Learning Outcomes in the Context of Engineering Practice
Edward F. [email protected] CDIO Region-of-the-Americas MeetingDuke UniversityNovember 9, 2009
THE MOTIVATION FOR CHANGE
• Shortage of engineering graduates and those remaining in engineering careers
• Need to educate engineers to be more effective contributors and leaders
• Need to educate engineers to work in a more interdisciplinary manner
• Preparing students for increasing globalization• Increasing awareness and response to environmental
changes
DON’T PLAN TO SEND JOBS ABROAD:THEY HAVE THE SAME PROBLEMS!EVERYONE ELSE IS SENDING THEM THERE!
WORLDWIDE
THE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS
DESIRED ATTRIBUTES OF AN ENGINEERING GRADUATE
• Understanding of fundamentals
• Understanding of design and manufacturing processes
• Multidisciplinary system perspective
• Good communication skills
• High ethical standards, etc.
UNDERLYING NEED
Educate students who:
•Understand how to conceive-design-implement-operate
•Complex value-added engineering systems
•In a modern team-based engineering environment
We have adopted CDIO as the engineering CONTEXT of our education.
DEVELOPMENT OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION
Personal, Interpersonal and Design -System Building
DisciplinaryKnowledge
Pre-1950s:Practice
1960s:Science & practice
1980s:Science
2000s:CDIO
Engineers need both dimensions, and we need to develop education that delivers both
NATURE OF OUR MILLENIAL STUDENTS
• Social responsibility
• “New” modes of learning
• Excitement, gratification and success
• Groups
GOALS OF CDIO
• To educate students to master a deeper working knowledge of the technical fundamentals
• To educate engineers to lead in the creation and operation of new products and systems
• To educate all to understand the importance and strategic impact of research and technological development on society
And to attract and retain student in engineeringAnd to build diversity in our engineering workforce
VISION
We envision an education that stresses the fundamentals, set in the context of Conceiving – Designing – Implementing – Operating systems and products:
• A curriculum organised around mutually supporting disciplines, but with authentic CDIO activities highly interwoven
• Rich with student design-build projects
• Featuring active and experiential learning
• Set in both classrooms and modern learning laboratories and workspaces
• Constantly improved through robust assessment and evaluation processes
PEDAGOGIC LOGIC
• Most engineers learn from the concrete to the abstractManipulate objects to understand abstractions
• Students arrive at university lacking personal experience
• We must provide dual impact authentic activities to allow mapping of new knowledge - alternative is rote or “pattern matching”
• Using CDIO as authentic activity achieves two goals --Provides education in the creation and operation of systemsBuilds the cognitive framework to understand the
fundamentals more deeply
THREE PREMISES
1. The underlying need is best met by setting goals that stress the fundamentals, while at the same time making C-D-I-O the CONTEXT of engineering
2. LEARNING OUTCOMES for students should be • set through stakeholder involvement, and • met by constructing a sequence of integrated learning
experiences that expose students to situations that engineers encounter in their profession
3. Proper construction of these INTEGRATED LEARNING ACTIVITIES will cause the activities to have dual impact• facilitating student learning of critical personal and interpersonal
skills, and product, process, and system building skills, and• simultaneously enhancing the learning of the fundamentals
CDIO STRUCTURE AND RESOURCES
CONTEXT (1)
LEARNING OUTCOMES (2)
ACTIVITIES (3-12)
CHANGE PROCESS
BESTPRACTICE SCHOLARSHIP
CO-DEVELOPMENT
SHARINGSYSTEM VIEW
WHAT IS CONTEXT?
1. The words, phases or passages that come before, or after, a particular word or passage of text that help to explain its full meaning
2. The circumstances or events that form the environment within which something exists or takes place, for example
• A chair within a room• A decision influenced by the
organization
CONTEXT refers to the circumstances and surroundings that aid in understanding meaning.
WHAT IS ENGINEERING?
• Designing and implementing things that have not previously existed, and that directly or indirectly serve society or some element of society
• Von Kármán: “Scientists discover the world that exists, while engineers create the world that never was!”
