A versatile guide and rubric to scaffold and assess engineering design projects

Abstract

This paper presents a versatile guide and rubric for assessment of engineering design projects throughout an engineering curriculum. The guide is comprised of three key parts: (1) a typical design process-to-semester mapping for capstone projects, (2) a design process rubric applicable to engineering design projects in the curriculum, and (3) a mapping between the design process and engineering design tools taught within the curriculum. The design process guide is presented as a tool which can be used to guide students through directed exploration of the design process during a first design class as well as to scaffold students' undirected design process exploration. Implementation of the guide during the engineering design sequence will be discussed as well as the lessons learned after applying the guide to senior and junior projects as a grading rubric, feedback mechanism, and as an in-class guide for student reflection on a project's process. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2013.