Reflections on the implementation of CDIO: Key Learning for Implementing Large-Scale

Curriculum Innovation

Education (like Life) is an Experiment

It needs a Purpose, then a Design to attain that Purpose

CDIO an Experiment in Engineering Education

For those who like“The Big Read”

For those

Over 110 institutions worldwide and still growing!

Singapore Polytechnic (Regional Centre) Nanyang Polytechnic

Kanazawa Institute of Technology Kanazawa Technical College

Rajamangala University ThanyaburiChulalongkorn University

Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh CityDuy Tan University

Thu Dau Mot UniversityMongolia University of Science and Technology

School of Engineering at Taylor's University College

Shantou University (Regional Centre) Tsinghua University

Beijing Jiaotong University Dalian Neusoft Institute of Information

Beijing Institute of Petrochemical TechnologySuzhou Industrial Park Institute of Vocational Technology

College of Light Industry, Hebei United University Yanshan University

Asia Region

Why is it called CDIO?

Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate is the context of Engineering Education

It’s what engineers do

We believe that every graduating engineer should be able to:

Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate complex value-added engineering products, processes, and systems in a modern, team-based environment

(Crawley et al 2007)

Two BIG Questions for Engineering (any) Education

WHAT knowledge, skills and attitudes should students possess as they graduate from university? (PURPOSE)

HOW can we do better at ensuring that students learn these skills? (PEDAGOGIC DESIGN)

CDIO OVERVIEW

What : CDIO Syllabus– Disciplinary

Knowledge– Personal Skills– Interpersonal Skills– CDIO Skills

How : 12 Standards– Curriculum– Teaching & Learning

Methods– Workspace– Faculty Competence– Assessment

The activities within the CDIO Initiative are based on two key documents

Adopt CDIO as a context

CDIO Syllabus OutcomesIntegrated CurriculumIntroduction to EngineeringDesign-Build Experiences

CDIO Workspaces

Integrated Learning ExperiencesActive Learning

Enhancement of Staff CDIO SkillsEnhancement of Staff Teaching Skills

CDIO Skills AssessmentCDIO Program Evaluation

Curriculum

Workspace/Labs

Teaching & Learning Methods

Enhancement of Faculty Competence

Assessment Methods

Standard 1

Standard 2Standard 3Standard 4Standard 5

Standard 6

Standard 7Standard 8

Standard 9Standard 10

Standard 11Standard 12

CDIO Standards

After several years of implementation - what did we learn that was critical to

success?

1: The need for a Catalyst

The push for change typically involves a ‘catalyst’ (Timperley, 2008) that challenges existing arrangements.

The catalyst for change in this context was a growing disquiet generally in many countries that existing engineering education programmes were not meeting the demands of the modern workplace, attrition rates in engineering courses are particularly high, and an increasing number of student complaints that the content was dry and boring, especially in the first year of study.

2: A Positive Perception (belief) for some initial buy-in

Perception is Everything, and Beliefs are no more than perceptions that have been around a long time

• Education has been as Sallis and Hingley (1991) asserted “…a creature of fashion” (p.9) and many in the profession have long complained of ‘initiative fatigue’.

• Without teachers believing that there is real value in terms of gains in student learning and attainment from a new initiative, significant buy-in is unlikely. As Fullan (2007) argued:

…changes in beliefs and understanding (first principles) are the foundation of achieving lasting reform. (p.33)

What Shaped a Positive Perception at SP?

• As CDIO is a framework conceived by engineers for engineering education, it had greater initial face validity

• The standards are guiding heuristics, not prescriptive ‘rules’ • CDIO was not over-hyped, e.g., “best thing since sliced bread”

– but as a framework for possible improvements in the existing curriculum arrangements.

• Voluntary, but supported by Senior Management

3: Getting The Outcomes RIGHT

…it is a major mistake to take any published list of basic skills or competencies and accept it for use on another campus without revision.

Not only will the specific items on such a list vary from institution to institution but the definition of each item will vary as well. The final list of competencies, their definitions, and how they should be assessed must evolve on each campus.

