The Design Report Rubric: Measuring And Tracking Growth Through Success

Abstract NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract Section 2330 The Design Report Rubric: Measuring and Tracking Growth through Success Robert Knecht, Barbara Moskal, and Michael Pavelich Colorado School of Mines I. Introduction As an engineering institution, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) has had a powerful influence upon the program development process at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) 1. Accreditation is one piece of evidence that suggests the quality of CSM’s engineering programs. All of CSM’s undergraduate engineering programs are ABET accredited. Current ABET accreditation requirements reflect a philosophical shift that is consistent with the broader education community 2. In the past, the demonstration of a quality program was examined through in-direct measures, such as faculty qualifications and student placement information that are related to student learning. Current requirements place an emphasis upon the direct demonstration that the program has an impact upon what students know and can do. Although indirect measures continue to be a portion of the evidential base, they are now considered to be only a small piece of a broader requirement. ABET’s shift in assessment emphasis is consistent with recent developments in the field of engineering education 3. Curriculum reform in engineering education is underway that stresses the importance of teamwork, an awareness of both society’s social and economic concerns, and an ability to adapt to the changing demands of the next century4, 5, 6. Many schools have adapted their curriculum to include engineering design courses that focus upon the development of these important skills and that include industrial partners in the curriculum design effort 7, 8, 9. Examination of the literature concerning engineering design provides diverse views of what engineering design is. For example, the Engineer’s Council for Professional Development has described design in terms of the processes that are required to optimally “meet a stated objective” whereas Douglas10 has described design as a creative activity that converts ideas into “processes for producing new materials.” Pahl and Beitz11 consider the integration of technical, psychological, systematic, and organizational aspects of engineering design as “prerequisites for the physical realization of solution ideas.” Still others have argued that design includes teamwork and management skills12, 13. Based on these different views of engineering design, Bieniawski14 has argued that design is not typically learned in a classroom setting, but rather through practice. CSM has responded to this concern in the development of the design stem. The design stem consists of four courses: freshman EPICS (Engineering Practices Introductory Course Sequence), sophomore EPICS, Field Session (junior year) and Senior Capstone design. An important component of each of these courses is the contribution of industrial partners who provide teams with authentic engineering projects