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The new first-year engineering design and communications course at the University of Calgary has adopted a competency-based, student-centered model for assessing learning. Satisfactory performance in this course requires mastery of core competencies in four categories: ability to function as a member of a team, ability to contribute effectively to product or process design, ability to communicate effectively using the written word, ability to communicate effectively through the medium of drawing. Every assignment in the course is aimed at evaluating one (or more) of the core competencies from these categories. Student work is assessed as Excellent, Good, or Requires Additional Work. Because our focus is on competency, we permit students to redo any of their work to achieve a better assessment. Students must achieve the minimum of a Good on every assignment to have established competency and pass the course. Students can also redo assignments to move from a Good to Excellent assessment. Students compile term work into portfolios. The portfolios illustrate the progression of learning to both instructors and students. Students also use the portfolio to highlight their design and communication abilities to future employers. The new competency-based approach used at the University of Calgary is more effective than traditional assessment models because it requires students to learn from one another and to reflect on their learning. Students receive feedback by following a four-step process: 1) Comparison to posted examples of student work, 2) Discussion with other students, 3) Generation of a written self-assessment, 4) Feedback on self-assessment by instructors. This assessment approach reinforces the skills needed for engineering design.

M. Khurshid is a second year biomedical student.© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 Page 14.27.1 A First Year Engineering Affordable Housing Design Project AbstractA second year biomedical engineering student, instructors, agencies and members of the community worked together to design a first year engineering design curriculum for seven hundred and fifty entry level engineering students for the 2008/2009 academic year. The goals of the curriculum are threefold: to make students aware of our city's 10-year Plan to End Homelessness, to introduce a workshop on the root causes of homelessness, and to design sustainable, inclusive, affordable housing ( Fig. 1). This presentation will focus on a hands-on design project for all first-year engineering students. In 24 teams of 28 students, they will design affordable housing that is structurally sound, sustainable, cost-effective, aesthetically pleasing, functional, meets the client's needs and has community input. The 30-student team will be subdivided into 4-person groups. Each group will cover one of the following aspects: project management, urban planning, sustainability, interior design, building, costing, and architecture. Effective communication will be key to the success of each 28-person group.As part of this project, community members will be surveyed to consider their needs for potential future affordable housing developments. The surveys will be used to identify specific concerns the community has about affordable housing projects and how these homes/buildings can be better designed to minimize those concerns. Including a community voice in the affordable housing project may help to reduce NIMBYism (Not In My Backyard).This design project hopes to educate engineering students about the local issue of homelessness. At the same time, it will give students the opportunity to apply their skills and knowledge towards a solution to an open-ended, real-world problem. This paper will describe the project details and will have examples of student design work.

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