%0 Conference Proceedings %T Does a master's program in engineering require a final project? %+ Reykjavík University %+ Equipe Processes for Safe and Secure Software and Systems (Lab-STICC_P4S) %+ Département Informatique (IMT Atlantique - INFO) %A Audunsson, Haraldur %A Rouvrais, Siegfried %A Rudd, Ralph %A Kristjánsson, Ragnar %A Matthieu Moschetta, Olivier %< avec comité de lecture %( Proceedings of the 18th International CDIO Conference, %B CDIO 2022: 18th CDIO International Conference %C Reykjavik, Iceland %8 2022-06-13 %D 2022 %K project %K dissertation %K thesis %K learning outcomes %K rubric %K Master of Science %K CDIO %K internship %K pedagogy %K accreditation %K quality %K learning %Z Humanities and Social Sciences/EducationConference papers %X Within engineering education frameworks worldwide, requirements for a master's degree are diverse and very few graduate-level engineering courses are recommended for accredited programs. To ascertain how common the requirement for a final project at the master's level is, an ad hoc review of international master's programs was conducted. This review included several of the highest-ranking universities internationally and selected universities in Europe. From this review, it is established that the standard practice is to require students attempting a master's degree in engineering to complete what we term a final project course, which may or may not be research-focused, and typically corresponding to one semester of work. This paper summarizes how the considered universities integrate a final project course into their programs and distinguishes how these might differ from traditional research-focused master's dissertations. We discuss the practical difficulties of managing such projects. We conclude by providing a rubric for self-assessment and reform that aligns with the criteria for continuous improvement in a graduate program quality framework. %G English %2 https://imt-atlantique.hal.science/hal-03683564/document %2 https://imt-atlantique.hal.science/hal-03683564/file/FPCinEngineering.pdf %L hal-03683564 %U https://imt-atlantique.hal.science/hal-03683564 %~ SHS %~ UNIV-BREST %~ INSTITUT-TELECOM %~ TICE %~ CNRS %~ UNIV-UBS %~ ENIB %~ LAB-STICC %~ IMTA_INFO %~ LAB-STICC_IMTA %~ IMT-ATLANTIQUE %~ INSTITUTS-TELECOM %~ LAB-STICC_P4S_IMTA %~ LAB-STICC_P4S %~ LAB-STICC_SHARP