, (2) team processes, (3) solution requirements, and (4) solution assets. The first two characterize learner development and the latter two characterize solution development. Personal capacity is the designer’s development of skills which support technically sound and responsible design. Team processes address a team’s behaviors and productivity in design activities. Solution requirements address the team’s understanding of stakeholder needs and concerns. Solution assets encompass the value added, practicality, and impact of the design solution. These four performance areas are essential to design. They identify performances that develop over time, contribute to the success of design outcomes, and stimulate growth in one another for integrated enhancement of design performance. They also provide the basis for a versatile, comprehensive definition of engineering design performance that can guide instruction and can focus assessments in capstone engineering design courses.

Abstract: Many colleges and universities emphasize helping students make the transition into higher education. But transition to post-graduation life through approaches such as capstone courses has not received much attention. A survey of mass communication programs indicated that capstones are commonly used for both integration of prior learning and for transition to what students may face after graduation, and that mass communication programs appear to be meeting the challenge of blending these somewhat incongruous approaches. Mass communication capstones employ a wide variety of methods and content, but teachers and administrators appear satisfied with how the courses serve their programs. The survey's results are interpreted with suggestions for achieving more consistency in mass media capstones.

Abstract: The design project is the most important component of the senior capstone design course. To best prepare students for careers in biomedical engineering, they should be given the opportunity to work on projects with teams that reflect the team environment in an industrial setting. Team composition is important in providing as much of a multidisciplinary team experience as possible. The type of project to which students are assigned should be based on the student's interests and career goals, and the experience and skills they bring to the project

Abstract: Complaints often expressed about undergraduate computer science or information systems programs,,, is that students graduate with adequate technical skills but often lack an understanding of organizational processes, team project experience, and the ability to integrate information technology in an organizational setting. To address this, educators have historically created service-learning group projects, which leverage local organizations. These types of projects can be very rewarding for students and offer excellent educational opportunities for the students within the group. Educators who have taught service-learning group projects know there are significant problems with using this type of project. These problems include: motivation of students to do their best work, fair individual and overall group assessment, appropriate workload for a semester, and minimizing disruptive outside influences. In addition, the creation of new projects on a continuous semester basis would be very useful for the instructor of a project course. To solve these issues and problems, the following capstone course design was used with success at Grand Valley State University (GVSU). A socially-relevant, community-based assignment with local non-profit organizations provided the basis for the capstone information systems project course described in this paper. This project course produced working applications for actual clients that gave students a unique capstone experience.

Abstract: Public history curricula must prepare students for a reflective approach to public historical practice and introduce students to different models of practice. By teaching reflective practice techniques through concrete components assembled in linked course assignments, internships, and capstone projects, programs educate students to become history practitioners. A distinct, robust body of public historical knowledge and reflective practice constitutes a public history degree. Public history programs, as professionally oriented programs, prepare students in the high-order practice of the discipline, grounded in reflective practice techniques appropriate to applied history.

Abstract: (2006). Meeting AACSB Assessment Requirements through Peer Evaluations and Rankings in a Capstone Marketing Class. Marketing Education Review: Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 41-46.

