Linking First-Year and Senior Engineering Design Teams: Engaging Early Academic Career Students in Engineering Design - Winter 2015

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Rizky

The study in Biosystems Engineering at Oklahoma State University evaluates a capstone-based linkage between first-year and senior engineering design teams. Senior design functions as a two-semester, client-driven course, while first-year students participate by designing a defined portion under senior identification and supervision. Assessment includes knowledge of the design process, presentations, and student surveys. Results show over 90% of first-year students deem the project worthwhile and learning-focused, and seniors report improved project selection and beneficial mentoring after institutionalization.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background

Engineering design in first-year courses

Accreditation requirements and OSU context

Study hypothesis and course linkage

| | Ad | vances in Engineering Edu | cation | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | WINTER 2015 Linking First-Year and Senior Engineering Design Teams: Engaging Early Academic Career Students in Engineering Design GAREY A. FOX PAUL WECKLER AND DAN THOMAS Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK ABSTRACT In Biosystems Engineering at Oklahoma State University, senior design is a two semester course in which students work on real-world projects provided by clients. First-year (freshmen and transfer) students enroll in an introductory engineering course. Historically, these students worked on a team-based analysis project, and the engineering design process was discussed but not explicitly applied. This study investigated the hypothesis that first-year and senior design teams can be linked through capstone projects to more effectively introduce design. First-year students design a small portion of the client-based capstone project as identified by and supervised by the seniors. Several assessment tools were used: student knowledge of the design process, presentations and student surveys. More than 90% of introductory students agreed that the project was worthwhile and helped them learn about engineering as a future career. After having institutionalized the linkage, seniors were more likely to identify appropriate projects and viewed the mentoring as beneficial. Key Words: Engineering design, introduction to engineering, capstone, senior design BACKGROUND Previous engineering education research has indicated the importance of teaching the engineering design process to first-year students (Sheppard & Jenison, 1997; Dym, 1999; Burton & White, 1999; Jacobson et al., 2006; Vallim et al., 2006) . Engineering programs have attempted several strategies WINTER 2015 1 ADVANCES IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION Linking First-Year and Senior Engineering Design Teams: Engaging Early Academic Career Students in Engineering Design at teaching engineering design concepts in first-year courses, and these strategies are typically based on projects (Dally & Zhang, 1992) or individual laboratory exercises (Schubert et al. , 2012) . Burton and White (1999) classified course models for first-year engineering design. Identified models included the following: (i) reverse engineering to dissect a common item and analyze and discuss its components,(ii) creating something useful by designing and testing an item to complete a task,(iii) full-scale project involving semester-long project to build a model or prototype,(iv) small-scale project that involves assembly and testing of an object that meets certain specifications,(v) case studies where the class focuses on discussion and analysis techniques to teach design concepts from actual engineering projects and/or failures, (vi) competition method where student teams compete to build a specific device,(vii) non-profit project where real world problems are brought into the classroom, and (viii) redesign a local project where teams analyze components of a larger engineering project. Some of these methods specifically focus on the idea that first-year students are rarely challenged to engage their creativity in solving real-world problems with real-world clients. However, the effort expended to identify real-world projects with actual clients is fairly extensive. On the other hand, engineering programs across the United States are required as part of their accreditation through ABET to include a senior design course. The curriculum must “ culminate in a major design experience based on knowledge and skills acquired in earlier course work and the projects must incorporate appropriate engineering standards and realistic constraints”(ABET, 2007) . In Biosystems Engineering at Oklahoma State University (OSU), the senior-design course is a two-semester sequence (BAE 4012/BAE 4023) . Students work on real-world projects provided by industry clien

FAQs

What is the main goal of linking first-year and senior engineering design teams?

To use real-world senior-design capstone projects to more effectively introduce engineering design principles to early academic career students.

How do first-year students participate in the capstone projects?

First-year students design a small portion of the client-based capstone project identified by and supervised by senior students.

What evidence supports the approach’s effectiveness?

The study uses assessment tools including student knowledge of the design process, presentations, and student surveys, with results showing that more than 90% of introductory students found the project worthwhile and helpful.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Rizky