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This paper presents an innovative approach for engaging and assessing undergraduate students in the writing process. Through an iterative, intensive course design that includes both in-classroom and online teaching, our Capstone course integrates writing instruction as students learn a new topic, gather and analyze data, and write a research paper complete with an introduction, literature review, findings section, and discussion/conclusion. Based on five semesters of observations, survey data, content analysis, and student reflective writing, we discuss the processes students undergo while learning to research and write as social science scholars. We find student outcomes beyond what we initially expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Graduate employability represents a fundamental outcome of higher education. The purpose of this paper is to explore and compare students' perceptions of their employability through their experience of a simulated or real-life project. The context of the project is a capstone course, implemented in an Australian university, which was designed to enhance employability and foster transferable graduate attributes, including professional communication, interpersonal and leadership skills. Design/methodology/approach: The authors designed and conducted quantitative research to capture and measure students' perceptions of their employability at the conclusion of a capstone course over three consecutive years from 2015 to 2017. Findings: The results of this paper show that students undertaking a real-life project which makes a social contribution reported a significantly stronger development of work-ready skills in managing projects than students undertaking a simulation project. Specifically, interaction with industry and leadership were reported to be more developed. Originality/value: The study contributes to knowledge of the relationship between capstone learning and students' perceptions of employability. It advances the understanding of capstone course design and pedagogy which strengthens the link between learning and work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capstones, as culminating educational experiences, are expected to meet many purposes: synthesis and application of prior learning, developing skills and attributes related to employability, and more recently, quality assurance. However, research has not yet identified a comprehensive list of capstone purposes or considered how multiple purposes are prioritised. This paper presents an analysis of ratings of importance for a series of literature-derived capstone purposes by staff involved in capstone design and delivery across disciplines (n = 216). Findings confirm the broad range of purposes reported in the literature with the addition of an affective dimension. The number of purposes rated as highly important suggests a highly pressured curriculum space. Analysis of cross-disciplinary ratings also revealed a large set of 'core' capstone purposes that are equally important across disciplines, and a smaller set that vary significantly. Results provide an empirical basis for interrogating capstone purposes and their implementation through curriculum design and delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding of the challenges academics face today in developing a knowledge-based economy. In response to these challenges, the authors developed a collaborative approach to enhancing the learning experience for engineering management (or industrial engineering) capstone design courses. The core of this approach is the problem-based learning through the execution of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) projects implemented via university–industry partnerships. The ultimate goal of this approach is to facilitate the integration and application of theoretical knowledge while promoting the development of professional skills in undergraduate students as demanded by business organizations. Design/methodology/approach: The framework is firmly grounded in theory and methods from project management and quality management, and LSS literature and was tested in an engineering and management capstone design course at the author's university. The case study presented here offers a detailed analysis of the design and implementation of the proposed framework. The authors also present the results of a survey conducted to assess the extent to which the proposed approach contributes to bridging the gap between theory and practice. Findings: Results from the pilot implementation and survey results revealed that students who took the enhanced LSS capstone course felt that their projects helped them gain a better understanding on how to apply the theory to practical situations while preparing them to approach and solve problems in real-world settings confidentially. The authors also found that the LSS green belt certification helped recent graduates to transition to the workforce more easily, gain more credibility among coworkers and supervisors and make contributions quicker than other new hires, get the job they wanted faster and overall advance in their careers. Originality/value: The framework is a composition of best practices used in a variety of universities and industries. While the majority of the LSS university-based programs are typically offered at the graduate level and with limited (support for) project executions, the framework proposed here provides the infrastructure for solid company staff-student team collaborations on projects executed from inception to implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If any engineering courses are unlikely to be transferable between Australasian and overseas universities, one could argue that civil engineering capstone design courses with a strong practical engineering focus would be the least likely. This analysis considers two capstone design courses in the US and New Zealand. The analysis examines the approaches each university has taken to improve design education through simulating professional practice. The two approaches are superficially very different with different course structure and course requirements. In addition the emphasis on site and project, and the consequent dependence on country-specific matters related to regulation and codes, would lead one to expect low transferability. Closer analysis shows that the learning objectives of the courses are relatively similar and that the relationship