A Two-Dimensional Typology for Characterizing Student Peer and Instructor Feedback in Capstone Design Project Courses

Abstract

Ada Hurst is a Lecturer in the Department of Management Sciences at the University of Waterloo. She has taught and coordinated the capstone design project course for the Management Engineering program since 2011. She also teaches courses in organizational behavior, theory, and technology. She received a Bachelor of Applied Science in Electrical Engineering, followed by Master of Applied Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Management Sciences, all from the University of Waterloo. Ada's research and teaching interests include decision making under uncertainty, subjective probability, gender issues in STEM disciplines, design teaching, experiential and online learning, team processes, and expert vs. novice review in engineering design. Prof. Oscar G. Nespoli, University of WaterlooOscar Nespoli is a Continuing Lecturer in Engineering and Mechanical Design in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo (Waterloo). Oscar joined Waterloo following a 23-year career in research, engineering and management practice in industry and government. His teaching and research interests are in the areas of engineering design methodologies, design practice, engineering education and high performance, lightweight, composite materials design. Oscar is passionate about teaching engineering and, as part of his current role, maintains strong industry-university relations and a commitment to remain close to engineering design and management practice.Before joining Waterloo, Oscar held the position of Sr. Program Manager at L-3 Communications Wescam (L-3 Wescam), a manufacturer of airborne surveillance systems for public safety, security and defense markets. Oscar had been employed at L-3 Wescam for 11 years, where he led multi-disciplinary teams toward the successful development and commercialization of several products to various markets. He was responsible for L-3 Wescam's largest defense programs.Oscar worked at the Canadian Forces Department of National Defense failure analysis lab, where he was the Canadian Project Officer for an international program on F/A-18 bonded repair, and prior to that, a Research Engineer at the Canadian Space Agency. Oscar designed and qualified space flight hardware for a space experiment for Space Shuttle Flight STS-52 in 1993.Earlier in his career Oscar led the design and development of products employing composite materials at Owens Corning Canada and contributed to the development of novel production machinery for the footwear industry with Bata Engineering.Oscar earned a Master of Applied Science degree in Mechanical Engineering specializing in lightweight composite material structures from the University of Waterloo, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario, Canada). He became a licensed professional engineer in 1986.c American Society for Engineering Education, 2016 A two-dimensional typology for characterizing student peer and instructor feedback in capstone design project courses Abst...

Teamwork for Engineering Students: Improving Skills Through Experiential Teaching Modules

“…In the module, students are first exposed to a short presentation on the value and potential benefits of engaging in feedback for self-development, team functionality and as an important skillset for professional work. They are then introduced to a framework that encourages progression through three key feedback stages: interpretation (clarifying questions to expand understanding beyond what has been presented), evaluation (assessment of what has been presented), and recommendation (further information and ideas about what can be done to progress the design) [5]. Preliminary research suggests that students are either unable to move past clarification questions, or they move right to making recommendations, neglecting to take the time to fully understand the problem.…”

Self-Assessment of Leadership Behaviors Over Time Among Students in A Mechanical Engineering Capstone Design Course

“…In the post-assessment, the Collaborate quadrant was similar to the Compete quadrant. While this mechanical engineering capstone design experience focuses on creative problem solving and the design of a novel product, aligning with typical capstone outcomes [9,30], the Create quadrant post-assessment score was lower than each of the other quadrants. Table 3 summarizes expectations and results for the full study sample.…”

“…Increased focus on engineering leadership development creates the need to assess outcomes related to leadership in the university setting. While assessing professional skills can be challenging, engineering programs have been doing it for years for outcomes such as teamwork and communication [7][8] [9]. Engineering programs often rely on capstone design courses to address many of the ABET Criterion 3 outcomes [10], and these courses also provide an opportunity for faculty to assess leadership development.…”

Building Engineering Professional and Teamwork Skills: A Workshop on Giving and Receiving Feedback

“…From an educational or learning standpoint, providing a framework or categorization when learning new concepts can support the development of the associated skills. When it comes to the categorization of feedback, Hurst and Nespoli [4] encourage conscious consideration of the following three types: interpretation/comprehension, evaluation, and recommendation. Studies have shown that, while instructors are able to provide balanced feedback that seeks to comprehend the design, provide an assessment, and suggest improvements, students are typically not comfortable providing evaluation-or recommendation-type feedback to their peers.…”

“…Next, the facilitator introduces a feedback model to help support the development of feedback skills. The model encourages progression through the three types of feedback identified by Hurst and Nespoli [4]. According to the model, the first feedback stage is interpretation, where the feedback-giver summarizes or paraphrases to check understanding, as well as asks questions to clarify information and to expand their understanding beyond what has been presented.…”