CAPSTONE DESIGN PROJECTS WITH INDUSTRY PARTNERS: A 6-YEAR EXPERIENCE REPORT

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Kruchten ◽  
Paul Lusina
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Computer Engineering ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Graduate Attributes ◽  
Capstone Courses ◽  
Evaluation Scheme ◽  
Capstone Design Courses ◽  
Capstone Design

Since 2013, the fourth-year capstone design courses for the electrical and computer engineering programs at UBC are working only with projects defined by industrial partners. These capstone courses run over two terms (September to April) and are worth 10 credits. The projects involves teams of five students, which follow a common timeline, produce a common set of deliverables, and have a common evaluation scheme –with some latitude for variation based on the nature of the project and the type of partner. A key objective is to include non-technical graduate attributes, the so-called “soft skills”, in our learning outcomes. In this paper, we describe our current course framework, our constraints and design choices, and we report lessons learned and improvements implemented over 6 years.  

scholarly journals CURRENT PRACTICES IN FINAL YEAR ENGINEERING DESIGN COURSES

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Vincent ◽  
Peter Wild
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Engineering Design ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Computer Engineering ◽  
Capstone Courses ◽  
Comprehensive Literature Review ◽  
Capstone Design Courses ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Capstone Design ◽  
Current Practices

In order to gain understanding of the current practices in capstone design courses, a comprehensive literature review of Canadian electrical, mechanical, and computer engineering capstone courses was undertaken. To classify this information, primary elements of a capstone design course, such as project scope and project sourcing, were defined. The results of the review are presented and compared with US capstone data. The major themes are identified and the results provide insight into the state of the art of North American capstone education.

scholarly journals ENGCON: A PRE-CAPSTONE ENGINEERING DESIGN CONVENTION

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Rennick ◽  
Eugene Li
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Internal Support ◽  
Design Projects ◽  
Capstone Projects ◽  
The University ◽  
Important Activity ◽  
Capstone Design

The capstone design project is ubiquitous in engineering programs worldwide, and is seen by students as the single most important activity in their undergraduate careers. Staff and faculty at the University of Waterloo identified three issues with the current capstone process: students are unaware of industrial suppliers, they lack multi-disciplinary exposure, and they often struggle to identify "good" needs for their projects. The Engineering IDEAs Clinic, with support from instructors and staff from across Engineering, developed a conference for students to address these issues. EngCon – aimed at students in third/fourth year – brought students together with their peers from other programs, instructors from across the Faculty, and representatives from suppliers (both external industry, and internal support units) with the goal of improving their capstone projects. This paper presents the design and implementation of EngCon in both 2017 and 2018 with lessons learned from offering a large coordinated set of workshops aimed at students as they enter their capstone design projects.  

scholarly journals Transforming Criminal Justice Internships into Capstone Courses: A Response to the Challenges of the COVID-19 Crisis

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Beau Shine ◽  
Kelly Brown
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Academic Learning ◽  
Criminal Justice Students ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Capstone Courses ◽  
National Emergency

The COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 resulted in the declaration of a national emergency that closed universities across the nation. With no warning, faculty were required to move classes from face-to-face to completely online instruction. This situation posed many difficulties, but particularly for faculty who were teaching and supervising students completing internships. Interns were removed from their internships abruptly as agencies and departments moved to essential personnel only. Faculty scrambled to create online learning experiences that met academic learning outcomes and the goals of criminal justice students enrolled in these courses. This paper details our experiences with these challenges, particularly as we revised criminal justice internship courses and developed capstone courses to replace face-to-face internship experiences. While the challenges we faced involved criminal justice internships, they were not unique to the major, and the approaches taken and lessons learned are likely applicable to a host of disciplines.

scholarly journals A WORKSHOP ON LEARNING OBJECTIVES FOR ENGINEERING FACULTY MEMBERS

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Romkey ◽  
Susan McCahan
Keyword(s):  
Educational Practice ◽  
Initial Step ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Learning Objectives ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Graduate Attributes ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
The University ◽  
First Time

As an initial step in preparing faculty members for the new outcomes-based accreditation process introduced by the CEAB, a pilot workshop on creating learning objectives was developed for engineering professors at the University of Toronto. As the Graduate Attributes will be mapped to individual courses within engineering programs, the need for course-based learning objectives is even more critical; although research already supports the development and use of learning objectives as an effective educational practice. . This paper will describe the process of developing the workshop, facilitating it for the first time, and the lessons learned that were used in developing a second iteration of the workshop.

scholarly journals CEAB-INSPIRED RUBRICS FOR ASSESSING DESIGN DOSSIERS IN CAPSTONE DESIGN COURSES

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antony J Hodgson ◽  
Machiel Van der Loos
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Design Work ◽  
Graduate Attributes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Engineering Department ◽  
Routine Basis ◽  
Capstone Design Courses ◽  
Capstone Design

In the UBC Mechanical Engineering Department, we have recently shifted from using formal reports as our primary documentation process in our capstone design course to a 'design dossier' approach in which students document their work on a task-by-task basis. While this approach has significant benefits in terms of students learning how to document their design work on a routine basis, it has produced challenges in marking a wide range and volume of submissions from different teams working on different projects. In this paper and presentation, we share our experiences of using marking rubrics inspired by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board's list of graduate attributes.