Abstract: This paper presents findings from a literature review on classroom assessment in capstone engineering design courses. Nine engineering education and design journals and conference proceedings were queried, going back 10 years. Based on specific criteria, thirty-two articles were identified for review. Findings show a focus on description of classroom assessment techniques and their general use. Three articles specifically focus on the use of formative classroom assessment to enhance student design competence and professional skills. The literature, while emerging, is fragmented and diffuse. Implications for classroom assessment practice and scholarship in engineering education are addressed. Background A critical component of the education and training of engineering professionals is the capstone design course. The purpose of this course is to provide a culminating experience for senior engineering students that foreshadows the type of project work practicing engineers encounter on the job. In these courses students must work under real-world constraints on ill-defined problems, typically in teams, and often receive industry feedback during various phases of a design project 1 . A recent national survey of capstone engineering design course instructors across programs and disciplines found that respondents reported using the capstone design course to document student achievement for accountability and accreditation purposes 2 . However, respondents also reported uncertainty with using classroom assessments to enhance student achievement or ways to use assessment to achieve capstone design course outcomes. Of particular interest for this paper is the extent to which classroom assessment (in contrast to program assessment) has received attention in the literature by faculty and other researchers in capstone design coursework. While the literature is replete with examples of assessment used for reporting of student achievement or program evaluation, the extent to which the literature deals with classroom assessment is not readily apparent. In addition, we sought to discover what has been learned about the conduct of capstone design classroom assessment that could be used to enhance student achievement, that is, classroom assessment used for formative purposes. Classroom assessments are at the heart of the teaching and learning process, and likely the assessments most important to students 3 . Classroom assessments can reveal to students course expectations, whether or not a student is on the right track in pursuit of P ge 11112.2 the outcome, and possibly, what the student might do to meet expectations. We argue that classroom assessment in the context of engineering design capstone courses has enormous potential for student achievement and that it is therefore, important to understand current thinking and practice related to classroom assessment in capstone design courses. Methodology Search for articles and papers started with the identification of key conference proceedings and journals likely to contain work on classroom assessment in capstone engineering design courses. For each proceeding or journal, we searched articles published within the last 10 years. In addition, references for each identified article were examined. Using this branching technique, several more articles were identified for possible inclusion in the review. This initial process identified 151 articles. Authors discussed each article and worked to consensus on whether to review the article. Article abstracts were read and, if necessary, the article was skimmed to determine whether it could be placed in one of the following categories: High Priority: articles that deal specifically with classroom assessment in capstone engineering design courses Priority: articles that deal with projects in capstone engineering design courses that have implications for classroom assessment or articles that deal with classroom assessment in the context of other engineering design courses Low Priority: articles that focus on classroom assessment of non-capstone courses We also sought agreement on the type of scholarship employed in each retained article as well as the evidentiary basis for any claims made by the article’s authors. Findings and Discussion After considering titles, reading abstracts, skimming articles, and discussion among the authors, 32 papers were retained for the review. Fifteen of the articles were classified as high priority, eight priority, and nine low priority. Fifteen articles were obtained from engineering education conference proceedings, 12 from engineering education-oriented journals, four from design-oriented journals, and one from a communications journal. The complete set of articles retained for this review is identified in the bibliography. Most articles described techniques in assessment and their use in the classroom. A sample of these purposes includes the use of standardized measures to assess content knowledge in design 4 ; peer reviews, self assessments, and oral reports, all used to evaluate student performance as team members and design engineers 5 ; and project expectations and scoring criteria for the assessment of completed design projects 6 . The type of scholarship found in the literature varied. Seven articles were classified as basic research. That is, for these works, a literature review was conducted, research questions formulated, a methodology to answer the questions developed, findings P ge 11112.3 produced, and implications addressed. Seventeen articles were applied in nature. Nine of these articles focused on the program (with some attention to the classroom or student), while eight focused almost exclusively on the student. Four conceptual articles were found. These articles attempted to broaden understanding of student outcomes or classroom assessment in capstone engineering design courses. Two surveys and two literature reviews were also found in the search. Most articles were self-reports by the authors. Table 1 provides a summary of all articles reviewed for this paper. The table describes where the article is located, the type of scholarship used by the authors of the article, and its connection to student achievement. Note that the article numbers correspond to the bibliography of reviewed articles.

Abstract: New graduates striving to become successful engineers must use communication to interact with superiors and colleagues. This paper reports the results of a four-year development program using the capstone design course as a driver for developing engineers? communication skills. Faculty assessment of the program, as well as post-graduation feedback from the program?s graduates, is included. Significant benefits from this approach include preparing students to enter a communication-based engineering workplace through a just-in-time learning experience that enhances students? buy-in to the material. Programmatic advantages include having a curriculum that supports ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) 2000 ideals.

Abstract: The advantages of international experiences for engineering students are well documented. With this in mind, we decided to take our 18-year-old, client-based, senior design class “on the road.” This foray into the realm of international projects did not come without some anxieties: • Could we properly manage such a long-distance project? • How much of a sacrifice would it be to forego a site visit? • Would codes and regulations be nonexistent or difficult to obtain? • Would our student team experience frustration from communication challenges? • Would we sacrifice technical depth for international breadth? And these are just a few of the many questions and concerns we anticipated. This paper seeks to share our answers to these questions and to provide lessons learned for others to consider. Our focus in this paper is on a project in an underdeveloped country: Trinidad. We start out by addressing how we obtained our first international project and how we selected the student team. The student authors are the project team, and they supply the student perspective on the challenges and rewards. Results of surveys of the students who did domestic senior design projects are also included to show their perspective of their classmates’ project (based on oral reports given to the class). The faculty authors are co-instructors of the senior capstone design course, and they provide insight into administration of the project. The paper ends with a list of lessons learned that may help others to avoid the pitfalls the authors experienced. Introduction The Rose-Hulman Civil Engineering Department began to use client-based projects for the capstone design experience in 1988. Initially, the project sponsors included the campus facilities department and Rose-Hulman alumni companies. However, confidence in the course structure and the student’s designs increased after a few years, and the range of clients, type of projects, and location of client companies began to expand. In fact, project solicitation is rare; more project requests come in each year than can be fulfilled. The client-based projects are vetted and teams are selected early in the academic year. Project proposals by potential clients are received in August. The best projects are retained based on scope of work, variation in civil engineering disciplines, and faculty and client interest. Students vote on their top five choices based on project abstracts during the first week of class (more projects are available than teams). Teams of four are selected by the faculty based on student interest and team considerations.

