Work in Progress - Investigating and Coding Design Signatures using Longitudinal Report Data in a Capstone Engineering Course

Sep 11, 2026

Paper “Work in Progress” investigates how design signatures can be generated, visualized, and coded using longitudinal report data from a capstone engineering course. The study is motivated by the need to support student teams with timely feedback and opportunities for prompted self-reflection during high-stakes, team-based design projects. It draws on prior findings that design activity patterns differ across experience levels and examines how timelines can reveal unique design process complexity to help instructors scaffold expert-like engagement.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time5 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Feedback and self-reflection in team-based design

Background

Need for design process visualization

Design signatures as timeline-based reflection

Evaluating design signatures

Human-centered design and content assessment

Paper ID \#50352 Work In Progress: Investigating and Coding Design Signatures using Longitudinal Report Data in a Capstone Engineering Course Ms. Taylor Parks, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Taylor Parks is the engineering course development fellow with the Siebel Center for Design’s Assessment and Research Team at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She earned her bachelor’s in engineering mechanics and master’s in curriculum & instruction from Illinois. Her research focuses primarily on supporting students’ design competency development through the implementation of strategic course design content and by promoting teamwork in complex engineering problem solving through collaborative task design. She currently co-leads the integration of human-centered engineering design within select departments across the Grainger College of Engineering. Dr. Saadeddine Shehab, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign I am currently the Associate Director of Assessment and Research team at the Siebel Center for Design (SCD) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I work with a group of wonderful and talented people at SCD’s Assessment and Research Laboratory to conduct research that informs and evaluates our practice of teaching and learning human-centered design in formal and informal learning environments. My Research focuses on studying students’ collaborative problem solving processes and the role of the teacher in facilitating these processes in STEM classrooms. Dr. Matthew D Goodman, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dr. Goodman received degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from Iowa State University (B.S. & M.S.) and the University of Illinois (Ph.D.) . Currently, he is a senior lecturer in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at University of Illinois and a Siebel Center for Design Affiliate. There, he teaches introductory materials science courses to non-majors as well as the major-specific capstone sequence, utilizing and emphasizing the Human-Centered Design framework. ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2026 Work in Progress: Investigating and Coding Design Signatures using Longitudinal Report Data in a Capstone Engineering Course Introduction In modern engineering education, instructors often face the challenge of balancing heavy course content and limited lecture time with large class size and fast-paced projects. Yet, the ability to provide feedback, and correction when necessary, to student teams during these projects is critical for supporting teams’ project outcomes. Feedback and prompted self-reflection are particularly important during high-stakes, team-based design projects, which often have significant impact on students’ final grades and also represent an opportunity for students to apply and practice the knowledge and skills they developed in their course or sequence of courses. Atman et al. [1] noted that design has been increasingly taught in engineering courses over the last decade, meaning that there are ongoing opportunities to improve the effectiveness of design learning for students. It follows that, as students engage in a collaborative design project, it is important for them to reflect on their design process and progress as a team. Furthermore, understanding teams’ progress on complex projects is critical for instructors to provide timely, comprehensive feedback and support. Background Need for Design Process Visualization in Engineering Education Atman et al.’s playground study [2], which compared the design processes of first-year students, fourth-year students, and experts for the same design problem, demonstrated that different skill levels exhibit different design activity patterns. It follows that inspecting these patterns can be beneficial for both students and instructors. Doing so can build an understanding of the nature of the students’ design process, which in turn can suppor

FAQs

What problem does the paper address in engineering education?

It focuses on balancing limited lecture time with large class sizes while still providing actionable feedback during fast-paced, team-based design projects.

What are design signatures and why are they important?

Design signatures are timeline-based visualizations that help students and instructors characterize and reflect on an individual’s or team’s design journey over time.

How does the study use longitudinal report data in a capstone course?

It investigates using longitudinal report data to help generate richer design signatures and to support evaluating their content for human-centered design-related insights.

Sep 11, 2026

Uploaded by Chloe Bennett