Designing a Capstone Design Course to Achieve Student Outcomes

Wilczynski, Vincent; Foley, Andrew

doi:10.1115/imece2014-36749

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…This methodology follows the product development process that is used by many programs, with much of the course content and deliverables aligned with demonstrating student obtainment of engineering accreditation objectives. 25 The emphasis of many capstone courses is the demonstration of proficiencies expected of an engineer in that specific discipline. The courses also provide students with experience in product design, a skill expected of engineering professionals.…”

Section: Figure 2 Design For America Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching Engineering Design in an Academic Makerspace: Blending Theory and Practice to Solve Client-based Problems

Wilczynski¹,

Stark²,

Zinter³

et al.

2016 ASEE Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

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The proliferation of higher education makerspaces -sites where students, faculty, and staff design and build solutions to engineering challenges and other problems -suggests that such spaces have a special value on university campuses in a number of contexts. This paper reports on the unique impact of a higher education makerspace (the Yale Center for Engineering Innovation and Design) in the arena of design education. We review the history of design education, identifying the values of this form of pedagogy and highlighting many of the challenges involved with teaching design. These values include facilitating design instruction in lab settings, establishing a continuum of design experiences, and incorporating meaningful problem-based learning activities. Similarly, we review higher education makerspaces to provide insights into how they can play a role in mitigating challenges associated with teaching design. Using examples from eight courses taught in the profiled higher education makerspace, three design-focused instructional methods are presented that integrate course instruction, skill development, knowledge acquisition, and client-based problem solving by student teams. These methods have been applied across all four undergraduate years in courses closely aligned with biomedical engineering, environmental engineering, mechanical engineering, and engineering as a whole (for an introductory course). The courses span design education across the typical gap between cornerstone and capstone design courses. In all cases, the specific role of the higher education makerspace in enhancing the value of these courses is demonstrated.

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Section: Figure 2 Design For America Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching Engineering Design in an Academic Makerspace: Blending Theory and Practice to Solve Client-based Problems

Wilczynski¹,

Stark²,

Zinter³

et al.

2016 ASEE Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

Self Cite

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“…The capstone senior design course for Mechanical Engineering programs typically reflects the ABET criterion implementation, which is specifically structured to assess achievement of student outcomes of these programs. The assessment usually evaluates assignments that form the engineering design procedure (Wilczynski and Foley, 2014). The data corresponding to six semesters of senior exams were analyzed to identify the subject materials and the related course that pose severe challenges for students (Yearling et al , 2017).…”

Section: Qualifying Exams In Higher Education Institutions: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of entry exams on higher education: a case study on reforming qualifier exam policies to improve student success while maintaining program quality

Basavaraj

Sedghi

Garibay

et al. 2020

JARHE

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PurposeSome degree programs in colleges and universities utilize entrance exams to ensure that students pursuing a given degree have mastered foundational concepts needed for that program. However, often these exams become a barrier to student success. The purpose of this study is to discuss the impact of policies governing an undergraduate Computer Science (CS) entry/qualifying exam at a large public university in the United States on overall student success in the program. This case study focuses on whether reforming program policies impacts students' time-to-degree, graduation and mastery in CS core skills.Design/methodology/approachThis case study describes how the CS student success was improved by updating program policies based on institutional data and the input of course instructors. The policy changes include introducing a maximum limit to attempt the exam, changing the exam requirements as well as the structure of the exam itself.FindingsThe pass rates of students taking this qualifying exam were significantly and consistently low over the years. Students who were potentially a better fit for programs other than CS delayed their start in those other programs by taking and failing to pass the CS qualifying exam multiple times. As a result of implementing new CS program policies, many more students attempted the exam at an appropriate time. Also, they graduated on time in the years 2016–2018.Originality/valueThis paper presents a case study in which the graduation rates and time to degree of a CS program with a qualifying exam were improved after a policy intervention. The results demonstrate that simple policy changes can improve student success. Findings from this study may guide other programs with similar characteristics to improve their student success.

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“…The capstone senior design course for Mechanical Engineering programs typically reflects the ABET criterion implementation which is specifically structured to assess achievement of student outcomes of these programs. The assessment is usually through evaluating assignments that form the engineering design procedure [8]. The data corresponding to six semesters of senior exams was analyzed to identify the subject materials and the related course that pose serious challenges for students [9].…”

Section: Qualifying Exams In Higher Education Institutions: Existing Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Computer science qualifying exam: a case study on improving student success and program quality

Sedghi¹,

Basavaraj²,

Garibay³

et al. 2020

Perfiles_Ingenieria

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Las instituciones de educación superior tradicionalmente miden el éxito de los estudiantes y la calidad de un programa académico mediante métricas estándar, como el tiempo que tarda un estudiante en obtener un título, las tasas de graduación y las tasas de retención. Además, algunos programas han instituido un "examen de calificación" como una forma alternativa de medir la calidad de un programa académico y evaluar el dominio del estudiante en los conceptos básicos. El programa de Ciencias de la Computación (CS) de la Universidad de Florida Central implementó un examen de calificación "Examen básico" en 1998 con el propósito de evaluar el dominio de los estudiantes de los conceptos básicos de CS y controlar la calidad del programa. Sin embargo, las tasas de aprobación de los estudiantes que tomaron este examen de calificación fueron significativamente bajas a lo largo de los años. Además, algunos estudiantes retrasaron sistemáticamente la realización de este examen por temor a reprobar. Para reflejar las credenciales de conocimiento que necesita la industria, promover el dominio de los conceptos básicos de informática y ayudar a los estudiantes a graduarse de manera oportuna, se implementaron recomendaciones de mejora basadas en datos en 2016. Después de que se realizaron las mejoras, muchos más estudiantes intentaron el examen a tiempo y progresaron en su título en los años 2016-2018. Los detalles de estas mejoras y su impacto se presentan en este documento.

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Designing a Capstone Design Course to Achieve Student Outcomes

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Teaching Engineering Design in an Academic Makerspace: Blending Theory and Practice to Solve Client-based Problems

Teaching Engineering Design in an Academic Makerspace: Blending Theory and Practice to Solve Client-based Problems

The role of entry exams on higher education: a case study on reforming qualifier exam policies to improve student success while maintaining program quality

Computer science qualifying exam: a case study on improving student success and program quality

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