Entrepreneurial Engineering Capstone Course With Research Based Outcomes Assessment

Capstone engineering design courses play pivotal roles in development of engineering students’ professional skills needed for innovation in a globally-competitive technological world. This paper describes a two-semester course sequence, jointly taught by faculty in engineering and entrepreneurial studies, that integrates engineering design and business development. Course outcomes are defined based on research that established four performance areas addressing student and solution development in capstone design courses: personal capacity, team processes, solution requirements, and solution assets. Performance criteria for each area establish definitions of desired student achievement in each area and form the basis for assessment of outcomes for the capstone engineering design course. Course outcomes are assessed using two or more exercises for each of the four areas of performance. Each exercise is accompanied by a scoring rubric based on factors associated with that performance. Each is also aligned with ABET outcomes to provide useful performance data for program assessment. Assessment exercises are recommended for formative and/or summative use in capstone design courses. Assessment exercises for personal capacity, team processes, and solution requirements are being pilot tested, while those for solution assets are under development. This assessment system offers rubric-based direct measures for student performance, which is important for course or program assessment and improvement. Results of the jointly-taught entrepreneurial engineering capstone course have been encouraging. Students have demonstrated impressive growth in professional skills and have produced solutions that have significant business potential. Project sponsors, industry advisors, and business plan judges note admirable achievements of student teams. This course model is offered to stimulate transformation of capstone design courses to outcomes-driven student learning experiences that can better prepare graduates for global challenges of the future. Introduction National leaders are sounding the alarm: The United States is losing its competitive edge in the global marketplace 1 . Some perceive that the nation is not preparing adequate numbers of people in technological fields, such as the engineering disciplines. Additionally, they contend that many graduates are not sufficiently prepared to address technological challenges they will face under global competition. Many business leaders declare that innovation is absolutely critical for our nation to survive economically and militarily. If our nation is to prosper, our educational system must be transformed to produce technology and business innovators 2 . A common context for preparing engineering students for professional practice is the capstone engineering design course, found in nearly all baccalaureate engineering degree programs in the US. These courses typically engage senior-level undergraduates in team-based project experiences simulating selected aspects of professional practice. In this project context, students’ design, problem solving, and professional skills are developed and tested. Students’ projects P ge 12679.2 frequently are client-sponsored, instructor-initiated, student initiated, or social oriented. Their design products typically are evaluated against expectations of potential users and instructors. Students have excellent professional development opportunities as they interact with project stakeholders around project developments. Typical capstone engineering design experiences stimulate student development of both technological products and professional skills. Both students and faculty recognize that learning associated with these courses is different than occurs in many other engineering classes, but many disagree on appropriate learning outcomes for the course. Critical questions are: (1) What should and have students learned and demonstrated through their capstone design courses? (2) Do these abilities match the public’s expectations for graduates who will be leading technical and business innovation for our nation in coming years? As demonstrated by these questions, capstone design course instructors must give proper attention to defining, accomplishing, and measuring achievements of targeted student learning outcomes. ABET accreditation requirements reinforce the importance of these measures 3 . Goal The goal of this paper is to present an entrepreneurial engineering design course that rigorously addresses student learning outcomes derived from a research-based definition of learner and solution development in capstone engineering design courses. This course is offered as a model for capstone engineering design courses that develop future technical business innovators. In the following sections, we describe the course and its context, present four areas of performance from which learning outcomes emerge, and describe ways in which assessments are imbedded to document outcomes achievement. We conclude by describing notable achievements in student learning and solution development. General Course Description For the past two years, an entrepreneurial engineering design course sequence has been piloted at Washington State University. The course sequence is taught jointly by Dr. Denny Davis, professor of Bioengineering, and Dr. Jerman Rose, professor of Entrepreneurial Studies, to provide an integrated entrepreneurial product development experience. Over the past two years student participation has increasingly required formal course enrollment. Students enrolled in the entrepreneurial engineering capstone course are comprised of three cohorts that add useful diversity to the mix. Approximately one-third are bioengineering seniors enrolled in their senior design course. Another third is a mix of engineering, business, and science seniors participating in a special corporate-sponsored scholarship program, for which a multidisciplinary project experience is a requirement. The final third is a group of engineering and business seniors who, during the previous summer, participated in an internship program introducing them to entrepreneurship. The second cohort is assigned to projects associated with the sponsoring company. The first and third cohorts are intermixed to match student interests and expertise to projects identified by instructors, friends of the university, or students themselves. P ge 12679.3 The capstone course sequence engages students in multidisciplinary teams working on different projects, all spanning two semesters. In the 2005-2006 academic year, thirty four students participated in eight project teams, as described in Table 1. Similar numbers of students and teams are involved in 2006-2007. Projects were selected based on student interest and the apparent potential of the project to both provide an engineering challenge and to offer business potential. Students were assigned to teams by matching student preferences and backgrounds to project needs. Table 1: Projects Used in 2005-2006 Capstone Design Course Sequence Project Team Composition Large scale decal application process for aircraft Marketing, Civil engineering, Chemical engineering, Physics, Accounting Laser alignment system for manufacturing Management information systems, Mechanical engineering, Computer science, Finance, Physics, Mathematics Treadle pump for irrigation in Malawi Entrepreneurial studies, Mechanical engineering, Bioengineering, Bioengineering Energy recapture from domestic anaerobic digestion of waste Entrepreneurial studies, Bioengineering, Biological systems engineering Manual wheelchair that elevates users Bioengineering, Mechanical engineering, Business law, Bioengineering Biofeedback for stress management Entrepreneurial studies, Electrical engineering, Bioengineering, Bioengineering Horse saddle cinch tensioning device Entrepreneurial studies, Bioengineering, Bioengineering, Mechanical engineering Bioelectrical signal teaching kit for K-12 science Bioengineering, Management information systems, Bioengineering, Bioengineering The two courses are taught following a philosophy that students need to be self-motivated for both learning and solution development. Class time is used to provide students common group experiences and to build essential foundations in terminology and tools needed in the projects. Students are required to achieve and document significant progress in: (a) product development, (b) business development, and (c) personal (team and individual) development. A typical schedule for the two course sequence is summarized in Table 2. As shown, class topics alternate among team development, solution development, and business development issues. Typically the first term produces a solution concept and tentative business plan, and students make presentations at a business plan competition and in class. The second term produces a design solution and business plan with testing or market data, and students again present at a business competition and at a class final project defense. P ge 12679.4 Table 2: Course Topics for Two-Semester Capstone Course Wk Semester 1 Topics Semester 2 Topics 1 • Course goals and outcomes; feasibility analysis • Product/business development processes • Course goals and outcomes; review of business plan feedback • Review project specifications and timeline 2 • Preliminary project feasibility reporting • Team assignments to projects • Prototype plan: specifications, justification, functionality, budget 3 • Team performance; presentation skills • Project milestones; project management • Team operational plan • Market research plan • Prototype testing plan 4 • Project stakeholders; needs and requirements • Intro to business plans; stakeholder interviews • Elevator presentations 5 • Team project feasibility presentations • Prototype progress reviews 6 • Professional growth; self-assessment • Methods for generating creative ideas •