BACKGROUNDUndergraduate students in computer science engineering undertake a capstone project that should integrate the specific knowledge and skills acquired during their studies. The advisor assigned to supervise the process undertakes a multifaceted commitment that varies among advisors. PURPOSEThis study develops and validates an instrument, and then utilizes it to determine the different styles of supervision in computer science engineering capstone projects. DESIGN/METHODA questionnaire was developed to survey capstone project advisors at a university during the past two years. A total of 109 surveys were successfully collected. A combination of multivariate statistical methods, such as factorial and cluster analysis, was employed. RESULTSThis study distinguished seven main supervision factors: technology, arrangements, keep alive, execution, meetings, management, and reports. Then, six supervision styles were identified according to the advisor's varying degree of involvement in each factor: student alone, execution focused, global supervision, management focused, technological mentoring, and process focused. To further characterize these styles, we compared their applications focusing on the type of student, the grade obtained, the project duration, and the amount of time devoted by the advisor. CONCLUSIONWe have determined the main factors in capstone project supervision and characterized different styles of supervision according to these factors. These supervision styles can help advisors recognize ways to proceed in the supervision of capstone projects.

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The knowledge acquired during the execution of projects developed in organizations is captured and published in the form of lessons learned with the objective of being able to apply them in subsequent projects. Effectively reused lessons have an impact on projects, for example, by increasing their quality and reducing their execution time. In an educational context, these lessons can be integrated into project-based learning experiences. Lessons are content generated by students for students, in the same or subsequent courses, who could benefit from reading them. We have applied, for four consecutive academic years, a specific cycle of lessons learned management in a course where project-based learning is carried out using a blog developed with Blogger as a platform for publishing and open access to these lessons. We have analysed student opinions about reading, detecting, and generating lessons as well as the profiles of students most likely to detect and generate lessons. A total of 162 students who developed 154 lessons are included in the study. A statistical analysis is performed to evaluate lessons learned generation. The results indicate that lessons learned generated by peers are useful for learning and have a strong influence on the outcomes of their work. The activity of generating new lessons is difficult and moderately satisfying. Finally, the profile of a student who creates quality lessons corresponds to someone brilliant, whose work is valued both by their teammates and themselves, and who is also attentive to the activities carried out in the course. The implications of this work are that lesson generation is well suited to project-based learning and that students generate an interesting number of quality lessons with the instructor's support and encouragement.

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