Student Learning Throughout Engineering Design Education: Review and Recommendations

This article reviews design education throughout several undergraduate programs and provides insight for reconsidering how students' engineering design learning and skill development are assessed, shifting from traditional summative assessments to structured repetitive formative assessments. Students are expected to acquire 21st-century skills and design skills by graduation. However, these skills are often not directly evaluated, and the formative feedback that students need to develop these skills is frequently lacking. In this article, design educators elaborate on these skills, present common means of assessment through engineering design curricula, and review distinctive design education approaches used in several mechanical and general engineering programs. The three general phases of undergraduate students' careers are detailed with respect to how design is integrated into the first year, middle years, and capstone programs. Finally, the article concludes with a set of current practices extracted from survey data, public information, and first-hand vignettes that are provided to start the conversation at different institutions. These recommendations are not intended to be the final solution, but can be considered early prototypes that can be refined and edited for the unique needs of each different program. Furthermore, the recommendations emphasize an integrative approach to design education and assessment across the curriculum. Faculty should provide students with multiple engineering design projects with regular feedback and the opportunity to apply lessons learned in executing subsequent projects. It is necessary that engineering design educators continue to reflect on their current practices, learn from others, and identify opportunities for improvement, even if it might cause discomfort in a currently well-run operation. Student learning should always be at the forefront of all decisions made in engineering design education.