• The life cycle of a product, process, project, system, software, material, molecule Conceiving: understanding needs and technology, and
creating the concept Designing: defining the information needed to implement Implementing: creating the actually operable system Operating: using the system to meet the need
ENGINEERING CONTEXT
STABLE ELEMENTS• A focus on the problems of the
customer and society• The delivery of new products,
processes, and systems• The role of invention and new
technology in shaping the future• The use of many disciplines to
develop the solution• The need for engineers to work
together, to communicate effectively, and to provide leadership in technical endeavors
• The need to work efficiently, within resources, and /or profitably
ENGINEERING CONTEXT (cont.)
CHANGING ELEMENTS• A change from mastery of the
environment to stewardship of the environment
• Shortened lifespan of products and technologies
• Increase in service orientation• Globalization and international
competition• Fragmentation and geographic
dispersion of engineering activities
• The increasingly human-centered nature of engineering practice
ENGINEERING EDUCATION CONTEXT
The product lifecycle is the CONTEXT of engineering education.
• A focus on the needs of the customer
• Delivery of products and systems• Incorporation of new inventions
and technologies• A focus on the solution, not
disciplines• Working with others• Effective communication• Working within resources
CDIO AS THE CONTEXT
CONCEIVE-DESIGN-IMPLEMENT-OPERATE as a model of the product, process, and system development and deployment process in engineering
Other models• Measure-Model-Manipulate-Make in biological
engineering at MIT• Engineering-Enterprising-Educating-
Environmenting-Ensembling in Leuven, Belgium
BENEFITS OF LEARNING IN CONTEXT
Setting the education of engineers in the CONTEXT OF ENGINEERING PRACTICE realizes the benefits of contextual learning:
• Increases retention of new knowledge and skills
• Interconnects concepts and knowledge that build on each other
• Communicates the rationale for, meaning of, and relevance of, what students are learning
BEST PRACTICE
STANDARD ONE
Adoption of the principle that product, process, and system lifecycle development and deployment -- Conceiving, Designing, Implementing and Operating -- are the context for engineering education
• It is what engineers do!• It is the underlying need and basis for the skills lists that
industry proposes to university educators• It is the natural context in which to teach these skills to
engineering students• It better supports the learning of the technical
fundamentals
NEED TO LEARNING OUTCOMES
Educate students who:
•Understand how to conceive-design-implement-operate
•Complex value-added engineering systems
•In a modern team-basedengineering environment
•And are mature and thoughtful individuals
The CDIO SYLLABUS is a comprehensive statement of detailed learning outcomes for engineering education.
1. Technical3. Inter-personal
2. Personal
4. CDIO
Process
Team
Product
Self
THE CDIO SYLLABUS AND UNESCO’S FOUR PILLARS1.0 Technical Knowledge & Reasoning
Knowledge of underlying sciencesCore engineering fundamental knowledgeAdvanced engineering fundamental knowledge
2.0 Personal and Professional Skills & AttributesEngineering reasoning and problem solvingExperimentation and knowledge discoverySystem thinkingPersonal skills and attributesProfessional skills and attributes
3.0 Interpersonal Skills: Teamwork & Communication
Multi-disciplinary teamworkCommunicationsCommunication in a foreign language
4.0 Conceiving, Designing, Implementing & Operating Systems in the Enterprise &
Societal ContextExternal and societal contextEnterprise and business contextConceiving and engineering systemsDesigningImplementingOperating
LEARNING TO KNOW
LEARNING TO BE
LEARNING TO WORK TOGETHER
LEARNING TO DO
CDIO SYLLABUS
• Syllabus at 3rd level• One or two more
levels are detailed• Rational• Comprehensive• Peer reviewed• Basis for design
and assessment
1 TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE AND REASONING1.1. KNOWLEDGE OF UNDERLYING
SCIENCES1.2. CORE ENGINEERING FUNDAMENTAL
KNOWLEDGE1.3. ADVANCED ENGINEERING
FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE
2 PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL SKILLSAND ATTRIBUTES2.1. ENGINEERING REASONING AND
PROBLEM SOLVING2.1.1. Problem Identification and Formulation2.1.2. Modeling2.1.3. Estimation and Qualitative Analysis2.1.4. Analysis With Uncertainty2.1.5. Solution and Recommendation
2.2. EXPERIMENTATION AND KNOWLEDGEDISCOVERY
2.2.1. Hypothesis Formulation2.2.2. Survey of Print and Electronic
Literature2.2.3. Experimental Inquiry2.2.4. Hypothesis Test, and Defense
2.3. SYSTEM THINKING2.3.1. Thinking Holistically2.3.2. Emergence and Interactions in
Systems2.3.3. Prioritization and Focus2.3.4. Tradeoffs, Judgment and Balance in
Resolution2.4. PERSONAL SKILLS AND ATTITUDES
2.4.1. Initiative and Willingness to TakeRisks
2.4.2. Perseverance and Flexibility2.4.3. Creative Thinking2.4.4. Critical Thinking2.4.5. Awareness of One’s Personal
Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes2.4.6. Curiosity and Lifelong Learning2.4.7. Time and Resource Management
2.5. PROFESSIONAL SKILLS ANDATTITUDES
2.5.1. Professional Ethics, Integrity,Responsibility and Accountability
2.5.2. Professional Behavior2.5.3. Proactively Planning for One’s Career2.5.4. Staying Current on World of Engineer
3 INTERPERSONAL SKILLS: TEAMWORK ANDCOMMUNICATION3.1. TEAMWORK
3.1.1. Forming Effective Teams3.1.2. Team Operation3.1.3. Team Growth and Evolution3.1.4. Leadership3.1.5. Technical Teaming
3.2. COMMUNICATION3.2.1. Communication Strategy3.2.2. Communication Structure3.2.3. Written Communication3.2.4. Electronic/Multimedia Communication3.2.5. Graphical Communication3.2.6. Oral Presentation and Interpersonal
Communication
3.3. COMMUNICATION IN FOREIGNLANGUAGES
3.3.1. English3.3.2. Languages within the European Union3.3.3. Languages outside the European
Union
4 CONCEIVING, DESIGNING, IMPLEMENTINGAND OPERATING SYSTEMS IN THEENTERPRISE AND SOCIETAL CONTEXT4.1. EXTERNAL AND SOCIETAL CONTEXT
4.1.1. Roles and Responsibility of Engineers4.1.2. The Impact of Engineering on Society4.1.3. Society’s Regulation of Engineering4.1.4. The Historical and Cultural Context4.1.5. Contemporary Issues and Values4.1.6. Developing a Global Perspective
4.2. ENTERPRISE AND BUSINESS CONTEXT4.2.1. Appreciating Different Enterprise
Cultures4.2.2. Enterprise Strategy, Goals and
Planning4.2.3. Technical Entrepreneurship4.2.4. Working Successfully in Organizations
4.3. CONCEIVING AND ENGINEERINGSYSTEMS
4.3.1. Setting System Goals andRequirements
4.3.2. Defining Function, Concept andArchitecture
4.3.3. Modeling of System and EnsuringGoals Can Be Met
4.3.4. Development Project Management4.4. DESIGNING
4.4.1. The Design Process4.4.2. The Design Process Phasing and
Approaches4.4.3. Utilization of Knowledge in Design4.4.4. Disciplinary Design4.4.5. Multidisciplinary Design4.4.6. Multi-objective Design
4.5. IMPLEMENTING4.5.1. Designing the Implementation Process4.5.2. Hardware Manufacturing Process4.5.3. Software Implementing Process4.5.4. Hardware Software Integration4.5.5. Test, Verification, Validation and
Certification4.5.6. Implementation Management
4.6. OPERATING4.6.1. Designing and Optimizing Operations4.6.2. Training and Operations4.6.3. Supporting the System Lifecycle4.6.4. System Improvement and Evolution4.6.5. Disposal and Life-End Issues4.6.6. Operations Management
BEST PRACTICE
STANDARD TWO
Specific, detailed learning outcomes for personal and interpersonal skills, and product, process, and system building skills, as well as disciplinary knowledge, consistent with program goals and validated by program stakeholders
• “Resolves” tensions among stakeholders• Allows for the design of curriculum• Basis of student evaluation• Tells us what to teach
THE CDIO SYLLABUS IN OTHER LANGUAGES
THE CDIO SYLLABUS IN OTHER LANGUAGES
ROLE OF CDIO SYLLABUS IN EDUCATION
• Captures the expressed needs of program stakeholders
• Highlights the overall goals of the program
• Provides a guide for the design of curriculum
• Suggests appropriate teaching and learning methods
• Provides the targets for student learning assessment
• Serves as a framework for overall program evaluation
The CDIO SYLLABUS is a reference, not a prescription!
