Gerardo del Cerro

The Cooper Union, New York City

 <cerro@cooper.edu>

Assessing Communication Modes in Students' Engineering Projects

Collaborative research generates vast amounts of data and information. Innovative engineering work by undergraduate students is no exception. In such cases, optimization of information usage may be made easier by devising electronic instrumentation systems which

1)serve as repository of relevantly coded information, and

2)function as communication means among all the parties involved in the research at hand.

Even in small-size institutions where frequent personal interaction is a matter of course (such as the Cooper Union School of Engineering), web-based information storage systems may contribute to improve the outcomes of the educational process.

Our work at The Cooper Union consisted on an assessment study of communication modes and content used by engineering students in a special project-course.  The course topic, Robotics for Theater, focused on the planning and construction of a robot from scratch, to support theatric production as actor and prop.   Our intention was to challenge teaming and innovative design skills, identified as key areas for engineering education by industry and the National Science Foundation, and analyze communication modes and content. 

Our assessment tools included ethnographic observation, questionnaires, journals, and students’ expressions of their views on the communication and learning processes.  Web and video protocol analysis, pioneered by Leifer and others, were not presently suitable because of the unique nature of our institutional environment, which does not require distance learning.  In fact, our study could be used by other institutions as an example of tailoring generic methods appropriately to their unique learning environments.

Main findings of our study:

1. Information-Resource mobilization was fostered by the role of the advisor as information facilitator and “weak tie” in the network, and also by the frequent informal contacts among the students in the team. Information-Resource mobilization was inhibited by intra-team trust and friendship, and by time constraints affecting the development of the project.

2. Innovation was fostered by intra-team trust, advising, and informal meetings. It was inhibited by

technical difficulties encountered along the way, and by time constraints.

3. Interaction with client showed gaps along the way. Probably due to time constraints, the field of theatre did not become a fundamental reference of the project, unlike it had been planned. Students seem not to have learned much from or about theater.

4. Team dynamics was effective, although on occasion the division of labor separated the team excessively. Frequent informal meetings and contacts, the time-intensive nature of the project, and the trust ensured by friendship among the students helped teamwork.

5. Intensive intra-team communication via informal meetings made a difference in an innovative, time-intensive project like the Robotics-for-Theatre.

As a result of our summative assessment we propose a formative (feedback for enhancing learning) protocol, which includes use of a website as a project development locus for students and window into the development process for instructors.  Additionally, instructors will analyze videotapes of selected student meetings to assess communication processes. This protocol is to be applied to other engineering classes to improve the quality of teaching/learning via feedback.

The roles of the website include intranet for communication, archive for product definition, repository for student design journals, monthly report library, resource pointer, and design workspace.  By putting the results of informal meetings out in view, students can assess the entire project at all times and instructors can monitor progress and communication/teaming processes.  

The proposed assessment protocol will address the following issues:

1.      Resource mobilization for creative problem solving.  A Web-based team portfolio will be established to track the progress of each student project.  It will feature a Product Definition section where definition and specification of the product, formulated by the student designers and their client, are recorded.  It will also feature a Resource Mobilization section for periodic gathering and analysis of how students access and utilize information for creative problem solving.  The sources of information, as well as their relevance to the problem solving process, will be recorded.  A timeline for the resource mobilization process will be maintained to facilitate the students’ own evaluation of how timing of discovery of information propels the flow of the problem solving process.  The client of the product development effort will monitor this archive of resource mobilization, and provide feedback to the student designers to either reaffirm or redirect the flow of information.

2.      Innovation and creativity.  The team portfolio will feature a Project Profile section where information utilization and student initiatives are recorded. This provision will facilitate the instructor’s assessment of the students’ use of technology, as well as their general problem solving skills.  Each student designer is expected to demonstrate his or her abilities to design as well as to analyze and interpret data, to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems, and to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs.  In addition, emphasis will be placed on assessment of the students’ understanding of professional and ethical responsibility, and the need for life-long learning.

3.      Interdisciplinary requirements. The team portfolio will feature an Interdisciplinary Elements section to highlight the interdisciplinary characteristics of the project. Recruitment of students from non-mechanical engineering disciplines to participate in the student projects will be a priority during the initial team formation.  Students will be encouraged to identify specific elements of the product development process that they perceive to be interdisciplinary.

4.      Teamwork.  The team portfolio will feature a Teamwork section to track the birth and growth of team design concepts, product components and modules, and general interactions among the student designers.  Videotaping of selected student meetings will be used to aid in the assessment of the students’ teamwork competencies such as conflict resolution, consensus achievement, effective oral communications, and leadership. Each student will assess the other team members.

5.      Communications.  A Communications section will be featured in the team portfolio to provide a depository for student communications and feedback, minutes of meetings, and student presentations.  Monthly review/assessment meetings will be held to identify blockage points of information flow, and to continuously improve the communication channels affecting the advancement of the product development process.