(Extended Abstract) Effectiveness, Enjoyment, and Equity: A framework for scaffolding, monitoring, and evaluating teamwork in a capstone engineering design course with industry-sponsored projects

Rafe Steinhauer; Solomon G. Diamond

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Conference: ASEE-NE 2022
Location: Wentworth Institute of Technology, Massachusetts
Publication Date: April 22, 2022
Start Date: April 22, 2022
End Date: April 23, 2022
Page Count: 2
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--42148
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/42148
Download Count: 194

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Paper Authors

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Rafe Steinhauer Dartmouth College orcid.org/0000-0003-3968-6540

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Rafe Steinhauer is an instructional assistant professor at Dartmouth College's Thayer School of Engineering, specializing in design thinking, human-centered design, and design education. Rafe started at Dartmouth in September, 2020; he is co-teaching sections of Engineering Design Methodology and Design Thinking. Previously, he was a visiting assistant professor at Tulane University, where he co-taught interdisciplinary courses on climate change and disability studies. Before that, he was a lecturer at Princeton University, where he taught a course on Creativity, Innovation, and Design and started the Tiger Challenge, a co-curricular program in which students worked with social sector organizations on multi-year design for social innovation projects. Rafe holds a B.S.E. in Operations Research from Princeton University (2007) and an M.B.A. and M.Ed. from University of Virginia (2015).

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Solomon G. Diamond Dartmouth College

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Solomon Diamond received an AB degree in Engineering Sciences from Dartmouth College in 1997, a BE degree from the Thayer School of Engineering in 1998, and a PhD in Engineering Sciences from Harvard University in 2004. He conducted post-doctoral training at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is currently an Associate Professor of Engineering at Dartmouth where he teaches the ENGS 89/90 capstone engineering design sequence, ENGS 146 Computer-Aided Mechanical Engineering Design, and serves as the Co-Director of the Design Initiative at Dartmouth (DIAD). Sol’s research is in the area of biomedical engineering where he focuses on in vivo biosensing of immunotherapy treatment response in the tumor microenvironment with magnetic nanoparticles. This multidisciplinary research is facilitated by collaborations through the Norris Cotton Cancer Center where Sol is a Member of the Translational Engineering in Cancer (TEC) Research Program. Sol is also the Co-Founder and CEO of Lodestone Biomedical where he is commercializing the biosensor technology to increase the success rate of clinical drug development in immuno-oncology with SBIR support from the National Cancer Institute.

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Abstract

What do we mean when we say that a team “works well” together? How might we better scaffold teamwork in our engineering design courses? How might we better monitor and evaluate students’ experience on teams?

In the summer of 2020, a team of students and faculty reviewed the capstone engineering design experience course in an ABET-accredited Bachelor of Engineering program at a small R1 university. In this course, students work with the same team of between 4 and 6 students on an industry-sponsored project for six months. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the reviewers found that students’ perceptions of their experiences in the course was largely determined by their perceptions of their teams. Moreover, evidence of a gender imbalance in team experience was found.

Beginning in the 2021-2022 academic year offering and further updated in the 2021-2022 academic year, the course’s instructional team created a framework for scaffolding, monitoring, and evaluating teamwork. Nicknamed “The 3 E’s,” the framework considered three interrelated domains for teamwork: Effectiveness, Enjoyment, and Equity. The interventions included: new approaches to team formation; new classroom activities; new teamwork assignments; regular individual pulse-checks to monitor each student’s experience on their team and offer targeted additional support; a new TA program; and analyses to evaluate teamwork in the course.

New methods for team formation included: attempting to avoid isolating women on teams; and development of a cost-minimization algorithm that considered students’ experiences and interests, the likely disciplinary demands of the projects, and compatibility factors. New classroom activities included: a team launch activity using the 3 E’s framework; and a workshop on equity and inclusion in teams with a focus on common manifestations of gender exclusion on teams. New teamwork assignments included: the early development of an articulation of team values and management strategies; and a reflection and revision of that articulation one month later. The individual pulse-checks asked students: to rate their team on a 1-10 scale for effectiveness, enjoyment, and equity; to comment on these ratings; and an option to raise a “red flag,” which would prompt an instructor to reach out to that student for a confidential check-in. In the new TA program, three students—who had taken the course the prior year—were each assigned a set of teams with which to hold regular check-ins. Methods for evaluating these efforts will include: data analysis of the pulse-checks; and a review of students’ answers to both new and existing course evaluation questions.

These analyses will be completed in March and April, 2022, after this academic year’s version of the course concludes.

Citation
Format

Steinhauer, R., & Diamond, S. G. (2022, April), (Extended Abstract) Effectiveness, Enjoyment, and Equity: A framework for scaffolding, monitoring, and evaluating teamwork in a capstone engineering design course with industry-sponsored projects Paper presented at ASEE-NE 2022, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Massachusetts. 10.18260/1-2--42148

TY - CPAPER
AB - What do we mean when we say that a team “works well” together? How might we better scaffold teamwork in our engineering design courses? How might we better monitor and evaluate students’ experience on teams?

In the summer of 2020, a team of students and faculty reviewed the capstone engineering design experience course in an ABET-accredited Bachelor of Engineering program at a small R1 university. In this course, students work with the same team of between 4 and 6 students on an industry-sponsored project for six months. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the reviewers found that students’ perceptions of their experiences in the course was largely determined by their perceptions of their teams. Moreover, evidence of a gender imbalance in team experience was found.

Beginning in the 2021-2022 academic year offering and further updated in the 2021-2022 academic year, the course’s instructional team created a framework for scaffolding, monitoring, and evaluating teamwork. Nicknamed “The 3 E’s,” the framework considered three interrelated domains for teamwork: Effectiveness, Enjoyment, and Equity. The interventions included: new approaches to team formation; new classroom activities; new teamwork assignments; regular individual pulse-checks to monitor each student’s experience on their team and offer targeted additional support; a new TA program; and analyses to evaluate teamwork in the course.

New methods for team formation included: attempting to avoid isolating women on teams; and development of a cost-minimization algorithm that considered students’ experiences and interests, the likely disciplinary demands of the projects, and compatibility factors. New classroom activities included: a team launch activity using the 3 E’s framework; and a workshop on equity and inclusion in teams with a focus on common manifestations of gender exclusion on teams. New teamwork assignments included: the early development of an articulation of team values and management strategies; and a reflection and revision of that articulation one month later. The individual pulse-checks asked students: to rate their team on a 1-10 scale for effectiveness, enjoyment, and equity; to comment on these ratings; and an option to raise a “red flag,” which would prompt an instructor to reach out to that student for a confidential check-in. In the new TA program, three students—who had taken the course the prior year—were each assigned a set of teams with which to hold regular check-ins. Methods for evaluating these efforts will include: data analysis of the pulse-checks; and a review of students’ answers to both new and existing course evaluation questions.

These analyses will be completed in March and April, 2022, after this academic year’s version of the course concludes.

AU - Rafe Steinhauer
AU - Solomon G. Diamond
CY - Wentworth Institute of Technology, Massachusetts
DA - 2022/04/22
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - (Extended Abstract) Effectiveness, Enjoyment, and Equity: A framework for scaffolding, monitoring, and evaluating teamwork in a capstone engineering design course with industry-sponsored projects
UR - https://peer.asee.org/42148
DO - 10.18260/1-2--42148
ER -