Current State of Research in Fully Remote Engineering Capstone Pedagogy

Sarah Oman; Joseph Piacenza; Elliott Chimienti

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Conference: 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Publication Date: June 22, 2025
Start Date: June 22, 2025
End Date: August 15, 2025
Conference Session: Design in Engineering Education Division (DEED) - Evolving Pedagogies in Capstone Design Education
Tagged Division: Design in Engineering Education Division (DEED)
Page Count: 15
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/56187

Paper Authors

biography

Sarah Oman Oregon State University

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Dr. Sarah Oman is an Assistant Professor of Teaching at Oregon State University for the School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering where she oversees the School's senior design capstone program. She has been a capstone design instructor for over 10 years.

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biography

Joseph Piacenza Oregon State University

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Joseph Piacenza is the Director of Multidisciplinary Capstone Programs, and Associate Professor of Practice at Oregon State University (OSU), with active research areas in precision aquaculture, renewable energy (e.g., offshore wave, vehicle energy harvesting), and automotive design. I advise the OSU Global Formula Racing and SAE Baja Beaver Racing teams, in addition to leading hands-on and transdisciplinary student design projects via Multidisciplinary Capstone Design.

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Elliott Chimienti

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Abstract

[Survey/Literature Review] Prior to and further necessitated by the COVID pandemic, engineering industry has found utility in remote partnerships, thus the need for engineers trained in online collaboration methods. Providing an opportunity for experiential learning during fully remote collaboration is critical for online engineering curriculums. Capstone design is a team-based experience for all seniors in engineering, where student teams are given the opportunity to work with a sponsor to develop a solution to their design problem. These multidisciplinary experiential learning opportunities are often the highlight of an undergraduate student’s curriculum, and most engineering majors must complete a multiple-course senior capstone design sequence. The key challenge is how to scale traditionally hands-on centric capstone design pedagogy to an online platform (both synchronous and asynchronous). An additional constraint is these pedagogical methods will need to meet both institutional and external (i.e., Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET)) requirements. It is critical to identify and create best practices that will support both students and sponsors to ensure the achievement of educational requirements (e.g., ABET, technical writing), project deliverables, and student success. The research goal is to identify collaborative techniques to support project mentors (e.g., instructors, industry partners, faculty) and student teams, and help determine the type and scope of projects best suited for remote collaboration. In addition, we aim to investigate how to determine teaming strategies for fully remote teams appropriate to the various expectations of project outcomes (computational/theoretical solutions versus physical prototypes, for example), and how to get students both excited and engaged with fully remote sponsors. This paper presents the current state of research and efforts in the realm of remote collaboration of engineering teams, online engineering capstone course pedagogy, and online engineering capstone (or equivalent) projects with external sponsors. The synthesis of this literature review will guide future work in assessing the quality of experience in multidisciplinary engineering capstone between in-person students and sponsors and those that are fully remote.

Citation
Format

Oman, S., & Piacenza, J., & Chimienti, E. (2025, June), Current State of Research in Fully Remote Engineering Capstone Pedagogy Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . https://peer.asee.org/56187

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - [Survey/Literature Review] Prior to and further necessitated by the COVID pandemic, engineering industry has found utility in remote partnerships, thus the need for engineers trained in online collaboration methods. Providing an opportunity for experiential learning during fully remote collaboration is critical for online engineering curriculums. Capstone design is a team-based experience for all seniors in engineering, where student teams are given the opportunity to work with a sponsor to develop a solution to their design problem. These multidisciplinary experiential learning opportunities are often the highlight of an undergraduate student’s curriculum, and most engineering majors must complete a multiple-course senior capstone design sequence. The key challenge is how to scale traditionally hands-on centric capstone design pedagogy to an online platform (both synchronous and asynchronous). An additional constraint is these pedagogical methods will need to meet both institutional and external (i.e., Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET)) requirements. It is critical to identify and create best practices that will support both students and sponsors to ensure the achievement of educational requirements (e.g., ABET, technical writing), project deliverables, and student success. The research goal is to identify collaborative techniques to support project mentors (e.g., instructors, industry partners, faculty) and student teams, and help determine the type and scope of projects best suited for remote collaboration. In addition, we aim to investigate how to determine teaming strategies for fully remote teams appropriate to the various expectations of project outcomes (computational/theoretical solutions versus physical prototypes, for example), and how to get students both excited and engaged with fully remote sponsors. This paper presents the current state of research and efforts in the realm of remote collaboration of engineering teams, online engineering capstone course pedagogy, and online engineering capstone (or equivalent) projects with external sponsors. The synthesis of this literature review will guide future work in assessing the quality of experience in multidisciplinary engineering capstone between in-person students and sponsors and those that are fully remote.
AU  - Sarah Oman
AU  - Joseph Piacenza
AU  - Elliott Chimienti
CY  - Montreal, Quebec, Canada 
DA  - 2025/06/22
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Current State of Research in Fully Remote Engineering Capstone Pedagogy
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/56187
ER  -