Methods Of Assessing Student Learning In Capstone Design Projects With Industry: A Five Year Review
D.T.W. Gibson, Patricia Brackin
Abstract
The benefits of company sponsored student design projects, both to academia and to industry, have been well established recently in symposia and in publications. However, assessing these benefits in order to improve the students' experiences can be difficult. This paper discusses techniques of assessment used to improve student learning over the past five years in capstone design courses at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. The student teams work together to create solutions to design problems defined by companies. These projects are "owned and managed" by the student teams with company contacts providing appropriate data and information and with faculty serving as advisors only. Mistakes made by the teams therefore are sometimes inevitable but this is considered to be pedagogically an important lesson in design. The students must interact not only with their company but also with their team mates in order to accomplish team goals. The assessment of these important interactions and the resulting changes to the courses are discussed.