Instructional Modules To Support Senior Capstone Design Classes

In senior capstone design courses, the instructor typically presents lecture material in addition to guiding the students in design. The lecture material often includes a wide range of topics, and it is difficult to identify a single textbook that covers all relevant areas. This makes it difficult for new faculty to teach capstone design courses and considerable effort is required to develop the lectures from varied sources. A result is that the instructors often tend to cover the introductory topics superficially. To reduce the time required for faculty to develop lecture material on design topics, we have developed using Microsoft PowerPoint a set of instructional modules that can be used as a basis for introductory lectures in capstone design. Using the modules, the preparation time for lectures is vastly reduced. The modules also help to ensure that the instructor has covered all relevant topics before the students begin their own design projects.