Implementing the Capstone Experience Concept for Teacher Professional Development

The need for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) workforce is well documented in the literature. The lack of interest among school-age students in STEM careers and the reason for such lack of interest are also well documented. Pedagogical research suggests that K-12 students learn best by engaging them in activities that relate to their daily lives and that reinforce principles through hands-on tasks. Research also suggests that the engineering design process (EDP) offers the best platform to implement these activities because it typically involves critical thinking combined with hands-on tasks to motivate the students. While many variations of using the EDP in student teaching exist, we introduce an innovative methodology of using and implementing the concept of ―capstone experience‖ at the high school level; the EDP encourages open-ended problem solving and multiple solutions. The capstone experience is rooted in the capstone design project course that is typically required in the ABET-accredited college engineering curriculum. Students are motivated by the capstone experience because it shows the elegance of the EDP and relates to how engineering is used in practice to design and manufacture products.