ALIGNMENT WITH PROGRAM MISSION
Mission Vision ProgramObjectives
ValuesIntended Learning
Outcomes
CONSTRUCTIVE ALIGNMENT WITH TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT
What shouldstudents know orbe able to do as aresult of thecourse?
How can studentsdemonstrate that theyhave acquired thedesired levels ofcompetencies?
What activities areappropriate for
students in order todevelop the desired
competencies?
Teachingand learning
activitiesAssessment
Intendedlearningoutcomes
PRESSURES FOR CHANGETO THE CDIO SYLLABUS
• New knowledge taxonomies, e.g., UNESCO
• New scholarship• National accreditation and
evaluation standardso ABET (US)o CEAB (Canada)o UK-SPECo Swedish Ordinanceo EUR-ACEo DOCET
• Input from CDIO Syllabus users
EXAMPLES OF PROPOSED CHANGES
Inference from comparisons with national documents1.0 -- Change to Disciplinary or Subject-Based Knowledge and Reasoning
(Swedish Ordinance and EUR-ACE)
1.1 -- Add Mathematics (ABET)
1.3 -- Add Methods and Tools (ABET and CEAB)
2.1 -- Change to Analytical Reasoning and Problem Solving (ABET and CEAB)
2.2 -- Add Investigation to the title (CEAB)
2.5.1 -- Change to Ethics, Integrity, and Social Responsibility (ABET and CEAB)
2.5.2 -- Add Professional Responsibility (ABET)
2.5.5 – Add Equity and Diversity (CEAB)
3.1.5 -- Add Multidisciplinary Teaming (ABET and CEAB)
3.4.1 -- Add Inquiry, Listening and Dialogue (CEAB)
4.1 -- Add Economic Context (UK-SPEC)
4.2.5 -- Add part Engineering Project Finance and Economics (CEAB)
4.3.1 -- Add Understanding Needs (ABET and CEAB)
4.3.4 -- Add Systems Engineering (CEAB)
4.4.6 – Modify to indicate Safety (CEAB)
Changes to clarify and use consistent language
INNOVATION
• Innovation is the development and introduction into the market of new goods and services
• Innovation is the market-oriented view of what in the CDIO Syllabus defines in Sections 4.2 through 4.6 – Conceiving and Engineering Systems, Designing, Implementing, and Operating, within an enterprise
• Inference from innovation• 4.0 -- Add Innovation to the title• 4.2.2 -- Change to Enterprise Stakeholders, Strategy and Goals• 4.2.5 -- Add Engineering Project Finance and Economics• 4.2.6 -- Add New Technology Development, Assessment and
Infusion• 4.3.1 -- Change to Understanding Needs and Setting Goals
• Mostly clarification and modest addition of topics to include more business and upstream considerations
SUSTAINABILITY
• CDIO Syllabus has received some criticism, as sustainability is mentioned in only one place, at the fourth level of detail, under 4.4.6
• However, CDIO Syllabus actually strongly aligned with concepts of sustainability: lifecycle considerations of requirements, design, operations, retirement
• Inference from sustainability4.0 -- Include Environmental in the title
4.1 -- Include Environmental in the title
4.1.7 -- Add Sustainability and the Need for Sustainable Development
4.4.6 -- Make Design for Sustainability more explicit
4.5.1 -- Change to Designing a Sustainable Implementation Process
4.6.1 -- Change to Designing and Optimizing Sustainable and Safe Operations
• Mostly to clarify and increase visibility
OTHER PROPOSED CHANGES
• Various universities identified other areas that could be improved or better explained
• Comparison with Five E model of Group T, Leuven, Belgium• Additional inferences from these inputs