between site and design are key for both. The challenges faced by the two approaches have much in common, reflecting similar student experiences, and so high transferability. The paper provides details on learning objectives and challenges faced at the two programs to aid others who wish to analyse capstone design experiences across multiple universities. The conclusion is that transferability between these two design experiences is high. The implication is that, through similar forces for educational change in both countries, internationalisation of engineering education is high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Final year or Capstone Project is the final and important phase of the undergraduate curriculum in a Computer Science Engineering program. Final year project is a course where all the skills learnt by the students in the course are applied and evaluated. The important aspects in the delivery of this course are (i) developing a model to train the students to deliver quality project work and documentation, (ii) effective evaluation of the student based on rubrics which are mapped to the course outcomes (iii) Calculate program outcome and course outcome attainment and make necessary changes to improve the delivery of the course (iv) Map the feedback from stakeholders as per graduate attributes and measure performance. This paper discusses the approach followed for three academic years 2014-2017 on a batch of 180 students per year. Training sessions, evaluation rubrics, usage of project management tools, mapping performance of the students with the outcomes of the course and program, feedback from the stakeholders like companies and students themselves gives a clear view of improvement of the performance of the students during the Final Year Project course in three years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has demonstrated the proven educational benefits of the gamification of teaching and learning. Through active learning and engaging more deeply with subjects taught, students demonstrate better time on tasks, as well as learning retention and outcomes. For the same reason, high-impact practices (HIPs), otherwise known as engaged learning practices, are embedded instructional practices broadly adopted across postsecondary education. However, there remains little to no research on game-based learning (GBL) and its potential alignment with HIPs, nor their pedagogical best practices with theories of gamification. One reason for this is the view that gamification and GBL are framing devices or delivery mechanisms for existing academic content in a specific discipline and not a means unto an end. However, gamification itself may be viewed as a common intellectual experience (CIE) and as a common core standard with cocurricular experiences embedded within, especially if students engage with principles in a scaffolded fashion over the course of their education. HIPs are generally introduced to students from their first year on through graduation, with first-year experiences to capstone courses and projects. This study proposes a model of alignment of the two, whereby the scholarship of teaching and learning views gamification as a central component (CIE). A new high-impact gamification model would combine HIPs and scaffolding, along with an understanding of GBL, allowing students to build specific skills. Starting with horizontal integration in specific courses, specific HIPs are introduced and reinforced through GBL. The curriculum then vertically integrates these CIEs over the course of a student's degree plan. Finally, while the model can be applied to any discipline, this study outlines a way to use gamification to teach game design and development. Through multiple touchstones, students learn through play and different genres that appeal to different demographics until ultimately cultivating skills to produce their own playable prototype as a capstone project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work-ready capabilities of graduates are a critical quality concern for universities: some emerging professional disciplines continue to face claims of theory-practice gaps. The diversity of perspectives on the quality of graduate work-readiness suggests that this is a wicked problem that cannot be absolutely solved but that can be resolved by careful interventions to bridge gaps between stakeholder expectations. This article chronicles the introduction and ongoing refinement of assessment for learning within an undergraduate paramedicine programme. Assessment is constructed as an authentic, immersive and continuous feature of learning design, fusing theory with the practices and expectations of industry. Theory-in-context education practice responds to perceptions that theory and practice reside in separate domains of universities and industry. The authors report action research cycles spanning a decade of planning, acting and evaluating innovations to enhance graduate work-readiness. Their work promotes design principles and actions applicable to local resolution of such wicked problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, the teaching of design theory in an engineering curriculum has been relegated to a senior capstone design experience. Presently, however, engineering design concepts and courses can be found through the entirety of most engineering programs. Educators have recognized that engineering design provides a foundational platform that can be used to develop educational strategies for a wide array of engineering science principles. More recently, educators have found that product archaeology provides an effective platform to develop scalable learning materials, strategies, and educational innovations across these design courses. This paper presents and discusses how product archaeology has been incorporated at a large research university in two design-related courses for mechanical engineering students: (1) a sophomore-level course and (2) a senior-level class. More specifically, details are reported regarding how and how easily global, societal, economic, and environmental factors were emphasized in the curricula of these courses. Next, the paper shares the qualitative and quantitative assessment tools and methods used to determine the impact of incorporating a product archaeology paradigm in the courses. Finally, the results are reported which demonstrate a significant increase in the students' perceptions across a number of skill and knowledge areas related to