| Planning and preparation |
Designing projects that properly reflect how the subject evolves |
Use of a reference model in the development process that covers the main phases of the product development process going from the general (market analysis) to the particular (prototype) |
| Preparing questions of equivalent difficulty |
Careful assessment by faculty at the beginning of the course to ensure that the project proposals have similar complexity and require similar efforts (e.g. the number of items in the product structure should not differ too much between project teams) |
| Planning projects to fit the time allocated to the subject |
Project activities are planned considering the gates structure of the reference model. A fixed stage gate schedule is defined |
| Searching for a realistic approach (‘real’ projects) but feasible for students |
Students should consider market and customers needs, following when possible sustainability principles |
| Assignment and organization |
Project coordination and time scales compared to other experiences in other subjects |
The activities are planned in a way that is possible to students perform them over the semester, considering the students will work at least four more hours/week outside of the class |
| Development |
Setting milestones throughout the process |
The development process is structured in stage gates, defined as milestones in which design results are completely reviewed |
| Taking action to adapt students’ starting-out levels |
All students are in the same course level (first semester of the fourth year), and although there are no formal courses prerequisites the knowledge necessary involves topics they studied in previous years |
| Motivation and follow-up to avoid deviations in the results |
Feedback sessions are structured to work as design review sessions after each stage gate to help students improving the project |
| Motivation and follow-up to avoid deviations in the time scales |
The partial reports required in the gates were structured to avoid delays during the project development |
| Assessment |
Setting a diagnostic assessment system to find the starting-out level |
When the teams present the ideas in the first week, faculty evaluates the level and establish a common basis and difficulty level to all students |
| Setting an adequate system to evaluate knowledge |
There is a continuous assessment as well as assessment of projectsʼ process and results |
| Setting an adequate system to evaluate skills |
Skills are evaluated regarding the projectsʼ development process (team work) and also an individual assessment is carried out (which includes written tests, practical exercises, presentations) |
| Setting an adequate system to individualize group experiences |
Students present the ideas in the beginning of the semester and the final projects at the end of the semester. Individual feedback is given after they deliver the reports in each stage gate. Exams are applied at the end of the semester and students should state aspects of their projects related to the theory of the product development process |
| Detecting and controlling unacceptable conduct (e.g. copied projects) |
Students have access to the projects developed in the previous courses. Each team develops a different project in order to avoid copied projects |
| Use of questionnaires to assess the progress of the experience and possible improvements |
At the end of the semester students are asked about their experience |
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