2.4.6 -- Add Educating Others
2.4.8 -- Add Knowledge Integration (Ensembling)
2.5.1 -- Change to Ethics, Integrity, and Social Responsibility
3.4 -- Add new listing Informal Communication to include:
3.4.1 Inquiry, Listening, and Dialogue
3.4.2 Negotiation, Compromise and Conflict Resolution
3.4.3 Advocacy
3.4.4 Establishing diverse Connections (Grouping)
• These are mostly new additions
PROPOSED CDIO SYLLABUS v2.1
Changes other than clarification:
• Reorganize 2.4 to elevate critical and creative thinking
• Add more emphasis on personal resources
• Expand core personal values
PROPOSED CDIO SYLLABUS v2.1
Changes other than clarification:
• Add multi-disciplinary teaming
• Add section on informal communication
PROPOSED CDIO SYLLABUS v2.0
Changes other than clarification:
• Make sustainability more visible
• Add more upstream process
• Make system engineering and project management more explicit
LEADERSHIP AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
LEADERSHIP
The role of helping to organize effort, create vision, and facilitate the work of others
In the context of engineering, senior engineers are the ones who most often lead
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
The specific activity of creating and leading a new enterprise
OVERLAP OF CDIO SYLLABUS, LEADERSHIP AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
• CDIO Syllabus already contains skills of a leading engineer
• What additional skills are needed of an engineering leader?
• What additional skills are needed of an entrepreneur?
We propose and extension to the CDIO Syllabus to include, as an option, ENGINEERING LEADERSHIP and
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
PROPOSED CDIO + ENGINEERING LEADERSHIP SYLLABUS
• Reference Core Personal Values, Relating, and Making Sense in the CDIO Syllabus
• Expand Creating a Purposeful Vision
• Expand Realizing the Vision
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
ENTREPRENEURS who are engineers know how to conceive, design, implement and operate products processes and systems, and often act as engineering leaders
In addition, they have special skills associated with the foundation and formulation of a new enterprise:4.8.1 -- Company Founding, Formulation, and Organization
4.8.2 – Business Plan Development
4.8.3 -- Company Capitalization and Finances
4.8.4 -- Innovative Product Marketing
4.8.5 -- Conceiving Products and Services Around New Technologies
4.8.6 – The Innovation System, Networks, Infrastructure, and Services
4.8.7 -- Building the Team and Initiating Engineering Processes (conceiving, designing, implementing and operating)
4.8.8 -- Managing Intellectual Property
SUMMARY
• Setting the education of engineers in the CONTEXT OF ENGINEERING PRACTICE
• Increases retention of new knowledge and skills• Interconnects concepts and knowledge that build on
each other• Communicates the rationale for, and meaning and
relevance of what students are learning• THE CDIO SYLLABUS
• Captures the expressed needs of program stakeholders• Guides curriculum, teaching, learning, and assessment
• A modified CDIO SYLLABUS, V. 2.0 is proposed to• Clarify existing learning outcomes• Highlight innovation, sustainability, leadership, and
entrepreneurship
HOW CAN WE DO BETTER?