Abstract: A software engineering course is often the capstone of a general undergraduate curriculum in computer science. It is usually at least partly a project-based course, with the intention that student groups can deploy their already acquired skills on programming, verification, databases, and human-computer interaction, while applying the new material about requirements, architecture, and project management on a project. I have taught a software engineering course six times, using a combination of ideas that I have never seen elsewhere, with a strong emphasis on realism. I here reflect on the rewards and risks of this approach, and make some recommendations for future offerings.

Abstract: The Department of Mechanical Engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering adopted an integrated curriculum in the late 90s. The curriculum features a capstone one-year senior design course in which students work in teams tackling engineering problems provided and sponsored by industrial partners. This paper describes the evolution of the capstone course over the last seven years, and the reasons behind many of these changes. As the course matured, the department has been able to attract more and more industrial sponsors; today almost all the senior projects are sponsored by industry. This high level of industrial participation as well as many years of improving course management and delivery allow us to draw some important conclusions on what constitute “best practices” for capstone design courses.

Abstract: The explosive growth of engineering complexity and potential that followed WWII exposed weaknesses in theoretical understanding. Universities reacted by replacing practice with theory and practitioners with theoreticians. Pressures from employers and the profession have turned attention to final year projects as the major vehicle to re-incorporate generic skills into the curriculum. The final year project has been construed as a capstone that is placed atop the student’s preceding study and is unique in its contribution. The authors argue that this view is intrinsically limited and that, if students are to be sufficiently prepared to reach their full potential, there should be a gradation from analysis to synthesis throughout their educational programme. The authors also comment on the implications of cultural change, student-centred learning, the place of practical skills, requirements of the profession, usefulness to employers and benefits to academics. Examples of practices within the authors’ own School at the University of South Australia (UniSA), Adelaide, Australia, are given in order to illustrate the key issues.

Abstract: Public relations campaigns classes are generally regarded as capstone courses for students considering PR careers because they combine classroom instruction with service learning opportunities to d...

Abstract: The advantages of international experiences for engineering students are well documented. With this in mind, we decided to take our 18-year-old, client-based, senior design class “on the road.” This foray into the realm of international projects did not come without some anxieties: • Could we properly manage such a long-distance project? • How much of a sacrifice would it be to forego a site visit? • Would codes and regulations be nonexistent or difficult to obtain? • Would our student team experience frustration from communication challenges? • Would we sacrifice technical depth for international breadth? And these are just a few of the many questions and concerns we anticipated. This paper seeks to share our answers to these questions and to provide lessons learned for others to consider. Our focus in this paper is on a project in an underdeveloped country: Trinidad. We start out by addressing how we obtained our first international project and how we selected the student team. The student authors are the project team, and they supply the student perspective on the challenges and rewards. Results of surveys of the students who did domestic senior design projects are also included to show their perspective of their classmates’ project (based on oral reports given to the class). The faculty authors are co-instructors of the senior capstone design course, and they provide insight into administration of the project. The paper ends with a list of lessons learned that may help others to avoid the pitfalls the authors experienced.

Abstract: Over the past five years, the Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering Technology programs have transformed a single semester senior project course into a two semester course sequence. In its original format, the capstone course was too short and did not afford the students time to truly demonstrate their capabilities. The new two course sequence now requires the students to: • Create a student project team. • Find a project and assemble a technical assistance team that includes sponsorship and faculty advisors. • Develop a conceptual design, a project management plan, and a formal proposal, • Take the design from paper to an implemented prototype product. • Present the final prototype in a sales-type presentation. The new format has elevated the level of student achievement in the capstone process and their final project implementation is now typically a professionally manufactured beta prototype that could easily lead to a commercial product. This paper will use a recent capstone project, Project EVIS (Expandable Vehicle Information System), to lead the reader through the entire capstone process. This project was undertaken by a group of four students and was centered on the development of a Bluetooth-based automotive diagnostic system. As with the majority of our current senior projects, it involved both mechanical and electronic hardware design as well as software development. The paper will discuss all phases of the project and will emphasize mechanisms used by the faculty to gauge the technical merit of proposed projects and to maximize the productivity and success of the students.

