Capstone Preview

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Capstone Preview
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Capstone Preview Exercise

• Split up into Groups with your neighbours
• What do you regard as being the elements required
  / demonstrated to award a capstone a HD.
• What do you regard as being the elements required
  / demonstrated to award a capstone a Pass.

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Facultys Motivation

• Capstone standard needs to improve
• Standardise expectations and grades between
  staff, and between staff students
• Improved monitoring and feedback mechanisms
• Assessment should drive student effort

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Competency Gap

• Reported competency gap between skills required
  by employers and those developed by students
  during their undergraduate courses.
• University courses should develop
  learning-oriented assessments that will encourage
  development of skills and a commitment to ongoing
  development after graduation.

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Response

• Universities Australia and internationally
  introduced attributes / competencies which
  graduating students should have developed during
  their degree.
• Required by professional organisations to obtain
  degree program accreditation or for their members
  to obtain professional accreditation.
• For example Engineers Australia Competency
  Standards.
• Capstone should demonstrate these attributes.

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Engineers AustraliaStage 1 Competency
Assessments

• A Stage 1 Professional Engineer expected to
  demonstrate competence across a broad field of
  engineering practice or discipline, and to have a
  good understanding of interfaces with other
  engineering disciplines.
• An accredited engineering degree program must
  develop breadth of understanding and outlook,
  ability to engage with a wide range of
  technologies and applications, with sufficient
  depth in one or more specific areas of practice
  to develop competence in handling technically
  advanced and complex problems.
• Candidates not expected to have demonstrated
  every detail of the knowledge, competencies and
  attributes that follow but they must demonstrate
  at least the substance of each element.
  Assessment will be made in a holistic way.

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IntroducingEngineers Australia Stage 1
Competency Standardsinto Capstone Project
Subjects
Engineers Australia - Australian Engineering
Competency Standards Appendix B to the Guide to
Assessment of Eligibility for Membership (Stage 1
Competency) for Candidates not holding an
Accredited or Recognised Qualification
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3 Required Elements

• PE1 KNOWLEDGE BASE
• PE2 ENGINEERING ABILITY
• PE3 PROFESSIONAL ATTRIBUTES

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Previous Students asked to self assess their
Capstone against list of Competencies

• 0 not applicable (or demonstrated)
• 1 less than 20 of project
• 2 between 20 and 40
• 3 40 and 60
• 4 60 and 80
• 5 competency was applicable (or demonstrated
  in) more than 80 of your project.

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Previous Results(Student self assessment)
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Previous Results(Student self assessment)

• Many students scored a large number of the
  indicator as 0 (not applicable in their
  project)
• Projects need to be
• Broader
• More in depth
• Demonstrate Engineering
• Knowledge
• Ability
• Analysis
• Judgement
• And
• Professional Skills

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How will it be implemented?
A07 benchmarking
S07 supported introduction(staff development)
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3 Required Elements

• PE1 KNOWLEDGE BASE
• PE2 ENGINEERING ABILITY
• PE3 PROFESSIONAL ATTRIBUTES

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Units Elements - Indicators
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Units Elements - Indicators
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Units Elements - Indicators
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Exercise 1

• Review your proposed capstone project against the
  indicators according to be specified criteria
• Does proposed capstone project meet these
  guidelines?
• If not discuss with your group how to modify your
  existing project so that it does.

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Appendix B Assessment Form
Additional assessment comments
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Proposal Submission
PROPOSAL
BLUE FORM
APPENDIX B
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Progress Report Submission
PROGRESS REPORT
GREEN FORM
APPENDIX B
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Final Capstone Report Submission
FINAL PROJECT REPORT
GOLD FORM
APPENDIX B
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Facilitate

• Regular feedback
• Uses feedback to develop skills, behaviours and
  attitudes
• Moving from novice to expert
• Improving students judgement
• Development of professional skills
• Articulate explanations
• Contributes to the resolution of problems
• Manages conflict and differences
• Contribute ideas and information

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What Does It All Mean
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What do we mean by
Sound knowledge of mathematics to the level
required for fluency in the techniques of
analysis and synthesis that are relevant to the
broad field of engineering, and to potentially
related fields
What should we be looking for so we can gauge
if this indicator is a 0,1,2,3,4 or 5?
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Indicator Score

• For progress report and final report assessment
  purposes, the evaluations of 0 1 2 3 4 5 align
  with

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Capstone Project EvaluationWhat is required for
Z,P,C,D,H

• Content
• Does the candidate clearly identify a question to
  be answered or problem to be solved?
• Does the candidate present the results of the
  project in a succinct and cogent form, with
  suitable illustration where appropriate?
• Does the candidate demonstrate significant
  Engineering Judgement at a level that would be
  reasonably expected from a recent engineering
  graduate?
• Is the content sufficiently substantial and broad
  ranging to allow coverage of the chosen
  assessment indicators?
• Does the thesis contain sufficient material
  suitable for publication?
• HD Peer Reviewed Conference Paper
• D Editor Reviewed Conference Paper (IEEE
  standard)
• C Engineering Paper / Seminar for graduate
  audience
• P Engineering application note (provide graduate
  engineers with information that will help them to
  learn about / gain an appreciation of subject
  material.

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Capstone Project EvaluationWhat is required for
Z,P,C,D,H

• Knowledge / Ability
• Does the candidate exhibit sufficient knowledge
  of the research topic and familiarity with the
  discipline it embraces for a thesis at this
  level?
• Does the candidate demonstrate a capacity for
  clear thinking?
• Does the candidate demonstrate significant
  techniques of analysis and/or evaluation as
  outlined in the chosen assessment indicators?
• Has the candidate demonstrated an understanding
  of project management techniques and applied them
  effectively in their capstone project?
• Has the candidate demonstrated an ability to
  manage their own time and processes effectively,
  prioritising competing demands to achieve the
  required goals and objectives?

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Capstone Project EvaluationWhat is required for
Z,P,C,D,H

• Presentation
• Does the work represent a well planned approach
  to the subject matter?
• Is the thesis structured appropriately?
• Does the candidate appropriately orient the
  reader to the ground to be covered and the
  arguments made?
• Is the presentation of the thesis, in matters of
  grammar, spelling, punctuation, referencing and
  general appearance, adequate?

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Capstone Project Evaluation Guidelines
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Required to Submit a report with Capstone

• Max 5 pages
• Identifying chosen indicators
• Self-assessment with grades 0 to 5
• Provide an explanation of how you achieved these
  outcomes at your assessed grade.
• Two copies to be submitted to supervisor with
  capstone document
• D and HD candidates require assessor
• Final mark combination of both assessor and
  supervises mark.

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Exercise 2

• Assess your proposed capstone project by
  grading indicators according to be specified
  criteria (1,2,3 etc)
• What potential grade could you receive for your
  proposed capstone?
• If your potential grade is too low (fail or not
  at the level of your desired grade) discuss with
  your group how to modify your existing project so
  increase your grade.

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Other Issues

• If your project does not meet these requirements
  it usually indicates scope and/or depth not
  sufficient
• Discuss with supervisor
• Decide to modify or abandon project
• Page limit 100 appendices
• Not an opportunity to report everything you have
  done
• Write for reader not for yourself

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Any More Questions