COLLABORATING WITH LOCAL PRACTITIONERS TO LEAD A CAPSTONE CIVIL ENGINEERING DESIGN COURSE

摘要

The paper describes a civil engineering capstone design course led by faculty and practitioners. The objectives, content, and organizational structure of the two-quarter capstone course are summarized. The primary student activity involves work on a multidisciplinary private sector development or public works project. During the first term, the students prepare a written Statement of Qualifications in response to a specific Request for Qualifications. During the second term, the students prepare a written Design Report with a full set of calculations and design drawings. Each term, the students present their ideas orally to a panel of faculty and practitioners. An instructional team of three to five faculty members and up to thirty senior-level practitioners leads each course offering. The practitioners play an essential role in the delivery of the course, acting as section instructors, guest speakers, interview panel members, and project advisors. Details regarding the responsibilities of the instructional team members are included in the paper. The paper also describes how local practitioners are prepared for their assignments. The new course represents a valuable program assessment tool since class activities permit direct measurement of program outcomes. Included in the paper are discussions of the course assessment processes and the procedures used to promote grading consistency among the faculty and practitioner evaluators. Improvements made to both the course and program are discussed.