Bartley, M. E., & Nix, A. C., & Woerner, B. D. (2024, March), Data Driven Methods for Improving Team Culture within Capstone Capstone Design  Paper presented at 2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference, Kalamazoo, Michigan. 10.18260/1-2--45604

\bibitem{asee_peer_45604}
  Bartley, M. E., \& Nix, A. C., \& Woerner, B. D. (2024, March), \emph{Data Driven Methods for Improving Team Culture within Capstone Capstone Design}
  Paper presented at 2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
  10.18260/1-2--45604

Morgan Elaine Bartley, Andrew C. Nix, and Brian D. Woerner.  "Data Driven Methods for Improving Team Culture within Capstone Capstone Design".  2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 2024, March.  ASEE Conferences, 2024.  https://strategy.asee.org/45604 Internet.  18 May, 2024

\bibitem{asee_peer_45604}
  Morgan Elaine Bartley, Andrew C. Nix, and Brian D. Woerner.
  "Data Driven Methods for Improving Team Culture within Capstone Capstone Design".
  \emph{2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 2024, March}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2024.
  https://strategy.asee.org/45604 Internet.  18 May, 2024

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_45604
author = "Morgan Elaine Bartley, Andrew C. Nix, and Brian D. Woerner"
title = "Data Driven Methods for Improving Team Culture within Capstone Capstone Design"
booktitle = "2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference"
year = "2024"
month = "March"
address = "Kalamazoo, Michigan"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://strategy.asee.org/45604}
number = {10.18260/1-2--45604}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - The EcoCAR Electric Vehicle Challenge (EVC) is a competition between 13 North American university teams, sponsored by the US Department of Energy through Argonne National Laboratories.  The challenge focuses on re-designing the drive train and adding autonomous driving functionality to 2024 Cadillac Lyriq, as serves as a basis for capstone design projects at participating universities.  At West Virginia University (WVU), approximately 70 students per year in the majors of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Computer Science fulfill their capstone design requirements through the EcoCAR program.

The EcoCAR EVC program includes a significant Equity in Mobility Component, which emphasizes recruitment, inclusion and collaboration of students from different technical disciplines and diverse backgrounds.   Team success depends on the development of an inclusive and welcoming team culture, in order to achieve technical goals.   The capstone course aims to realistic reflect the diverse environment and working conditions of an industry engineering development team.

This paper describes four SMART goals set to foster the desired team environment by the WVU EcoCAR team:   (1) Enhance Internal Education and Team Culture, (2) Fostering Inclusive Sub-Team Integration, (3) Strengthen Cross-Sub-Team Collaboration, (4)  Data Analysis for Continuous Improvement.   For each of these goals, baseline data is presented showing the impact of teambuilding efforts on students attitudes and perceptions, and the attainment of teamwork outcomes.

For the first goal, a baseline participation rate of 90% in the Implicit Bias training indicates a strong commitment to DEI training. The pre-and post-survey results demonstrate an improved understanding of implicit bias among team members. Additionally, strategies and tactics, including comprehensive training materials and open dialogues, align with the goal and contribute to a positive cultural shift. 

For the second goal, a baseline comfortability assessment indicates a generally comfortable environment but highlights areas for improvement. Additionally, the implementation of DEI "Champions" and targeted strategies contributes to creating a more inclusive and diverse sub-team culture. The foreseen challenges for enhancing internal education and team culture include balancing training frequency to ensure continued engagement without overwhelming team members may be a challenge and sustaining open dialogues may require ongoing effort to encourage participation and create a culture of continuous learning.  

For the third goal, strategies such as implementing collaboration tools and recognition programs, align with the goal and promote diversity and innovation. The foreseen challenges for strengthening cross-sub-team collaboration include encouraging consistent and meaningful cross-sub-team collaboration may face resistance or time constraints and balancing recognition and incentives to maintain motivation without fostering unhealthy competition.    

For the fourth goal approached through the use of data collection through Qualtrics, including post-survey on implicit bias and comfortability, which lays the foundation for a comprehensive data analysis system. It was also concluded that strategies such as creating a DEI dashboard demonstrate the team's commitment to utilizing data for ongoing improvement in DEI initiatives.


AU  - Morgan Elaine Bartley
AU  - Andrew C. Nix
AU  - Brian D. Woerner
CY  - Kalamazoo, Michigan
DA  - 2024/03/22
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Data Driven Methods for Improving Team Culture within Capstone Capstone Design
UR  - https://strategy.asee.org/45604
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--45604
ER  -