Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Capstone Courses

Senior capstone classes are unique and crucial experiences for undergraduate students, in that they provide long-term, often synthesis-based projects in a collaborative environment. Yet, an overwhelming majority of programs do not provide students with the chance to work cooperatively across disciplinary lines. Those that do typically only allow for interaction between groups within the same overarching discipline such as Mechanical or Electrical Engineering. Ideally, the capstone experience is meant to foreshadow the type of interaction and work that a student will engage in, easing their transition into the work environment following graduation. In industry, engineers are expected to work collaboratively with experts in several technical and non-technical domains. Subsequently, capstone classes are lacking the ability to prepare undergraduate students for membership on the interdisciplinary teams that exist in workplaces within the United States and abroad. As such, the purpose of this paper is to describe the process of creating and subsequent plans for implementation of an interdisciplinary capstone course at a large research-intensive institution in the Southeast US. The challenges associated with developing a course that meets the need of each disciplinary capstone experience and spans the boundary of different approaches to pedagogy, knowledge structure and learning will be explored as well. Background and Objectives One of the most common complaints among recruiters of engineering graduates is a failure of universities to properly prepare their students to collaborate within a diverse workplace environment [1], [2]. Students typically complete most of their coursework within their discipline of choice, with few opportunities to work with students in other majors, at least in an academic setting. This trend includes the capstone courses that conclude many undergraduate pathways [3]. These capstone programs are intended to provide hands-on, project-based experiences with problems analogous to industry assignments. Capstone courses can take on several forms under these guidelines [4]. At the institution where this study is being conducted, capstones often fall into three broad categories: 1) college-based, where the projects are derived from college sponsored activities and engagement, 2) research-sponsored, where projects are based on research projects being conducted by faculty in the respective departments and, 3) industry-sponsored, which involve direct interaction with company partners. The companies provide problems that arise in their day-to-day operations that teams of students make an effort to provide solutions to. These types of courses are intended not just to allow students to attempt to solve complex, often open-ended problems, but to allow them to develop skills regarding project management, professional presentation and communication, and effective collaboration within their project team [5]. However, most capstone courses in engineering disciplines are monodisciplinary – that is, all work is done within a single engineering major or a single specialization within that major [3]. This limitation hinders students once they arrive in their work environments and are required to