Ac 2007-1513: Enhancing the Capstone Design Experience in Civil Engineering (original) (raw)
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A Capstone Design Approach In Civil Engineering
2004 Annual Conference Proceedings
Assessing student outcomes from the civil engineering program at Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) identified several areas of concern. Ineffective team skills, limited multidisciplinary design experience and inadequate integration of technical communications with the engineering curriculum were specifically targeted for improvement. To strengthen student outcomes in these areas, technical communications faculty and civil engineering faculty at OIT developed a new senior project curriculum. Senior civil engineering students must now complete a three-term, full academic year, senior project sequence that integrates engineering design with communication skill development. The class functions as a civil engineering consulting firm with civil engineering faculty leading design teams in geotechnical engineering, transportation and traffic engineering, environmental engineering, structural engineering and planning. Two communications faculty are also part of the firm and provide in-house expertise in technical communications. The firm is required to respond to a formal request for proposal (RFP), develop a conceptual plan within the proposal, and prepare and present a professional proposal to secure the project. The RFP identifies a real project within the local community and is multidisciplinary in nature. Upon proposal acceptance, specific design teams are formed in which students complete the project design as specified in the firm's proposal. Effective communication both intra-team and inter-team is essential to ensure a professional cohesive design by the firm. Final designs are submitted in written reports, including all plans and specifications, and presented orally to a diverse audience of professionals, peers and faculty. Technical communications faculty assist students in preparing proposals, written reports and presentations, and guide the process of internal documentation procedures such as daily logs and weekly progress reports. Workshops on professional ethics, group dynamics and peer reviews are also incorporated in the class. Local professionals and other faculty participate as clients, consultants and experts. Surveys given to students at the end of the project reflect a moderate improvement in student outcomes based on this class. Students appear reluctant to leave the organized structure of the classroom for the open ended problems presented by the design projects. Alumni, however, who have completed the sequence, have given strong endorsements. Local professionals and Industrial Advisory Committee members have expressed satisfaction with the approach and objectives of the class.
Client Based Projects For Every Senior – A Mark Of Excellence For Any Program
2003 Annual Conference Proceedings
This paper describes a unique senior project capstone course used successfully by the ABET-Accredited Civil Engineering Program at the United States Military Academy (USMA) to greatly enhance the academic program. The three general project classifications available within this senior project course are service-based (i.e., USMA, the Army, local community), competitionbased (i.e., steel bridge, concrete canoe, timber bridge), and research-based. Many of these projects each year have design-build components requiring one to six students. The mix of these open-ended projects usually ensures that each student can list a minimum of 3-5 project choices that meet their individual needs for a challenging, yet rewarding academic experiencesomething for everyone! Most students list at least one, if not all, of the service-based projects. Some projects have multiple teams of students trying to sell themselves to the faculty advisor as the team of choice. It will be shown through student assessment that this form of experience not only challenges, but also motivates the students like no other aspect of their academic experience. The students are providing a solution to a real world problem for a real client. The reverse is also true; student involvement in solving real problems and/or designing/building products stimulates the clients and sponsors to become heavily involved during the process. Increased client participation enhances not only the quality of the product, but the experience for the student and client. These semester-long projects are a great learning experience for all, including the faculty. The assessment will show that the students find the program demanding, but enjoyable and worthwhile, because it forces them to push the boundaries of the their knowledge through initiative, self-study, perseverance, and creativity.
Elements of a successful capstone course considering the needs of stakeholders
European Journal of Engineering Education, 2005
One of the principal objectives of engineering education is to prepare graduates for the practice of engineering in industry. Industry involvement in the educational process can be very helpful in devising programs to meet this objective.Yet, engineering education has a number of other stakeholders including students, faculty, academic administrators, and others. Identifying and meeting the needs and wants of these various stakeholders is essential in developing educational programs and learning activities that are effective and sustainable. Stakeholders in engineering education are identified, including their wants and needs. Alternative approaches to developing a Capstone course, with input from these stakeholders, are proposed and evaluated in light of stakeholder needs and wants. A case study for developing a two-semester senior design capstone course at Brigham Young University is presented. In this example more than 300 industry sponsored, design and build, projects have been completed by cross-functional student teams over more than ten years. Feedback from alumni on the success of this course in meeting desired educational objectives is also presented.
2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings
She has overseen the implementation and growth of the Enterprise Program at Michigan Tech since its inception in 2000, and is responsible for its overall coordination and development. Her responsibilities include corporate sponsorship development, interdisciplinary program evaluation and assessment, and workshop/course instruction in the areas of teaming and leadership. She is also actively involved in coordination, curriculum development, assessment, and instruction in the Pavlis Global Leadership program. She received her B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from Wayne State University and is currently working on her Ph.D. at Michigan Technological University. Before joining MTU, she held various engineering and management positions during a 15 year career in the automotive industry.
