Assessing students design capabilities in an introductory design class

Through the TIDEE (Transferable Integrated Design Engineering Education) project, assessment tools and performance criteria have been developed to quantify student achievement in the engineering design process, teamwork skills and design communication skills. A seven-point scale describes performance levels spanning from entering engineering students to professional design engineers. Mid-program assessment tools were used to assess student achievement of engineering design capabilities during introductory classes in engineering design. Assessment results describe the level of a typical entering student's knowledge and performance in engineering design. These results also indicate that students can reach engineering design achievement targets set for the mid-point of an engineering degree program when the preparatory learning environment is a well-structured outcomes-based design curriculum.