ABET-required Outcome h without negatively impacting other important academic areas. Results demonstrate a significant increase in student perception across a number of skill and knowledge areas critical to the next generation of engineers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of capstone units is gaining currency within the Australian Higher Education system, with a growing focus on enhancing graduate employability and assuring graduate outcomes. The aim of this paper is to report on an 18-month study of undergraduate journalism capstone units in Australian universities. Just over half of the universities in Australia that teach journalism (16 out of 30), embed capstone units in their programmes, and the study, which began in September 2015, is part of an Australian Learning and Teaching Fellowship. It is divided into three stages. The first stage involved face-to-face interviews with journalism academics at 16 universities in five States, to discover what type of capstone unit they use, the principles they employ and the skills students need to demonstrate and apply. This data then underwent a validation process. Stage three of the study will develop resources to support journalism educators in the design or redesign of capstone units, especially in the area of agreed principles, standards and best practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to increasing demands regarding student learning outcomes and accreditation, a capstone portfolio was added to assess critical thinking and communication skills of geography majors at a large public university in the USA. The portfolio guidelines were designed to be adaptable to a flexible curriculum where about half of the requirements within the major are structured. This paper discusses the portfolio requirements and assessment rubrics developed following multiple portfolio iterations, gives guidance to instructors, and synthesizes potential benefits for students, departments and employers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Universities are increasingly offering capstone subjects as part of curricula to prepare final-year undergraduates for employment through consolidating and integrating their knowledge and skills while bridging the gap between academic learning and professional work. This study investigates capstone subjects offered by Australian business schools, drawing on national survey data collected in 2010 and 2011, complemented by interviews with associate deans teaching and learning instrumental in curricula design. Findings indicate the sector-wide use of capstone subjects in business disciplines, diversity in the patterns of offerings, and instances where subjects labelled as capstones do not meet the definition of capstones. We argue that these features are explained by a range of historic and strategic factors, such as the ad hoc development of subjects and a lack of understanding of the features of capstones. The findings of this paper inform the debate on the design, development, value and the use of capstone subjects identifying the implications for staff development and knowledge management in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Agile software development methods assume that user requirements are formulated as short user stories written on paper note cards. Students often seem to be suspicious about this approach, finding user stories not precise enough to describe the desired functionality. Therefore, practical experience is needed to overcome initial doubts and impart good understanding of the potential benefits and limitations. This paper describes how user stories are taught within the scope of the software engineering capstone course at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and provides an in-depth analysis of students' opinions on the basis of several surveys that have been conducted since the 2009/10 academic year. The analysis indicates that students' opinions are mostly positive and significantly improve after they gain more experience. Students successfully grasp the main concepts and understand the advantages and limitations of user stories. However, better students are more confident about potential benefits and keener to use user stories in practice. Students' satisfaction can be largely attributed to proper instruction of the course, which stimulates learning through problem solving and requires close cooperation among students, the Product Owner, and the ScrumMaster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many graduate programs for professionals (public policy, public administration, business, international affairs, and others) use client-based experiential learning projects, often termed "capstones," in which students combine theory and practice to benefit an outside client. Increasingly, undergraduate programs use client-based capstones as well, whereby students work with a client over a semester to solve a problem. Evidence suggests that students value these experiences and clients often describe value created as well. However, evidence also suggests that both students and clients can experience a mismatch of expectations, gaps in information, misunderstandings, and frustrations in the process of working together. With the objective to enhance learning for students and create value for clients, reframing the capstone project as a "negotiation in multiple domains" rather than a "fixed problem to be solved" has potential benefits for the student, the client, and the learning process. The approach may have implications for a broad range of team-based problem-solving initiatives. This paper, using the team-based capstone experience of the "International Development in Practice" class at the University of Notre Dame, explores how an integrated negotiations approach contributes to the capstone value creation and learning experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capstone experiences can be an important rite of passage for students. The portfolio has been discussed in social work education discourse as a valuable pedagogic method for a capstone project. However, there are only a small number of studies evaluating the actual impacts of portfolio use in a social work program. This article addresses this gap, describing and evaluating the use of portfolios as capstone projects in a social work program in Hong Kong. The findings suggest that the portfolio-based capstone project is generally a positive experience from both instructors and students' perspectives and that there