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Elements of an Optimal Capstone Design Experience
Author(s) -
Marin John A.,
Armstrong James E.,
Kays James L.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of engineering education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.896
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 2168-9830
pISSN - 1069-4730
DOI - 10.1002/j.2168-9830.1999.tb00405.x
Subject(s) - capstone , mentorship , engineering , engineering management , engineering ethics , engineering education , engineering design process , systems engineering , computer science , medical education , medicine , mechanical engineering , algorithm
This paper presents and assesses a framework for an engineering capstone design program. We explain how student preparation, project selection, and instructor mentorship are the three key elements that must be addressed before the capstone experience is ready for the students. Next, we describe a way to administer and execute the capstone design experience including design workshops and lead engineers. We describe the importance of assessing the capstone design experience and report recent assessment results of our framework. We comment specifically on what students thought were the most important aspects of their experience in engineering capstone design and provide quantitative insight into what parts of the framework are most important.