2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Research paper- Capstone projects’ intention is to mimic an environment for students that is close to the professional experience they will face after graduation. Research shows that the capstone project course is a good environment for students to learn specific skills, such as hands-on experience and professional skills. This will help them transition to the workforce better by having a closer experience to their actual jobs.
Beyond the effects on students’ learning, strongly executed capstone projects potentially increase the chance of undergraduate students’ joining the field as employers usually expect a strong retain to whatever students’ have been learning during their college studies once, they pursue an onsite job. Meanwhile, research shows that non-technical skills such as project management, communication, and motivation are the most important from the employers’ perspective.
A previous exploratory study was conducted at the same university in 2019 on 185 students in engineering college. The results suggest that the lack of project management and communication skills were two key factors limiting students’ outcomes. Qualitative data collected in this study suggested that one of the causations of project deficiency is that the mentioned skills were potentially caused by the lack of the supervisors’ effective communication skills which ultimately affected the students’ motivation to develop the projects and apply the required project management techniques.
Motivation social-cognitive theory suggests that effective communication affects students' deep thinking and motivation. Hence, learners with a strong self-efficacy are more likely to engage in activities that improve their learning such as setting goals, using effective learning strategies, monitoring and evaluating their goal progress, and creating effective physical and social environments. Furthermore, students who feel more empowered, and exercise self-determination are more likely to engage in the tasks. Theories support the relationship between empowerment and respecting opinions, as well as the relationship between empowerment and democratic attitude. So, if students sensed that their opinions are respected, they will feel more empowered and motivated. This made us more curious to investigate the following research questions: Is there a relationship between effective communication and motivation? What’s the relationship between students’ empowerment and faculty’s democratic attitude? What’s the relationship between respecting students’ opinions and their empowerment? What’s the relationship between valuing students in class and faculties’ care towards students?
To conduct our research questions, we assessed students’ motivation using the MUSIC inventory based on the MUSIC Model of Academic Motivation created by Jones (2009). This inventory assesses 5 motivation-related perceptions (Empowerment, Usefulness, Success, Interest, and Care). To assess effective communication, we used an adaptation of the Assessment Scale for Communication Skills created by Karağöz and Kösterelioğlu (2008). This Assessment Scale allows measuring 6 Communication Skills (Respect, Expression, Value, Impediment, Motivation, and Democratic Attitude).
Quantitative data were collected through an online survey administered on a sample of 110 teams consisting of multidisciplinary students from the College of Engineering. After applying a correlation test, and a Chi-square test to test the survey’s significance, we found positive correlation results between motivation and effective communication that emphasizes their importance in capstone design courses.
The results of this study will contribute to an increased understanding of the importance of the relationship between faculty members' communication skills and students' motivation. As well as, how this correlation affects capstone design students’ outcomes in engineering.