Global Confidence: U.S. Student Outcomes from an International Capstone Design Experience

The Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE)-Sustainable Energy and Aeronautical Engineering Program (SEAEP) brings together a consortium of four universities: Florida State University (FSU), the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt), Universidade Federal de Itajubá (UNIFEI) and Federal University of Paraná (UFPR) to train post-secondary engineering students for global engineering careers. A key aspect of this program is using design courses as a vehicle for student and faculty collaboration— both U.S. and Brazilian students are exposed to technical, professional and cultural experiences that can only take place through a international exchange program. The purpose of this paper is to highlight how the cross-institutional international capstone design project course is impacting the program’s anticipated U.S. student outcomes. We briefly review the FIPSE-SEAEP structure; detail the program goals, objectives and anticipated U.S. student outcomes; and provide an assessment approach to evaluating program criteria for a small cohort of student participants. The data presented represents the views of the FSU student participants from the 2011-2012 cohort. Assessment results indicate that FSU students are achieving 5 out of 8 of the anticipated U.S. student outcomes. Last, we highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the FIPSE-SEAEP, with respect to international capstone design project courses, and give recommendations for improving the program, which center on project-based courses. Background Previous studies have shown that international experiences for students can promote cross-cultural understanding, enhanced knowledge and skills, as well as global preparedness. Additionally, research in engineering education has demonstrated that project-based courses can increase student retention, motivation, problem-solving ability, communication skills, knowledge retention, teamwork skills and the capacity for selfdirected learning. 4-8 The FIPSE-Sustainable Energy and Aeronautical Engineering Program (SEAEP) places a project-based course in an international context—anticipating that student participants would realize the benefits of both study-abroad and projectbased learning. The Brazil-U.S. Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE)Sustainable Energy and Aeronautical Engineering Program (SEAEP) integrates the academic strengths of the two U.S. universities: Florida State University (FSU) and the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt), as well as the two Brazilian universities: Universidade Federal de Itajubá (UNIFEI) and Federal University of Paraná (UFPR). This structured exchange program provides an opportunity for U.S. and Brazilian students to expand their global, professional and technical competencies by leveraging a unique engineering design experience. 9 A key portion of the FIPSE-SEAEP model is the cross-institutional international Senior Capstone Design project course. Through this collaboration, FSU and the two P ge 23643.2 Brazilian universities develop Senior Capstone Design projects during the months of June, July and August. Select U.S. students travel to Brazil during the U.S. fall semester (the Brazilian spring term). These students participate in one of the international Senior Capstone Design projects developed during the summer before their departure. U.S. students work with Brazilian students to undertake the design and planning of the projects in Brazil. As the U.S. students travel to Brazil, a group of Brazilian exchange students concurrently participate in an international Senior Capstone Design projects with U.S. students at FSU. At the conclusion of the fall semester (the Brazilian spring term), U.S. exchange students return to FSU to complete the design projects, and the Brazilian exchange students have the option to travel back to Brazil, intern with a U.S. engineering company, or stay at the host institution in the U.S. for an additional semester. For language and culture preparation, all of the U.S. exchange students were required to take a 1-semester Portuguese for Engineers (or equivalent) course. Additional details about the FIPSESEAEP international Senior Capstone Design projects, coordination between universities, student preparation, and barriers to success, can be found in previous papers written by the FIPSE-SEAEP team. For this paper, the authors focus on the assessment results of the U.S. exchange students that participated in the international Senior Capstone Design projects. It should be noted that not all FIPSE-SEAEP students were required to participate in the international Senior Capstone Design projects. For example, students from Pitt did not participate in this portion of the FIPSE-SEAEP program. Therefore, the assessment results discussed in this paper represent the opinions of the 2011-2012 cohort of students from FSU. The FIPSESEAEP team hypothesized that all eight of the expected U.S. student outcomes (listed in a subsequent sub-section) can be met by participation in a yearlong international Senior Capstone Design project. Achieving these anticipated program outcomes is essential to meeting the technical, professional and global competency expectations that budding U.S. engineers will face in industry.