are three key learning impacts of this pedagogic method: i) the consolidation of students' learning throughout the program; ii) professional identity development; and iii) enhanced reflexivity. This study indicates that the small group tutorial format is a key attribute that contributes to these learning impacts. Further, the findings shed light on critical points of review and discussion regarding the program and the professionalization of social work in Hong Kong—specifically, the need to review and discuss the decolonization and localization of social work education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A software engineering capstone course is often used for the introduction of agile methods like Scrum. Apart from exposing students to state-of-the-art topics, the capstone course also enables teachers to use modem ways of teaching through practical problem solving and gives researchers opportunities to conduct empirical studies with students as subjects. In order to satisfy the needs of all parties involved, a good computerized support tool is needed. The students need such a tool to manage their projects, the teachers require instruments for maintaining project requirements and monitoring student progress, while the researchers are interested in data for evidence-driven assessment of the development process. In this paper, an example of such a tool that was developed to support a Scrum-based software engineering capstone course is described. The course design, which requires students to develop a quasi-real project, is described first. Following this, a step-by-step description of the course execution is provided and the tool support of each step is illustrated. Finally, the opinions of 57 students obtained through an anonymous survey after using the tool for the first time are analyzed. The students found the tool intuitive and easy to use, providing good visualization of the project progress and making the execution of their projects simpler and more efficient. The tool gives directions on how their collaboration should proceed and prevents them from exploring their projects blindly. By visualizing the development process, it helps all parties involved to know what each team member is doing, thus preventing procrastination and "free-rider" syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching faculty and a liaison librarian began exploring ways to facilitate undergraduate student engagement in research, in the context of a 4th year research seminar course. The course was a long established course, ?Seminar in Foods and Nutrition,? in the Department of Human Nutritional Sciences, University of Manitoba, Canada. The class was small, and eight students completed the course during the 2014 Winter semester. The Research Skills Development Framework (RSD), which was developed at Adelaide University, Australia, was adopted as a conceptual model for collaboratively reorganizing and realigning learning and instructional activities. The RSD framework was very useful in maintaining the shared interest among the collaborators in facilitating student learning. An online survey with 19 Likert-scale questions was administered identically at the beginning and end of the course to measure student self-assessment of research skills. The survey results showed that the efforts in supporting student learning paid off. There were positive learning outcomes in nine research skill areas, and two additional skill areas showed positive trends. They are all corresponding to information literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we take the viewpoint and provide a framework to show that capstone is a proving ground for students to demonstrate that they are prepared for professional practice, and accordingly address the important problem of how capstone can provide feedback to the engineering curriculum and thereby continuously make improvements to it. A progressive model for hierarchically prioritizing ABET student outcomes and mapping them to direct metrics related to the curriculum is presented as a main mechanism for generating feedback. The model is shown to be able to highlight areas of engineering education where significant opportunities exist for improving the preparedness of our students for capstone and ultimately for professional practice. As such, capstone becomes a window on our curriculum for driving continuous improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the development of different multidisciplinary skills within the framework of development of Final Degree Projects and Master Degree Projects is presented. By means of liaisons established with industry, not only technical aspects of real industrial challenges are covered, but also the necessary transverse competences. The continuous feedback between students, academia and industrial/corporate members leads to an effective multidisciplinary environment, in which all of the participants have the opportunity of experiencing an effective increase in their knowledge base. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complete design and calculation of Solar Panel (SP) system feeding isolated homes represents a challenge for future engineers to apply knowledge acquired during their training. In this paper, a method of sizing and control of solar energy generator is proposed based on modeling of physical system components by mathematical equations that will help to understand the system components and their interactions. It provides a perspective view on how to efficiently use the knowledge acquired by the student during the engineering curriculum, and test their ability on how to validate complex theoretical concepts. The work presents a photovoltaic system feeding a three-phase standalone load. Mathematical development of the control along with steps required for the choice of SP and battery are made with ease to better understand complex engineering concepts. A new control for the dc-ac power electronics converter is derived from the mathematical model which allows maintaining the ac side voltage at the desired values as dictated by the constraints imposed on the DC bus voltage. The choice of the battery storage system (BSS) is based on 48 hours load energy autonomy. Simulation using Matlab Simpower Systems, and experimental results using real time simulator of OPAL-RT applied to a laboratory prototype 1.5 kVA are presented for validation purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Project teams, a mainstay in industry practice, are