2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This study analyzed how students’ sense of support from industry mentors and teammates in a capstone design course was related to their perceived learning regarding engineering design and adaptability when controlling for design self-efficacy and preparedness. An end-of-course survey provided the data for this study and included Likert-type items to measure these six factors as well as open-ended questions regarding students’ experience in capstone design. An explanatory, sequential, mixed methods approach (N = 163) was used to assess the importance of industry mentor and teammate support using quantitative data analysis techniques followed by thematic (qualitative) analysis to explain those results.

Likert-type items were analyzed using exploratory factor analyses and resulted in six constructs. Two constructs reflected student perceptions of their learning: engineering design and decision-making skills and adaptability skills. Two forms of support emerged from the factor analysis: industry mentor support and teammate support, and two control variables also emerged: design self-efficacy and preparedness. Support and control variables were then used as dependent variables in regression models for the two learning outcomes. In the regression model for adaptability, teammate and industry mentor support were significantly linked to positive perceptions of adaptability. In the regression model for engineering design and decision making, however, only teammate support was significantly and positively associated with engineering design and decision-making skills. Both control variables were significantly and positively linked to both learning outcomes. Moreover, preparedness significantly interacted with teammate support to impact learning outcomes related to engineering design and decision making and adaptability respectively. This indicated that for students who felt unprepared for the capstone, support was especially important in improving perceptions of what they learned.

Thematic analysis of open-ended questions related to students’ learning illustrated that teammate support helped students solve technical challenges and stay accountable to their project goals. Communication and trust among teammates helped students stay adaptable to unforeseen project changes. Meanwhile, industry mentor support helped students navigate ambiguity and tackle unforeseen challenges in their design projects but did not help students address technical details in their designs. Preparedness mediated the relationship between outcomes and support. Students who felt technically unprepared or lacked clear vision of project outcomes benefitted from higher levels of teammate support in engineering design and decision-making and from higher levels of industry mentor support when faced with unexpected challenges in their projects.

Results from this study add to the growing body of literature of industry sponsored engineering design capstones. Specifically, the results have implications for developing (1) evidence-based best practices for industry mentors to best support student learning; (2) incentives that promote supportive team dynamics such as team bonding activities, team charters etc.; (3) strategies that help student feel prepared such as technical and project management workshops; and (4) interventions that enhance students' design efficacy such as project scoping exercises, peer learning, and frequent feedback from teammates and industry mentors.