The 2015 Capstone Design Survey: Observations from the Front Lines

Capstone design courses offer engineering students a culminating design experience on an applied engineering project, but the structure, logistics, and implementation of capstone courses varies widely. The 2015 Capstone Design Survey, conducted in spring 2015, continued the decennial census of capstone design courses to catalog current practices, identify emerging trends, and provide historical comparison. The survey reprised many of the questions from its 1994 and 2005 predecessors, augmented with additional questions based on other capstone-related surveys, design education conference topics, and open-ended responses. The survey was completed by 522 respondents representing 256 institutions across the U.S., including a handful of programs in other countries. This paper focuses specifically on the qualitative responses from the 2015 Capstone Design Survey, including capstone instructors’ first-hand experiences and implementation practices. These qualitative data serve as a candid window into capstone design practices through the experiences of those who coordinate it, raising issues and highlighting current practices in engineering capstone design education to guide further development in the field.