Learning to Teach Engineering Capstone Design: An Analysis of Faculty Members' Experiences

Abstract

The credentials required to teach engineering at the university level vary widely around the world. In the U.S., though many universities ask for a statement of teaching philosophy as part of job applications, U.S. faculty members are rarely, if ever, required to have any form of pedagogical training or credentials, and little is known about how many, to what extent, or with what frequency engineering faculty members engage in such faculty development around teaching and pedagogy. This study draws on interview data from a larger project examining capstone teaching, asking three questions: (1) What do faculty members need to learn to teach the capstone course? (2) How do they gain this learning? and (3) How does learning vary based on engineering discipline? Analysis revealed seven learning foci and three sources of learning and examined the relationships between them. Findings suggest that beyond general strategies for course design, assessment, active learning, and student motivation, capstone faculty members need to develop teaching practices such as structuring and mentoring teams, and such learning needs to be grounded in current industry practices. Given the central role of capstone courses in preparing students for engineering practice, departments and programs may need to think more intentionally about how they prepare new faculty members for the capstone teaching role, including explicit support for professional development.