Content in capstone design courses: Pilot survey results from faculty, students, and industry

Abstract

Capstone design courses are a common culminating experience in engineering programs across the country. A pilot study was developed to probe the content included in capstone design courses. The study was motivated by a desire to understand not only what is taught in capstone courses, but how that content is covered, how well students think they have learned the content, what content proficiency is expected of entry level employees, and how important the content is for student learning from the perspective of faculty, students, and industry employers. The study consisted of three surveys (one for each of faculty, students, and industry) about a specific set of 24 capstone course topics. Responses were received from 48 faculty, 240 students, and 19 industry employees, representing five engineering disciplines. As a first look at a large set of results, this paper addresses the importance of the topics from the perspective of all three groups (faculty, students, industry) and presents data regarding what content faculty cover, methods of content delivery, reported student proficiency, and industry expectations for entry level employees. While the pilot study data are vast and multi-faceted, two emerging themes from all three surveys are a) the importance of professional skills for student learning and development and b) the disconnect between perceived and expected proficiency for capstone graduates. This effort adds to a growing body of work to understand and ultimately improve capstone education. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2009.