CDIO Syllabus A Comparative Study of Expected Student Proficiency

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CDIO SyllabusA Comparative Study of Expected
Student Proficiency
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OUTLINE OF CDIO SYLLABUS

• 1.0 Technical Knowledge and Reasoning
• Knowledge of underlying sciences
• Core engineering fundamental knowledge
• Advanced engineering fundamental knowledge
• 2.0 Personal and Professional Skills and
  Attributes
• Engineering reasoning and problem solving
• Experimentation and knowledge discovery
• System thinking
• Personal skills and attributes
• Professional skills and attributes
• 3.0 Interpersonal Skills Teamwork
  Communication
• Multi-disciplinary teamwork
• Communications
• Communication in foreign languages
• 4.0 Conceiving, Designing, Implementing and
  Operating Systems in
• Enterprise and Societal Contexts

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CDIO SYLLABUS LEVEL OF PROFICIENCY

• 6 groups surveyed alumni 25-30 years old, alumni
  35-40 years old, faculty, leaders of industry,
  1st year students and 4th year students
• Question For each attribute, please indicate
  which of the five levels of proficiency you
  desire in an engineering student graduating from
  university
• 1 To have experienced or been exposed to
• 2 To be able to participate in and contribute to
• 3 To be able to understand and explain
• 4 To be skilled in the practice or implementation
  of
• 5 To be able to lead or innovate in

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WEB BASED SURVEY

• http//yorick.admin.kth.se/mit
• http//yorick.admin.kth.se/mmtform/index.asp

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NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS IN EACH SURVEY GROUP AT
EACH UNIVERSITY
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MIT PROFESSIONALS
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SWEDISH PROFESSIONALS
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FACULTY, INDUSTRY, 5 YEAR ALMUNI, 15 YEAR ALUMNI
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INDUSTRY MIT vs SWEDEN
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CHALMERS
11
KTH
12
LiTH
13
MIT
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The CDIO Syllabus as a Generalized Statement of
Goals for Undergraduate Engineering Education

• It is rationalized against the modern practice of
  engineering
• It is comprehensive of all other high level
  documents which attempt to outline the goals of
  engineering education
• It is complete and consistent
• It is presented in sufficient detail that the
  specific topics that are to be taught and learned
  are enumerated
• It is linked to a survey process that will set
  broadly agreed upon levels of proficiency
• It is expressed in terms of a formal
  specification language for learning objectives

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The Process for Deriving Specific Versions of the
Syllabus for Local Program Needs

• Review the content of the topical Syllabus and
  add or delete topics based on the perceived needs
  of the particular program
• Identify the stakeholder communities, and conduct
  the surveys on expected proficiency
• Compile the data from the two surveys, and
  examine it for agreement and statistically
  significant disagreement among the stakeholders.
• Assign a level of proficiency for each low level
  topic in the form of the Syllabus. Use the survey
  data as guidance, but make choices that align
  with the context and local program goals.

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The Insights Gained in Deriving the Customized
Syllabus

• The various high level statements of goals of
  engineering education are remarkably consistent.
• The agreement among the faculty, leaders of
  industry, young and mid-career alumni on the
  expected levels of proficiency of graduating
  engineers was overwhelming and unexpected.
• The minor differences in expectations indicate
  that the faculty are slightly more interested in
  detailed, deterministic, and analytic processes,
  while industry is slightly more interested in
  higher level, more conceptual processes in the
  face of uncertainty.
• The survey indicates that the skills for which
  the proficiency expectations are the highest
  include engineering reasoning, personal
  attributes, communications, and design.
• The survey identified the social and enterprise
  context, implementing, and operating as requiring
  lower proficiency.

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Summary

• The detail in the Syllabus allows individual
  faculty to gain detailed insight into its content
  and objectives, contemplate the deployment of
  these skills into a curriculum, and prepare
  lesson and assessment plans.
• Adopting the CDIO Syllabus will faciltiate more
  comprehensive and rigorous education in its
  topics, to the benefit of students who will enter
  the practice of engineering, and also to the
  benefit of those who will go on to be
  researchers.
• Widespread adoption of the Syllabus will also
  facilitate the sharing of best curricular and
  pedagogic approaches and it will promote the
  development of standardized assessment tools,
  which will allow easier and better outcome based
  assessment.