being employed in many capstone design courses. This paper examines industry models for teams and their application to a specific capstone design course. Following Katzenbach and Smith's basics of high performing teams, teams are formed based on individuals' skills. The team is made accountable and committed both as a group and as individuals through the structure and format of the course. The course structure is then planned so that teams progress through Tuckman's development stages of forming, storming, norming and performing, during their two semester capstone design project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The capstone process is meant to provide students with real-world design experiences, thereby developing skills that are transferrable to the corporate environment. To address the growing concerns of providing students with adequate preparation for the workplace, the Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer Science Department at Ohio Northern University adopted both an industry-based project management standard and a corresponding project management documentation practice as an operational framework for their capstone design course sequence. Additionally, in order to provide capstone teams with appropriate technical expertise across the multidisciplinary topics that make up a typical design experience, a Project Review Board consisting of faculty selected specifically for their expertise relative to each project is assigned to each capstone team to both provide guidance and to conduct performance reviews. Both formative and summative assessments of the design process include the use of multiple communication formats to both internal and external audiences at specified decision points in the process. These two forms of assessment are evaluated using a standardized set of rubrics, providing benefits to students by explicitly stating performance expectations and to faculty by establishing a common definition of skill competencies. The quantitative and qualitative post-activity assessments indicated an improved student capstone experience. Recommendations are provided to assist other institutions in adopting the processes and protocols discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a review of a workshop directed by the author, as part of the 2012 Capstone Design Conference held at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, May 30-June 1, is presented. In the workshop, a theoretical approach that interprets how students form relationships, and how relational environments form student thinking, was presented that gives insight toward how to create high-performance teams in a very short time. The theory and reflection that were shared with workshop participants are based on the author's own experience with his clinic program, and the methods are based on the value-memetic theory known as Spiral Dynamics, originated by Clare Graves in the 1950s, and further developed by his student, Don Beck. During the workshop, the format of a capstone design clinic, measurably successful from an industrial recruitment and a project completion perspective, was presented, and the differences between the fundamental relational structure of this type of clinic, where independent, trust-based relationships are emphasized, vs. one with more traditional grading and policies, and instructor-assigned groups were contrasted. Following this, theory of relational development that all students were subjected to was discussed, and case studies from the workshop director's own program were distributed, highlighted and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the differences between student experiences in domestic and international capstone design offerings for mechanical engineering students at Clemson University. For this, we conducted surveys and interviews of students participating in both the traditional domestic version of a capstone course at Clemson University and a group of students that participated in an international, study abroad version of a capstone course jointly administered by Clemson University and West Virginia University. The surveys were given to students before and after the program to assess whether the international component had an impact on their global awareness when compared to their peers in the traditional domestic program. The surveys, due to the low sample size available from only a dozen participating students, are augmented with interviews conducted at the end of the international program. The findings suggest that there is not a significant change in recognized attributes of global awareness for the population, but there was some movement within individuals. It is also seen that the reasons for participation in the international version of the course varied widely from a desire for international experience to the desire to graduate during the summer sessions when the only capstone option was the international version. The findings begin to provide justification for the international option based on some improvements with global awareness, but additional investigation is warranted as existing programs are continued and new programs introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A review of capstone related literature indicates similar-not identical-approaches to design that include various concepts of what is a problem statement, and problem statement development, evaluation and assessment. There appears to be a variety of approaches for developing the capstone student's ability to craft a quality statement of the project problem. There are few specifics as to what should or should not be included in the problem statement and what is found reflects the preferred design process or programmatic requirements. This paper describes findings from an exploratory study of methods and expectations associated with crafting capstone problem statements. This work is directed at determining what characteristics are valued in a problem statement. The research finds that problem statement characteristics vary with programmatic requirements and preferences in academia and industry. Statistics point to alignment of academia and industry on all but two pre-selected problem statement characteristics, Identified Design Methods (p = 0.040) and Evidence of Current Art Research (p = 0.043). Industry is found to have the more rigorous point of view for the two characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students are a primary stakeholder in engineering Capstone Design