Literature Review on Engineering Design Assessment Tools

Abstract

Design is one of the twelve graduate attributes that must be assessed as part of the accreditation process for engineering programs in Canada, as required by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB). However, assessment of design competence is a complex task due to the fact that design process is non-linear and depends on many factors including communication skills, teamwork skills, individual knowledge and skills, and project complexity. Also, for engineering instructors, a key challenge is that this assessment is usually qualitative rather than quantitative. In this paper, a literature review on different design assessment techniques including quantitative, qualitative, and mixed measurement tools is provided, and three key features which must be taken into consideration while developing a design assessment tool are discussed.