iFoundry West Coast Swing

iFoundry West Coast Swing Illinois Foundry for Innovation in Engineering Education Philosophical, Organizational & Systems Innovations for Effective Change D. E. Goldberg, A. Cangellaris, & R. Price University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign {deg,cangella,price1}@illinois.edu

Motivation
We live in a creative era , but…
Teach engineering curriculum formed in crucible of WW2/cold war .
Need for change is widely recognized, but…
Efforts at change local , misdirected , or unsuccessfu l.
One-by-one efforts inherently limited.
Successes don’t diffuse & curriculum change is slow .
Question: Can engineering education change? Yes, but must direct efforts at the real problems .

Roadmap
Failure of engineering education change efforts.
Systems view of the problem of academic change.
iFoundry: Cross-departmental incubator or pilot .
What engineers don’t learn : A view from industrial-based senior design.
3Space as balanced framework : ThingSpace, ThinkSpace, & FolkSpace.
Brass tacks: 6 foci for 2009-2009: ThingLab, 3Space Studios, Operation Fresh, Admissions, Rollout planning & EOTF2.0.
Jerry says, “ It’s for the kids: ” Financial ways to help.
Alums & friends contributing their brains & time, too.

Can Engineering Education Change?
Creative era: category creators , not just category enhancers.
Many failed efforts:
Corporation s: Sponsor research, conferences, educational change.
Alums understand need for change in their work.
Academy : NSF coalitions, Engineer of 2020, Duderstadt report, Olin College.
Bottom line: Some success, no diffusion across departments, colleges, borders.
Systems problem : Not firing on all cylinders.
Change efforts isolated .
Philosophically unsound & conceptually unclear.

Why Curriculum Doesn’t Change
Organizational resistance: Academic NIMBY ( not in my back yard ) problem. OK to reform, but don’t change MY course!
Content errors after WW2: Math and science squeezed out design in WW2 and cold war. Don’t have correct content or materials (books, cases, artifacts) to teach anything else.
Reform doesn’t scale: Best exemplars require faculty heroics, funding, and exclusive dedication to undergraduate education. Won’t xfer verbatim to Illiniois with 5700 ugrads and world-class research enterprise.
Vannevar Bush (1890-1974)

iFoundry: Unblocking the Organization
Collaborative, interdepartmental pilot unit. Permit change.
Volunteers. Enthusiasm for change among faculty & student participants.
Existing authority. Use signatory authority for modification of curricula for immediate pilot.
Respect faculty governance. Permanent changes go through usual channels.
Scalability. 300 @ teaching U vs. 5700 at research U.
Open-source curriculum change. Do it in the open.
http://www.illigal.uiuc.edu/web/ifoundry/files/2007/08/ifoundry_concept.pdf

What Engineers Don’t Learn : & Why They Don’t Learn It
Experience from real-world senior design.
After 4 years they
Can’t ask questions (Socrates 101).
Can’t label things (Aristotle 101).
Can’t model qualitatively (Aristotle 102, Hume 101).
Can’t decompose problems (Descartes 101).
Can’t experimen t or measure (Locke 101).
Can’t visualize/draw (daVinci/Monge 101).
Can’t communicate (Newman 101).
Huge “quality” failure : “product” (engineering students) inadequate to intended function.
7 failures as decomposition for repair.
Teach critical/creative thought : context of design.
Socrates (470-399 BCE)

Start with Artifacts , Not Analysis
Cold war content shifted to math and science , but these are not the essence of engineering.
Place artifacts (things)— products, processes, and systems —at center.
Recognize importance of engineeering thought (think) and engineering as social process (folk).
Yields philosophically well grounded decomposition.

3Space: A Balanced, Systems Approach
Content, 3Space:
ThingSpace : Artifacts as key product of engineering thought.
ThinkSpace : Engineers do more thinking than mere math & science.
FolkSpace : Engineering is performed by and for groups of people.
Cold war curriculum unbalanced toward math & science in ways unacceptable in a creative era.
3Space

Big Picture: Aims of Revisions BS MS 1 st yr Professional MS Degree w/ Advanced Analysis

Fa08/Sp09 Foci : 6 Elements
Fall08:
ThingLab: Lab transforms graphics to ThingSpace basics.
3Space Studios: Digital media to promote open & viral curriculum development.
Operation Fresh: Transformation of the freshmen year of engineering.
Spring09
Admissions : Design and implement admissions process for first cohort.
Rollout planning : Coursework & changes in place for Fa09 students.
Engineer of the Future : April 1 st part of Olin-Illinois Partnership.

The Students Are Coming! Fa09 Rollout Goals
Increased balance in 3Space: from cold war to creative era curriculum (category creators & enhancers).
Increased joy of engineering: Improved recruitment & retention, including women & minorities.
Increased student choice : Improved satisfaction and ownership of degree.
Integrated student life from get go.

One Size Doesn’t Fit All
Different departments choose different options:
Basic iFoundry option: ENG 100++ and HAPI themes.
Student-life plans: Teamwork for Quality Education (TQE).
Optional options: Freshman Think/Thingspace Option & Qualitative science swap.
Departmental pilot changes.

Cast of 1000s : Not Just Engineers
Ray Fouche (History) history and culture of technology.
David E. Goldberg (IESE) innovation theory, engin philosophy/history.
Laura Hahn (Center for Teaching Excellence) student engagement & improving pedagogy.
Bill Hammack (ChemE) technology for civilians.
Laura Hollis (Business Administration & TEC) law & entrepreneurship.
Alex Kirlik (Human Factors) human factors and engin psych.
Russ Korte (Education) transition to school & work.
Jim Leake (IESE), visualization, graphics, product realization.
Michael Loui (ECE). Engineering ethics & professionalism.
Deana McDonagh (Art & Design) emotional design.
Ray Price (IESE), emotional intelligence and leadership.
Christian Sandvig (Communications), gaming, communications & tech.
Sharra Vostral (Gender & Women Studies) women, technology & design
David Weightman (Art & Design), industrial design.
Sarah Zehr (Career Services), communications & career planning.

Jerry Says “ It’s For the Kids ”
iFoundry student scholars : $2k / year/student.
iFoundry fellows : $5k/semester/fellow.
Inquiries in Engineering Education Lecture Series (IEE): $10k - $20k/year.
iFoundry teams (25 students, like baseball team): $10k-25k/team/year.
3SpaceStudios digital upgrade: $100k-250k one time.
iFoundry endowment and naming opportunity ($5M - $10M).
Jerry Lewis (b. 1926)

iFoundry Wants You !
Subscribe YouTube, SlideShare, Facebook.
Virtual visit : YouTube videos and SlideShare ppts, tales from the trenches.
Real visit: short (lecture), medium (Engineer in Residence) or long (Prof of Practice).
Promote iFoundry aid from your company .
Team mentor/sponsor (see previous page).
EOTF2.0 & Alliance for Promoting Innovation in Engineering Education .
Advisory board in formation.

More Information
iFoundry : http://www.ifoundry.illinois.edu
ETSI : http://www.illigal.uiuc.edu/web/etsi
Workshop on Philosophy & Engineering : http://www-illigal.ge.uiuc.e du/wpe
Engineer of the Future 2.0 : http://engineerofthefuture.olin.edu/
YouTube : www.youtube.com/illinoisf oundry
SlideShare : www.slideshare.net/ifoundry

iFoundry West Coast Swing

by iFoundry on Jan 26, 2009

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iFoundry West Coast Swing — Presentation Transcript