scholarly journals RECONCILING GRADUATE ATTRIBUTE ASSESSMENT WITH EXISTING OUTCOME-BASED ASSESSMENT

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Kennedy ◽  
K. Abercrombie ◽  
M. Bollo ◽  
J. Jenness
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Program Improvement ◽  
Program Quality ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Subjective Expectations ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Graduate Attributes ◽  
Improvement Process ◽  
One To One ◽  
The Relationship

Historically, accreditation of engineering programs has relied on the use of input-based assessment of a program by framing major categories and identifying accreditation unit totals for each category. Beginning in 2014, compliance with an outcomes-based assessment of program quality and implementation of a program improvement process is also required.The introduction of graduate attributes assessment at BCIT prompted faculty members to question the relationship between existing learning outcomes and indicators of graduate attributes. Since both outcomes and indicators are written to describe competencies, faculty hypothesized that correlation exists between them.Upon further investigation, faculty, staff, and administrators at BCIT came to understand that there is a relationship between learning outcomes and indicators of graduate attributes, but they are not synonymous. Indicators are required to build a normalizing bridge between outcomes and attributes. They provide a rational relationship between a curriculum’s individual course learning outcomes and the twelve graduate attributes mandated by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board.. This is especially important for subjective expectations of learning where there is not an obvious one-to-one relationship between learning outcomes and attributes

Mapping the Relationship Between the CDIO Syllabus and the CEAB Graduate Attributes

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Cloutier ◽  
Ronald Hugo ◽  
Rick Sellens
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Graduate Attributes ◽  
Engineering Program ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Relationship

The recently introduced Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) requirements for Graduate Attributes require demonstrated learning outcomes for the first time. The Conceive, Design, Implement, Operate (CDIO) approach includes a set of outcomes in the form of the CDIO Syllabus. The Syllabus also provides guidance on how to document outcomes in order to meet the requirements of the CEAB Graduate Attributes. This article provides a framework for Canadian engineering programs to satisfy the CEAB requirement to demonstrate learning outcomes through a mapping of the CDIO Syllabus topics to the CEAB Attributes, and verification of the completeness of that list. An engineering program can meet all of the CEAB Graduate Attribute requirements by addressing a subset of the CDIO syllabus; however, a CEAB accredited program may not meet all of the CDIO standards.

Evolution of Velovations: A Bicycle Design Enterprise in Lieu of Capstone Design

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
John K. Gershenson
Keyword(s):  
Design Thinking ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Computer Engineering ◽  
Exercise Science ◽  
Graduate Course ◽  
Bicycle Industry ◽  
The Status ◽  
Bicycle Design ◽  
Capstone Design

In fewer than three years, Velovations, Michigan Tech’s Bicycle Design Enterprise, has already tallied over twenty industry supported research and development projects. Our students (undergraduate and graduate) and faculty have worked with SRAM, Pearl Izumi, Saris, Cane Creek, Rolf Prima, RockyMounts, World Bicycle Relief, and others in the bicycle industry. We have worked closely with engineers, designers, and executives at these companies to co-create products that are actually coming to the market. Students have become well versed in innovating products from need understanding all the way through to tooling, including invention disclosures, costing, and industrial design. Students have used their backgrounds in Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical and Electrical Technology, Exercise Science, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Civil Engineering, and Social Sciences in combination with a structured innovation process that borrows heavily from our undergraduate course in capstone design and our graduate course in design thinking to add value to the bicycle industry. These three years have led us to a very new model for a design experience; one that is both rewarding for students and faculty and challenging to the status quo of research and student projects at universities. The purpose of this paper is to share lessons learned in our program and look towards replication in other industries.

scholarly journals Lessons Learned from Teaching a Pilot Multidisciplinary Entrepreneurial 4th Year Capstone Design Course

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Maw
Keyword(s):  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Peer Assessment ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Multidisciplinary Teams ◽  
Computer Engineering ◽  
Student Work ◽  
Capstone Course ◽  
Capstone Projects ◽  
Capstone Design

During the 2015/16 academic year, a pilot course at the University of Saskatchewan was offered to senior engineering students. The pilot course was meant to offer an entrepreneurial version of the standard 4th year capstone design course. It also created an opportunity for students to work with students from engineering disciplines other than their own. Two design groups, each consisting of four students, were formed. This paper describes the structure of the course, how the entrepreneurial content and multidisciplinary aspects were handled, and a variety of lessons that were learned that may be of value to other institutions considering similar ventures.The College’s capstone design courses had the weightings of two regular 3-credit courses, running from the start of the Fall term to the end of the Winter term. The most fundamental differences between this course and the standard 4th year capstone course were i) the students identified their own design problem, and ii) they formed multidisciplinary teams to solve their problem. Both of these differences created significant challenges in terms of organizing and running the course. Students from Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Engineering Physics were full participants in the course. Students from Mechanical Engineering were given the opportunity to participate on a one course credit basis i.e. they still had to take the standard 4th year design course in addition to the entrepreneurial version.Many lessons have been learned from the experience of developing and teaching this course. Issues that will be discussed in the paper include, but will not be limited to: integrating the different learning outcome needs of the different departments involved, managing the uncertainty of the design problems undertaken, integrating entrepreneurship into the design course, talking about design to students from different disciplines, managing “sub-contractor” students in capstone projects, evaluation, scheduling of classes, multidisciplinary supervision, client interaction and evaluation of student work, peer assessment, and student group dynamics.

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