Faculty ownership in the process is an essential element for success.

(Diamond,1988, p.53)

What we did to achieve the “Right Outcomes”

To produce a customized CDIO syllabus for SP a working group of representatives from the various engineering schools was established to systematically work through the CDIO Skills, with a remit to:

• Identify which skills were most appropriate in the SP context

• Decide a viable proficiency level

• Write specific learning objectives that are measurable.

4: Clarity of key outcome components

A central component of the CDIO framework is integration of knowledge and skills to provide more authentic holistic learning experiences. Of key importance was the integration of key thinking skills (e.g. critical thinking, creative thinking and metacognition) into the subject content curriculum.

However, as Wagner’s (2010) documented • In schools, critical thinking has long been a buzz phrase. Educators pay lip

service to its importance, but few can tell me what they mean by the phrase or how they teach and test it... (p.16)

• For the most part, teachers haven’t been trained to teach students how to think. (xxiv)

The Challenge of Defining & Integrating Thinking Skills

• Yes - the accurate conceptualization of internal cognitive processes is inherently problematic and invariably unreliable, especially across subject domains.

• However, without some valid practical frame on what these elusive but desirable skills are, and how they work in terms of the wider context of internal mental activity, there is little chance of the effective teaching and assessment of them.

A Model of Thinking (Sale 2015)

Meta-cognition

Comparison& Contrast

Inference &Interpretation

Evaluation

Generating Possibilities

Analysis

17

Example

Managing Pollution (some selected outcomes infusing types of thinking into subject content knowledge)

• Compare and contrast pollution in a range of contexts• Analyse the basis of pollutants• Make inferences and interpretations concerning the

causes of pollution in different situations• Generate possibilities in terms of managing/reducing

pollutants• Evaluate pollution policies.

Cyber Wargame Centre

Visual Effects Studio Aerospace Lab

5: Creating Authentic Learning Experiences & Learning Spaces

6: Meaningful & Useful Evaluation

• The evaluation was conducted over a 3-year period (2006-9), encompassing the student cohorts over the full term of their study at SP. A major aspect of the evaluation focused on the student learning experience

• For this reason, while the evaluation used a range of methods to obtain a wide profile of data, much emphasis was placed on a longitudinal ethnographic profile of the student’s experience. To achieve this, volunteer students were recruited as “co-participants” (Lincoln, 1990, p.78) to assist the researchers. They were specifically required to:

– Talk to classmates and capture their experiences of the new teaching methods– Record their perceptions and ‘findings’ on a designated blog– Meet with the researchers at least once a semester for group sharing.

7: High Leverage early Visible Benefits

• A strategic aspect that proved particularly important in effective implementation was the early involvement of faculty in a manageable part of the change activity.

For example, in reviewing courses and modules, they were able to experience tangible results in terms of clearer and more meaningful documents from which to plan student learning. As the old saying goes, “The proof of the pudding is in the eating” or as Bate, Bevan & Robert (2005) illustrated in more technical terms:

…people cannot want it until they have tried it. The concrete experience of participating in a movement is crucial, meanings and value being formed after the experience not before it. (p.31)

8: On Human Conduct

• A central consideration throughout focused on maintaining good relationships with all stakeholders, especially in being transparent in all aspects of the communication processes and ensuring that action taken is realistic and practical both in terms of school reference norms and for SP generally.

• As Hargreaves and Fullan (1998) summarized:

“Structures are only as good as the relationships and know-how of the people who occupy them. Emotional management is ultimately about attending to these relationships properly. Managing emotionally and rationally in today’s turbulent times is rocket science”. (p.129)

Summary Frame

Technical expertise is necessary, so is an understanding of how human behavior typically plays out at organizational level. Hence, there is a need for ongoing careful management of existing and desired social realities in the institutional context.

Stakeholders must see purpose and relevance and feel competent to meet clear and agreed goals, and this needs to be consistently transparent and collaborative within realistic time-frames.

Trying to do ‘everything yesterday’, typically means ‘doing more tomorrow’.