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In preparing engineering students for the workplace, capstone classes provide unique opportunities for students to develop their professional identities and learn critical skills such as engineering design, teamwork, and self-directed learning (Lutz & Paretti). But while existing research explores what and how students learn within these courses, we know much less about how capstone courses affect students’ transitions into the workplace. To address this gap, we are following 62 new graduates across 4 institutions during the participants’ first 12 weeks of work. Participants were drawn from 3 mechanical engineering programs and one general engineering program. Women were intentionally oversampled in the study, with 29 participants identifying as female. Weekly surveys were used to collect quantitative data on what types of workplace activities participants engaged in (e.g., team meetings, project budgeting, CAD modeling, engineering calculations) and qualitative data on what challenges they experience in their early work experience. In this paper, we present a descriptive analysis of the data to identify patterns across participants. Preliminary analysis of the quantitative data suggests that the most common activities for our participants were team meetings and project planning (mentioned by >70% of participants) compared to formal presentations and project budgeting (mentioned by <30% of participants). Preliminary analysis of the qualitative data suggests that participants’ most challenging experiences clustered into two dominant groups: 1) self-directed learning, and 2) teamwork and communication. The results are intended to inform both capstone faculty and industry to identify areas of strength within current practices and areas for improvement in course design and structure and/or in industry onboarding practices.
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Process Matter(s): Leveraging the Design Process to Build Self-Directed Learning
Capstone design courses, an established component of undergraduate engineering curricula, offer students the opportunity to synthesize their prior engineering coursework and apply professional and technical skills towards projects with practical application. During this unique experience, capstone faculty enable mentored exploration, coaching students to navigate the design process to complete complex and open-ended projects. However, each capstone scope of work requires project specific knowledge and skills that capstone students need to independently research and comprehend. Findings from our study of recent graduates during their first year on the job suggest that self-directed learning isn’t just occurring in the capstone experience, but it is also an essential skill in professional workplaces. In this paper we share data regarding participants’ experiences relying on self-directed learning while working on their capstone projects and later in post-graduation environments. We consider the ways that capstone design educators can design course content and mentor students to help promote this critical skill and conclude by offering recommendations.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1607811
- PAR ID:
- 10106482
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Clive L. Dym Mudd Design Workshop XI
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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The Freshman Year Innovator Experience (FYIE) program at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, a Minority Serving Institution (MSI), aims to enhance the freshman experience for incoming students by developing key academic success skills. The program is developing self-transformation skills in freshman mechanical engineering students to help them overcome academic and professional challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. FYIE participants are taking two courses simultaneously: Introduction to Engineering (Course A) and Learning Frameworks (Course B). In Course A, students will complete a 6-week engineering design project, and in Course B, they are completing a 6-week academic career path project. During these parallel projects, timed interventions demonstrate the analogies between the engineering design process and the academic career pathways project. The objective is for students to realize that they can apply the design thinking skills they learn in the engineering design process to solve their academic career challenges. A pilot of the FYIE program began in the 2023 Spring semester, with instructors from Course A and B introducing the parallel projects. The pilot continues in the 2023 Fall semester, with refinements to the parallel projects and the definition of analogy intervention points for self-transformation. The authors of the paper will present the results from the pilot implementations, as well as discuss the challenges and future work. This proposed initiative is designed with the intention of adhering to the ongoing mission of the College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) at the UTRGV to 1) increase the number of STEM degrees awarded to Hispanics, 2) broadening participation of females in STEM related fields, and 3) increase the persistence and self-efficacy in STEM fields amid COVID-19. This project is funded by NSF award 2225247.more » « less
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