Abstract: In this paper, for the capstone design course, we first show how we demonstrate that our IE majors attain the ABET outcome items (c) and (h) where (c) is an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability and (h) is the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context. To achieve this, we utilize rubrics that are primarily filled out by the instructors and surveys that are filled out by graduating seniors, Year 1 alumni, and Year 3 alumni. Each rubric is for the assessment of one outcome item, and consists of three subcriteria. Each of these assessment efforts is independent of the other efforts, and the results from each effort are crosschecked with the results from the other efforts. Based on the outcome assessment, we show how we improve the outcome items in the capstone design course by guiding students to consider diverse sets of perspectives and consequences without teaching additional discipline or technique. Finally, we will discuss the lessons learned and challenges experienced, and comment on future endeavors. 1. Background In recent years, the Industrial Engineering (IE) Program in the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering (IMSE) at Iowa State University (ISU) has been actively involved in objective evaluation and outcome assessment of its IE majors. The evaluation and assessment activities are highly important for its accreditation as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) requires that the graduates of accredited engineering programs attain certain outcome items to foster achievement of the programs’ long-term educational objectives (see e.g., [1]). Specifically, in response to this requirement, IMSE Department has developed and implemented the continuous improvement process for its objectives and outcomes that is depicted in Figure 1. The Industrial Engineering Program Outcomes shown in on the top of the lower loop in Figure 1 consists of sixteen items, eleven of which are mandated by ABET [1] and five of which are additionally required by the department [2]. Employing the process outlined in Figure 1, various continuous improvement efforts are being made for the outcome items. For example, to improve outcome item (o) [the ability to have a global enterprise P ge 11149.2 “Proceedings of the 2006 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright ASEE 2006, American Society for Engineering Education” perspective], students in IE 341, a required Production Systems course, collaborate with students from foreign universities in a global supply chain team project via Internet [3]. ISU Administration, ABET Direction of Primary Influence Figure 1. Continuous improvement process for the program objectives and outcomes Under these circumstances, IE 441, the Industrial Engineering Capstone Design course, has been developed and revised to address a multiple number of outcome items. That is, the objectives, format, and content of IE 441 all work to extensively support both the ABET mandated outcome items, and those specific to the IMSE department. The reason is that the capstone design course serves as a fundamental platform to practice engineering design and to facilitate the integration of what IE majors have learned throughout their curriculum. As such, the capstone design course provides perhaps one of the best opportunity to assess and improve ABET outcomes. Industrial Engineering Program Objectives Industrial Engineering Program Outcomes

Abstract: Capstone senior biomedical engineering design courses typically include a wide variety of lecture topics and provide students with many opportunities to develop design, communication, and interpersonal skills. This learning environment can play an important role in producing the desired ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology)learning outcomes. Careful identification and assessment of appropriate performance indicators using the appropriate assessment tools can help a biomedical engineering program determine the role of their capstone senior design course in producing the desired ABET learning outcomes

Abstract: This paper describes our first attempt to introduce an international component into the Capstone Senior Design. The main objective of this first experience is to expose students to a global working environment, where in addition to the complexity of team dynamics, they have to face challenges associated with the distance, language, schedules and curriculum differences. This is a realistic microcosm of how many engineers will have to operate during their careers. We have started with two international teams composed of students from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering (FAMU-FSU) and (i) the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Federal University of Parana (UFPR) in Brazil and (ii) the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Bucharest (PUB) in Romania. The paper discusses the team selection process, the communication channels, the funding strategies, and the positive and negative elements associated with this first experience of adding an international character to the teams.

Abstract: The School of Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez (UPRM), has developed a module to integrate ethics into capstone design courses in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department. This module entitled, "Social and Ethical Implications of Engineering Design," helps students to reflect on issues and challenges associated with technological education that include (i) professional integrity, (ii) engineering, industry and social responsibility, and (iii) technological impact, societal and global awareness. This paper will describe this module and show how it has been implemented in ECE design courses in Digital Signal Processing, Power Systems, Applied Electromagnetics, and Electrical Systems Design. It also discusses student response by reporting student-based assessment results.