courses, but the student voice risks being overlooked in discussions of Capstone Design pedagogy and development. While many engineering programs collect student feedback and performance data for accreditation purposes, the engineering education and engineering design literature provide few resources that capture student perspectives on Capstone Design, especially across multiple institutions. The 2012 Capstone Design Conference hosted two well-attended panel sessions called "Student Reflections on Capstone Design" specifically to highlight student experiences in Capstone Design courses with industry-sponsored projects. Each panel featured four different panelists who had recently completed their Capstone Design courses, had worked with different industrial sponsors, and represented different institutions and engineering disciplines. The facilitator of each panel asked the same initial questions of the respective panelists and then opened the conversation to questions from the audience. Although the trajectory of the two panels varied, content analysis of the transcribed discussions revealed similar themes from both groups. This paper addresses the analysis methodology, emerging themes, and sample reflections/suggestions from the student panelists. Discussion of the themes and student comments provides a foundation of student perspectives to aid faculty and industry liaisons in strengthening the Capstone Design experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The desired overall outcome for any university Capstone design project is for the students to have completed a successful project and to have had a relevant learning experience. Within this expectation, however, a Capstone design project completed in conjunction with an industry sponsor will inevitably generate certain additional expectations from both the industry sponsor and academia. At Brigham Young University there have been a number of teaching and coaching aids used to prepare both the students and the project sponsors so that the eventual outcome is satisfactory to all. These learning tools create opportunities for success by bridging Capstone design requirements and educational objectives with industry's willingness to partner with academia, creating a better understanding of the learning process and requiring the completion of a professional, finished project. This paper describes how to create a culture of communication between industry sponsors and student teams, explores the need for training for both liaison engineers and Capstone faculty coaches, and discusses lessons learned regarding the need for involvement from both industry and academia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. Since 2000, 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 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 of industry involvement to students, the university, and industry participants. It presents examples of current practices used at other schools as well as helpful recommendations for managing industry participation in capstone design courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper provides and illustrates a generic framework for deep learning in a Sustainability-based course for higher education instruction. The use of Sustainability Consulting Projects is detailed with potential application to similar programs as part of their Sustainable Education curriculum. Using four disparate institutions of higher learning across the eastern coast of the United States we can complete an exploratory analysis of the framework. This analysis will provide us opportunity to identify and characterize community sustainability projects and their contribution to higher order, integrative and reflective learning. This deep learning framework and model will be helpful to curriculum developers and instructors who wish to introduce these types of projects into their courses and curriculum. These processes and tools may be integrated into current Sustainability Management courses or used as the basis for development of specific courses focused specifically on this topic; e.g., Sustainability Consulting or as a capstone course. Lessons learned and framework design and implementation provide opportunities for further research and development of these courses. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The authors describe a preliminary study to understand the attitude of engineering students regarding the use of design methods in projects to identify the factors either affecting or influencing the use of these methods by novice engineers. A senior undergraduate capstone design course at Clemson University, consisting of approximately fifty students and nine graduate design coaches, was chosen as the unit of analysis. Results from a survey of the class suggest that, though these novice engineers were convinced that design methods they were eager to learn were of use in helping them make better products, they tended not to use them. The stated reasons for not using them were the effort required to implement the methods, to understand how and when to use the methods, and the pressure to deliver results in a short duration. Recommendations from this study can be useful in designing effective design education programs and to develop more designer-friendly design methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capstone experiences (CEs) serve a variety of purposes in higher education as opportunities to apply academic skills, explore post-graduate life and employment, and achieve a meaningful undergraduate event. This study investigated the purposes of CEs through a content analysis of institutional course syllabi/course outlines/module outlines and catalog/calendar descriptions at five institutions of higher education: a large public research university in Canada, a large public teaching university in the United Kingdom (UK), a college of a large public research university in the United States (US), and two medium-sized private liberal arts universities in the US. Using the CE purposes found in a review of scholarly literature as a research guide, the authors analyzed 84 institutional documents. CE purposes that appeared in the sample at lower percentages when compared with published studies included oral communication, a coherent academic experience, preparation for graduate school, preparation for life after college, and civic engagement/service learning. Implications for practice include the need for instructors and administrators to consider revising