An Innovation Model in Curriculum Design for Teaching Engineering at Universidad EAFIT
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2014-01-01
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IEEE
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Constant changes in technology pose continuous challenges for higher education institutions that are training the engineers of the future. These changes are making it necessary to adapt the curriculum in order to develop the skills needed by the XXI century engineer. Moreover, instead of thinking in a large curriculum reform at a specific moment, it is necessary to define curriculum management processes that include change as a natural component of the process. In addition to these global trends, each institution has a particular context and thus, the analysis in each institution has unique characteristics, a common methodological approach, and a reference model that can be built as long as it is flexible enough to include that context. This paper describes a model developed for curriculum management inside the School of Engineering at Universidad EAFIT - Colombia. This model includes the institutional context and is based on a process approach defined by the Business Process Management (BPM) methodology. The model uses the Burlton Hexagon as a theoretical framework to identify organizational structure, strategies, policies, infrastructure, technology tools and human capital. It is also a mechanism for specifying curricular macro processes including the global and institutional context. The proposed model is based on three pillars: (a) scientific research in education, which promotes the use of the scientific method as a strategy to ensure an approach to problems based on evidence which allows the construction of educational innovation projects, (b) education engineering focused on engineering education, which transforms the learning by developing basic, professional, and transversal skills as well as those specific for an engineer of the XXI century, and (c) interactive educational communities, both face to face and virtual, as spaces for knowledge management that support collaborative working and experience-sharing, managed by its members working together promoting initiatives to develop educational innovation projects focused on specific topics, that answer questions related to teaching and learning needs. The formulation and development of educational innovation projects are the responses to different needs identified on specific courses that are transformed into research questions. These projects aim to renew the curriculum so that it dynamically evolves based on classroom experiences. Thus, the curriculum renewal is based on critical thinking about the problems found in engineering education. The use of the scientific method and the collaborative approach enables drawing solid conclusions based on the experimental results. The model proposes the formulation and development of innovative educational projects in which scientific research applied in education aims to transform teaching, academic and administrative practices. As consequence, curricular innovations that integrate learning objects and educational, methodological and assessment strategies, are developed by an interactive learning community composed by teachers. Finally, the results obtained by applying the model in some courses in the School of Engineering of Universidad EAFIT are presented. These results include reducing the drop-out rate of students, redefining admission and graduation profiles, and micro-curricular redesign based on competences using projects, among others.