1. Educating Engineers in an Engineering Context
Conceiving- Designing- Implementing - Operating
Edward F. Crawley
May 2008

2. THE WORLDWIDE NEED 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
Need for more experiential learning and project-based learning
Need for enhanced university-industry cooperation and knowledge exchange
Preparing students for increasing globalization
Increasing awareness and response to environmental changes

3. THE NEED FOR A NEW APPROACH
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

4. WHAT IS CONTEXT?
The words, phases or passages that come before, or after, a particular word or passage of text that help to explain its full meaning
The circumstances or events that form the environment within which something exists or takes place
A chair within a room
A decision influenced by the organization
Context is the circumstances and surroundings that aid in understanding meaning

5. 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 Karman: 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

6. 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

7. ENGINEERING CONTEXT
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

8. DEVELOPMENT OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION
Personal, Interpersonal and System Building Skills
Pre-1950s: Practice
2000: CDIO
1960s: Science and Practice
1980s: Science
Disciplinary Knowledge
Engineers need both dimensions, and we need to develop education that delivers both

9. 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 engineering

10. THREE PREMISES
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
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
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

11. ENGINEERING EDUCATION CONTEXT
What should be 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

12. CDIO AS THE CONTEXT
Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate as a model (not the only 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

13. 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

14. BENEFITS OF LEARNING IN THIS CONTEXT
Setting the education of engineers in the context of engineering practice gains 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

15. VISION
We envision an education that stresses the fundamentals, set in the context of Conceiving – Designing – Implementing – Operating products, processes, and systems:
A curriculum organized around mutually supporting disciplines, with 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

16. CENTRAL QUESTIONS FOR ENGINEERING EDUCATION
What knowledge, skills and attitudes should students possess as they graduate from university?
How can we do better at ensuring that students learn these skills?
How can we work together on these questions?

17. FROM UNDERLYING NEED TO GOALS
Educate students who:
Understand how to conceive- design-implement-operate
Complex value-added engineering systems
In a modern team-based engineering environment
And are mature and thoughtful individuals
Process
Product
4. CDIO
1. Technical
2. Personal
3. Inter-
personal
Team
Self
The CDIO Syllabus - a comprehensive statement of detailed Goals for an Engineering Education

18. THE CDIO SYLLABUS 1.0 Technical Knowledge & Reasoning:
Knowledge of underlying sciences
Core engineering fundamental knowledge
Advanced engineering fundamental knowledge
2.0 Personal and Professional Skills & 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 a foreign language
4.0 Conceiving, Designing, Implementing & Operating Systems in the
Enterprise & Societal Context
External and societal context
Enterprise and business context
Conceiving and engineering systems
Designing
Implementing
Operating

19. CDIO SYLLABUS Syllabus at 3rd level
One or two more levels are detailed
Rational
Comprehensive
Peer reviewed
Basis for design and assessment

20. SYLLABUS LEVEL OF PROFICIENCY
6 groups surveyed: 1st and 4th year students, alumni 25 years old, alumni 35 years old, faculty, leaders of industry
Question: For each attribute, please indicate which of the five levels of proficiency you desire in a graduating engineering student:
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

21. PROFICIENCY EXPECTATIONS
Innovate
Proficiency Expectations at MIT Aero/Astro
Skilled
Practice
Understand
Participate
Exposure
REMARKABLE AGREEMENT!

22. 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

23. 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

24. BEST PRACTICE: THE CDIO STANDARDS
1. The Context
Adoption of the principle that product. Process, and system lifecycle development and deployment are the context for engineering education
2. Learning Outcomes
Specific, detailed learning outcomes for personal, interpersonal, and product,.process 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, process, and system building skills
4. Introduction to Engineering
An introductory course that provides the framework for engineering practice in product. Process, and system building, and introduces essential personal and interpersonal skills
5. Design-Implement Experiences
A curriculum that includes two or more design-implement experiences, including one at a basic level and one at an advanced level
6. Engineering Workspaces
Workspaces and laboratories that support and encourage hands-on learning of product, process, 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 produc, process,t and system building skills
8. Active Learning
Teaching and learning based on active experiential learning methods
9. Enhancement of Faculty Skills Competence
Actions that enhance faculty competence in personal, interpersonal, and product and system building skills
10. Enhancement of Faculty Teaching Competence
Actions that enhance faculty competence in providing integrated learning experiences, in using active experiential learning methods, and in assessing student learning
11. Learning Assessment
Assessment of student learning in personal, interpersonal, and product, process, and system building skills, as well as in disciplinary knowledge
12. Program Evaluation
A system that evaluates programs against these 12 standards, and provides feedback to students, faculty, and other stakeholders for the purposes of continuous improvement
The CDIO Standards are found in “Rethinking Engineering Education”, pp ; in the Handbook, pp. 3-15; and at the CDIO webstie,
NOTE: The version in the Handbook is dated 2004; minor word changes were made for the book and the website in 2007.

25. 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
Capstone
Disciplines
Intro
Sciences

26. 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
Areas of most developed abilities are those that are important to program stakeholders
Students show progress in key areas from start to finish in a CDIO program
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
Results are being used for continuous program improvement

27. QUESTIONS
How can teaching and learning in the context of engineering practice help to address the need for qualified engineers in China?
How could the goals and vision of the CDIO approach to engineering education be implemented in China?
What are your questions?
Give participants time to reflect and talk with others from their own universities.. If there is time, solicit a few comments from volunteers.

28. EXTRA SLIDES

29. CURRICULUM ORGANIZATION MODELS
A strict disciplinary curriculum
Organized around disciplines, with no explicit introduction or skills
An apprenticeship model
Based on projects, with no organized introductions of disciplines
A problem-based curriculum
Organized around problems, but with disciplines interwoven
An integrated curriculum
Organized around disciplines, but with skills and projects interwoven
Disciplines run vertically, projects and skills run horizontally

30. DESIGN-IMPLEMENT EXPERIENCES
Provide authentic activities onto which more abstract learning can be mapped
Provide the natural context in which to teach many CDIO Syllabus skills (teamwork, communications, designing, implementing)
Reinforce by application previously learned abstract knowledge, to deepen comprehension

31. BEST PRACTICE: ENHANCING FACULTY COMPETENCE
Standard Nine: Enhance faculty competence in personal, interpersonal, and product, process and system building skills
Standard Ten: Encourage faculty to enhance their competence in active and experiential teaching and learning, and in assessment
Hiring a more diverse skill mix
Partnerships and alliances
Training and resources

32. PROPOSED EVALUATION STUDIES
Survey of the implementation status of current CDIO programs with respect to the CDIO Standards
Analysis of published papers and presentations on the CDIO approach to engineering education
Studies of student self-efficacy of personal, interpersonal, and product, process, and system building skills
Analysis of studies of enhanced conceptual understanding of technical fundamentals
Analysis of studies of enhanced competence in product, process, and system building skills
Longitudinal study of students’ transition from CDIO programs to the workforce
Development of a common standardized alumni study of CDIO programs
Analysis of senior exit studies of CDIO programs
Development of a common standardized employer satisfaction study

33. THE NEED FOR CHANGE IN CHINA
CHALLENGES
Upgrading China’s industries to knowledge-intensive and innovation-oriented service industries with high added-value goods and services
Multinational corporations selecting China, India, and the United States as their prime locations
Of the 1.6 million young engineers in ChinA, only 160,000 are qualified at the level required by multinational companies
Gaps in understanding between universities and industries
Engineering curricula and courses biased toward theory, with insufficient applications of theory
Insufficient preparation of students for increasing globalization