QEP-Real World Problem Solving

2013 IEEE International Conference in MOOC, Innovation and Technology in Education (MITE) 20-22.
Capstone project (CP) is an important part of every engineering and computer science discipline at undergraduate level. The main purpose of these capstone projects is to encourage students to apply the knowledge acquired during their studies in previous semesters, in particular a capacity to personally manage and conduct a complex, open-ended project to show how proficient they are in solving real world or the research based problems. The Outcome Based Education (OBE) is an education system that emphasis on outcomes measurement rather than inputs of curriculum covered. Outcomes may include a range of knowledge, skills and attitudes. In order to obtain the desired outcomes, teaching components and activities should be well organized, planned and continuously improved. We adopted OBE in our curriculum and for the course on project work we have written course learning objectives (CLO), i.e. at the end of the course the student should be able satisfy these objectives and they are mapped with the program outcomes (PO). This paper presents a novel method for the outcome-based assessment of engineering capstone project carried by Final Year Students. The assessment is done based on the rubrics written for each phase of the process. The outcome of the each phase is assessed by evaluation team and the guide using the assessment matrix which is based on assessment rubrics. Assessment matrix covers all the attributes/parameters for the assessment of each phase. Mapping of CLO-PO is done based on these attributes. Percentage of attainment of each objective and outcome are calculated.
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2014 International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning (ICL)- 3-6 Dec. 2014.
Industry throughout the world are demanding engineering graduates that are better prepared to support their organizations. Project based learning (PBL) is being recognized as a pedagogical approach that gives engineering students an opportunity to learning by doing and applying their training to real world problems. PBL is implemented in many different styles. This paper describes one of the themes of PBL - the gradual transition from solving closed ended problems to addressing real world open ended problems. The ultimate project experience is described in a global international project which explores not only the technical challenges of an open project but also the challenges of working collaboratively with engineering students from different cultures.
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2012 First International Workshop on Software Engineering Education Based on Real-World Experiences (EduRex) 9-9 June 2012.
In this paper, we describe how we teach real-world software engineering to students using a project course simulating in-vivo software development projects. The course gives the students an opportunity to try out in practice the skills gained on other computer science and software engineering courses. The students execute projects in teams consisting of seven to ten students, developing software for a real customer. Students spend more than 150 hours each on the project. The main stakeholders of the projects are the project team, customer, and mentor. The mentor represents the course personnel and provides practical guidance for the project team during the project. During the course, the students are supported by mentoring and experience exchange sessions. While laborious, the course is consistently ranked in the top three in the CS curriculum by the students.
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2011 Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) 12-15 Oct. 2011.
Experiential education provides valuable learning opportunities for students in the computing disciplines. Assigning students to work on real-world projects is often seen as a way for students to practice what they have learned in the classroom. While a desirable goal, logistics often make it difficult to provide these types of experiences. However, it is vitally important for students to be exposed to and experiment with tools used in commercial software development environments. This paper provides a descriptive overview of the development and implementation of a professional software development environment used to support computer science capstone programming projects. To date, the environment has been used to support work on a National Science Foundation funded database courseware project that includes over 100 interactive software modules. The environment was built using a collection of open-source applications that provide version control, task assignment and tracking, collaborative team tools, bug tracking, and project documentation management. This project has created a venue for providing consistent high quality real-world types of experiences for students completing their capstone requirement.
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2010 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)
In order to enable students to experience real life engineering problem solving, design, team work, project execution and management, civil engineering students at the United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) must complete a capstone project as a graduation requirement. To better prepare USCGA students for their unique future roles as civil engineers in the Coast Guard, most capstone projects involve working with Coast Guard officers and civilian engineers in the field on actual Coast Guard projects. Project selection criteria include funding for site visits, a mandatory design component, a reasonable project schedule, realistic stakeholder expectations and a good match with expertise of the faculty advisors. The capstone design teams are provided specific instructions to guide them through the execution of their capstone projects. The authors discuss the development and execution of successful capstone projects at the USCGA and provide strategies for meeting educational outcomes while ensuring projects are useful to the Coast Guard.
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