Outcome based education performance evaluation of capstone project using assessment rubrics and matrix

Abstract

Capstone project (CP) is an important part of every engineering and computer science discipline at undergraduate level. The main purpose of these capstone projects is to encourage students to apply the knowledge acquired during their studies in previous semesters, in particular a capacity to personally manage and conduct a complex, open-ended project to show how proficient they are in solving real world or the research based problems. The Outcome Based Education (OBE) is an education system that emphasis on outcomes measurement rather than inputs of curriculum covered. Outcomes may include a range of knowledge, skills and attitudes. In order to obtain the desired outcomes, teaching components and activities should be well organized, planned and continuously improved. We adopted OBE in our curriculum and for the course on project work we have written course learning objectives (CLO), i.e. at the end of the course the student should be able satisfy these objectives and they are mapped with the program outcomes (PO). This paper presents a novel method for the outcome-based assessment of engineering capstone project carried by Final Year Students. The assessment is done based on the rubrics written for each phase of the process. The outcome of the each phase is assessed by evaluation team and the guide using the assessment matrix which is based on assessment rubrics. Assessment matrix covers all the attributes/parameters for the assessment of each phase. Mapping of CLO-PO is done based on these attributes. Percentage of attainment of each objective and outcome are calculated.