Student Participation In Field Research Project Choice And Evaluation

Complementing courses which teach theory and practice of management of engineering organizations are courses which provide the student with an opportunity to examine or test these teachings through designing and carrying out (at least) pilot tests in real organizations. Choice of projects and evaluation of the students' design efforts by the instructor assures that both the subject matter and the methods to be employed maximize the objectives of the course. Student choice and student evaluation, while increasing the interest and motivation of the student, present potentially greater risks in attaining course objectives. For individual projects, there is the added problem of an unpredictably wide variety of choices. This paper reports the results of progressively encouraging student participation in both of these areas. The paper is based upon over thirty years of teaching undergraduate and graduate field research courses.