CE documents to better reflect the content and goals of the courses and to address the requirements of other audiences (e.g., program reviewers, accreditation evaluators). Moreover, the results of this study may assist educators in considering reasons for omitting explicit purposes from CE documents and/or justifying the inclusion of previously omitted purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research frequently reports student dissatisfaction with feedback in higher education. Large class sizes and modularization challenge teachers in providing useful feedback. Most of these studies have investigated student perceptions of written feedback in coursework, and few attempts have been made considering feedback in face-to-face contexts such as bachelor's degree projects. This study aims to enrich our understanding of students' perception of feedback in the context of supervision of bachelor's degree projects using Karlsen's (2015) PLUS model to systematise factors that help improve their utilisation of feedback in learning. Qualitative interviews were used to collect data from two bachelor student cohorts doing their projects as part of industrial design programmes and computer science at a mid-sized Norwegian university college (n=28). Results indicate that students generally find teachers' feedback more useful than useless. In addition to the students own attitudes towards assessment, they report that how they perceive the supervisors' trustworthiness matters when utilising feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to provide evidence-based conclusions from students concerning a capstone-design course in a civil engineering programme in Hong Kong. The evidence was generated by designing a student-experience questionnaire. The questionnaire instrument was assessed for internal consistency in four scales (curriculum and structure changes; design and problem solving; personal and transferable skills; and Industrial-Links and Real-Life Authentic Academic Knowledge). The internal structure of each scale was also examined separately. Overall, the findings suggest that this internal structure is uni-dimensional in nature and has good internal consistency. Our quantitative and qualitative data have provided support on the student learning experience in the reformed capstone-design: how students were able to develop depth and breadth in engineering knowledge and skills that were previously not covered by teachers in conventional taught courses to enhance student learning. Rationale and changes of the curriculum were documented to contribute to the building of an authentic capstone-design curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ePortfolios are a growing trend in higher education, implemented by an increasing number of curricular and co-curricular programs. Given the de-centralized nature of many colleges and universities, it is inevitable that faculty requiring ePortfolios, especially as capstone experiences, will engage with students who have completed one or more ePortfolios, alongside others for whom this will be a new experience. Drawing on twelve sections of a senior capstone over two academic years (2014-2016) that included ePortfolios by over two-hundred students, we present a case study of our learning and pose five strategies to help faculty and students navigate across multiple ePortfolios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capstone subjects are increasingly used in Universities worldwide to complete the undergraduate program experience and to transition graduates into the workplace. As such, capstones fulfil a large role consolidating one experience and traversing the gap to another. Yet, little is known or understood about their design, their implementation or evaluation. In this study we investigate the final-year experience from the student's perspective. We surveyed graduates from five Business Schools in Australia to identify perceptions of their final-year experience. Findings indicate that the transition experience of the student to professional is unique. In their liminal or intermediate state between student and professional they recognise the value of process skills, in particular the development of generic business skills related to application and the importance of opportunities for experiencing the application of theory in practice. The findings add a new understanding to the current literature which has not previously acknowledged the insight of the transitioning professional. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Current research demonstrates a need to explore the effects of specific course designs or directed activities on higher education students' critical thinking abilities. Specifically, such research on the effect of an experiential learning-based capstone course is limited. All students (N = 54) enrolled in a capstone farm management course completed a critical thinking assessment test through a pretest--posttest design, and 25 of the paired tests were analyzed using t tests. Although there were no statistically significant increases for overall critical thinking scores, there was a significant increase in one subskill: Summarize a pattern of results in a graph. The capstone course in this study may emphasize only certain subskills of critical thinking development while negating to address others. The key implication for instructors of similar capstone courses is to be intentional in targeting development of the wide array of specific skills shown to affect overall critical thinking abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study describes a university capstone course designed to increase student critical thinking skills and preparation for the workforce. Principles of action research and qualitative methods were used to focus on how pedagogical choices of the instructor would influence student learning in these areas. Through extensive use of case studies, direct instruction in questioning techniques (e.g. pre-quizzes and thinking routines), and introduction to the concept of mindfulness, students were encouraged to transition from the role of student to the role of professional. Findings revealed that the capstone experience enhanced students’ demonstrated critical thinking skills and contributed to their willingness to cultivate a professional perspective. Although undertaken in a human service field, the results can inform pedagogical choices made in any content’s capstone. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]