Engineering 4010

Purpose: This exercise helps you understand, evaluate, and revise your midterm report using the same rubric it will be graded with. By going through the process of evaluating a report, you'll learn what strong engineering communication looks like and how to improve your writing before submission. You'll practice important skills like analyzing technical content, judging clarity and completeness, and revising for a professional audience. These are all essential for success in this course, future classes, and your career. You'll also become more familiar with key parts of engineering reports, like the executive summary, problem definition, design alternatives, and evaluation criteria. These are skills you'll use in real-world engineering work.
In ENGR 4010: Senior Capstone Project I, engineering students work in teams to address real-world design challenges, focusing on early-stage design, stakeholder research, and concept evaluation. To support clear and professional communication, two decoded writing assignments have been developed, including a revised Midterm Report prompt due in Week 9. This report asks teams to document their design alternatives and justify their chosen concept, providing a foundation for the final project phase.

The revised prompts, available from the semester’s start on Canvas, incorporate the TILT framework with clear purposes, success criteria, and structured guidance. By clarifying expectations and connecting the report to overall project goals, these assignments aim to improve student understanding, enhance report quality, and foster a more cohesive design process. Below, you’ll find these decoded assignments along with rubrics and examples, offering instructors practical tools to increase transparency and student success.

 

-Brian Sylcott

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Decoded Grading Exercise

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Decoded Midterm Report

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