Re-task current assets and resources in:
• Curriculum• Laboratories and workspaces• Teaching and learning• Assessment and evaluation• Faculty competence
Evolve to a model in which these resources are better employed to promote student learning
THE CDIO STANDARDS: EFFECTIVE PRACTICE FRAMWORK
1. CDIO as Context*Adoption of the principle that product and system lifecycle development and deployment are the context for engineering education 2. CDIO Syllabus Outcomes*Specific, detailed learning outcomes for personal, interpersonal, and product and system building skills, consistent with program goals and validated by program stakeholders 3. Integrated Curriculum*A curriculum designed with mutually supporting disciplinary subjects, with an explicit plan to integrate personal, interpersonal, and product and system building skills4. Introduction to EngineeringAn introductory course that provides the framework for engineering practice in product and system building, and introduces essential personal and interpersonal skills 5. Design-Build Experiences*A curriculum that includes two or more design-build experiences, including one at a basic level and one at an advanced level6. CDIO WorkspacesWorkspaces and laboratories that support and encourage hands-on learning of product and system building, disciplinary knowledge, and social learning
7. Integrated Learning Experiences*Integrated learning experiences that lead to the acquisition of disciplinary knowledge, as well as personal, interpersonal, and product and system building skills8. Active LearningTeaching and learning based on active experiential learning methods9. Enhancement of Faculty CDIO Skills*Actions that enhance faculty competence in personal, interpersonal, and product and system building skills10. Enhancement of Faculty Teaching SkillsActions that enhance faculty competence in providing integrated learning experiences, in using active experiential learning methods, and in assessing student learning11. CDIO Skills Assessment*Assessment of student learning in personal, interpersonal, and product and system building skills, as well as in disciplinary knowledge12. CDIO Program EvaluationA system that evaluates programs against these 12 standards, and provides feedback to students, faculty, and other stakeholders for the purposes of continuous improvement
*essential
INTRODUCTORY COURSE
• To motivate students to study engineering
• To provide early exposure to system building
• To teach some early and essential skills (e.g., teamwork)
• To provide a set of personal experiences which will allow early fundamentals to be more deeply understood
Disciplines
Intro
Capstone
Sciences
44
• Self-efficacy is the specific confidence that you have that you can execute a task
• With successful performance of tasks, self-efficacy increases and encourages the individual to take on tasks of greater difficulty, which increases self-efficacy further
• Performance and self are closely correlated
• Self-efficacy, which can be easily measured, is a good basis of pre/post test assessment
• Success with early PBL experiences increases student self-efficacy in engineering skills and increases student motivation to take on more advanced engineering tasks
Self-efficacy
Intention & Action
Performance
Self-efficacy
Performance
Self-efficacy
SELF-EFFICACY BASED ASSESSMENT
ARE WE DOING BETTER?
• The CDIO approach has deepened, not diminished, students’ understanding of engineering disciplinary knowledge
• Annual surveys of graduating students indicate that they have developed intended CDIO program knowledge and skills outcomes, especially are those that are important to program stakeholders
• Student self-report data indicate high student satisfaction with design-implement experiences, and with workspaces that promote a sense of community among learners
• Longitudinal studies of students in CDIO programs are showing increases in program enrollment, decreasing failing rates, particularly among female students, and increased student satisfaction with their learning experiences
• Employers are beginning to report increased capabilities improvements in student adaptation to the workplace
• Results are being used for continuous program improvement
EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Typical:• Professor identifies need• Gets idea• Not familiar with
literature or other practice
• Tries something• It works • Is replaced or gets tired• Back to status quo
Improved:• University/Industry team
identifies need• Idea developed • Informed by literature and
other practice• Parallel experimentation• Good evaluation • Recognition and reward• Institutionalized reform
Transformation requires: resources, coordination, expertise, mechanism for sharing
CDIO RESOURCES
• Published papers and conference presentations
• Implementation support
• Support for change process
• Book: Rethinking Engineering Education - The CDIO Approach (Amazon.com)
• Local and regional workshops -Delft in November 2009, Brest in Spring 2010
• CDIO International Workshop and Conference – Montreal in June 2010
Visit www.cdio.org!
EFFECTIVE PRACTICE: RE-TASK CURRICULUM
• Standard 4: Begin with an introductory course that provides a framework for engineering education and introduces essential skills
• Standard 5: Ensure that students participate in two or more design-implement experiences, including one at a basic level and one at and advanced level
EFFECTIVE PRACTICE: RE-TASK ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION
• Standard 11: Assess student knowledge and skills in personal, interpersonal, and product, process and system building, as well as disciplinary knowledge
Portfolios and project assessment Oral exams Concept questions Self-efficacy based testing
• Standard 12: Evaluate programs against these twelve standards, and provide continuous feedback to students, faculty, and other stakeholders for continuous improvement