Academic Advising in Civil Engineering: Design and Evaluation of a Hybrid Model
STEM Education, 2022
A project to formalise and expand Academic Advising has been implemented at the UCD Civil Engineering School. The goals of this project were twofold: on the one hand, it aimed at training faculty members in Academic Advising roles and providing them with the necessary resources. On the other hand, the project sought to expand student interaction, in particular by engaging students informally in order to build a rapport between them and the academic advisors that we expect will bring long term benefits. The resulting model combines elements of both the prescriptive, e.g., formal training, informative talks on key topics, and developmental approaches, e.g., coffee mornings for students and faculty members. The evaluation of the project was carried out through questionnaires and focus groups. It highlighted very positive feedback from the students, who find these new lines of communication with the academic staff to be useful and productive.
A Unique Civil Engineering Capstone Design Course
International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy (iJEP)
The North Dakota State University, USA, capstone course was developed as a unique model in response to the effort of the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology, USA, to streamline and improve design instruction in the curriculum and has steadily evolved to keep pace with the ever-changing technology and the expectations of the profession and the society we serve. A capstone design course by definition should be a design experience for students in the final year before graduation integrating all major design concepts they have learned up until then in the program. Carefully chosen real world projects with design content in all sub-disciplines of civil engineering are assigned in this team-taught course. Faculty and practicing professionals make presentations on design process; project management; leadership in an engineering environment; and public policy; global perspectives in engineering; and professional career and licensure. Practicing professionals also critique the ...
ON A CLIENT-CENTERED, SOPHOMORE DESIGN COURSE SEQUENCE
Often engineering design instruction based on real-world, client-based projects is relegated to a final year capstone course. Our engineering program, however, emphasizes these real-world, client-based design experiences, and places them throughout our six-course engineering design sequence. Our six-course design sequence begins with a two-course sophomore design sequence that is meant to enable mastery through both directed and non-directed learning and exploration of the design process and design tools. At the sophomore level, we aim to provide students with the foundational knowledge necessary to tackle problem-based learning modules throughout our engineering program. To that end, students work in both small (4-5) and large (10-11) teams to complete a year-long design project. The course project is woven with instruction in design theory and methodology; sustainable engineering design concepts; individual cognitive processes, thinking, and communication skills; decision making; ...
Benefits of Industry Involvement in Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Courses
Opportunities for industry involvement in capstone design courses go beyond industry sponsorship of capstone design projects. Representatives from industry can serve as guest lecturers, curriculum advisors, and design project sponsors and team mentors. For the last twelve years industry participation has been a core part of the capstone design course at Marquette University. Practicing engineers provide a relevant, practical real-world perspective of their topic, reinforcing its importance to professional engineering practice. Students (and course faculty) benefit from the up-to-date treatment of the topic provided by guest speakers from industry who have expertise in the topic and are willing to share their experiences with students. Students benefit from industry sponsorship of senior design projects through the opportunity to work on real-world problems of importance to industry, exposure to industry and company-specific project management and product development processes, and familiarity with economic, legal, and regulatory design constraints. This paper provides a brief description of the Multidisciplinary Capstone Design course at Marquette University, examples of industry involvement in the course, and the observed benefits to students, the university, and industry participants.
International Collaboration on a Professional Development Course
2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings
Prior to joining Canterbury in 2004, he worked for 10 years as a transportation engineer and traffic researcher for Opus International Consultants. Glen's wide-ranging experience includes considerable research and consulting work on road safety modelling, pedestrian/cycle planning & design, speed management, crash analysis, and the design and operation of rural two-lane highways. At Canterbury, Glen taught professional design project courses since 2006 and also delivered oral and written presentation skills to students for many years. Since 2013 he was responsible for the introduction of a new professional engineering skills course to final-year BE students.
Preparing Students for the Environment of the Practice of Consulting Engineer
Asee Proceedings 2009 Annual Convention, 2009
In the United States of America, the body of knowledge required for an individual to be allowed to take the engineering licensing examination, which on passing allows the individual to be in responsible charge of engineering projects, is usually defined by laws and regulations of each state. In California, the shortest path taken by most individuals is one where the individual graduates from an ABET accredited undergraduate program; passes the Engineer in Training (EIT) examination and works under the supervision of a licensed engineer for two years (one year if the individual has a Masters degree in relevant field).