Capstone Course Support System with Knowledge Acquisition and Utilization for Participant-directed Learning

The capstone course in colleges of engineering is participant-directed learning (PDL) based on project-based learning (PBL) and is one of the most important courses for students aiming to become competent professional engineers capable of solving real industrial problems. Thus, the course has attracted much attention and involves participation of students as well as teaching staffs and employees in diverse enterprises. Based on users' experiences, assessment and improvements of existing web-based project management system (PMS), this study aims to establish an online capstone course support system available via wired and wireless Internet connections. To support PDL, a knowledge utilization system (KUS) is developed as an open system utilized by internal students as well as external participants from diverse industries and also as a self-proliferation system enabled collection and accumulation of information from internal and external sources. The established system represents an efficient and effective system that facilitates PDL in capstone course.