An evaluation of CDIO approach to engineering education

The CDIO initiative is a strategic approach to engineering education modelled on the lifecycle of a product. The underlying assumption is that an engineer will need to take into account all aspects of a product or service. The CDIO approach has been growing in popularity and has been adopted in a number of Universities worldwide. This paper examines the CDIO philosophy in the context of a number of contemporary theories of teaching and learning such as constructivism and problem based learning. The CDIO approach consists of twelve ‘standards’ that are adopted by an educational institution. In this paper each of the standards are compared to aspects of an accepted educational theory. It was found that the CDIO approach correlates well when compared to these educational paradigms. INTRODUCTION CDIO stands for Conceive, Design, Implement and Operate. CDIO is an innovative initiative, which offers an alternative educational framework for producing better-prepared and highly skilled engineering graduates. The initiative aims to provide students with an education that stresses engineering fundamentals based on the life cycle of a product. During the life cycle of any product it goes through clearly defined stages. The CDIO initiative applies this framework to the education of its undergraduate engineers. The students learn to solve problems and complete projects following the same stages i.e. Conceive, Design, Implement and Operate. The CDIO initiative was developed with the input from academics, industry, engineers and students. It was developed in such a manner that it is universally adaptable to all engineering programmes and for all academic institutions [1]. To improve the teaching and learning of engineering students, the CDIO initiative aims to make four important improvements; • The program increases active and hands-on learning, • Emphasises problem formulation and solution, • Thoroughly explores the underlying concepts of the tools and techniques of engineering, • Institute innovative and exciting ways of gathering feedback. These improvements aspire to fully engage the engineering students in all the stages of a product life cycle. CDIO promotes goal orientated, project based learning where the aims and desired learning outcomes are clearly stated prior to the students starting any project or before any instruction is given. It also promotes curricular reform to include design and build projects, to coordinate and link other subjects in an interdisciplinary engineering course. It aspires to create challenging experiences in which students design, build and operate product systems. In addition, due to the innovative teaching styles, the initiative requires alternative assessment processes. It is essential that continual and thorough assessment be provided for the students and success of the program itself. CDIO has included an assessment process, which evaluates