A Market Approach forCurricular Capstone-Internships

António Cardoso CostaDep. Eng.ª Informática

ISEP-IPP, Portugal

TEEM'15: 7-9 October 2015 @ ISEP

Ecosystem of a modern engineering program (1)

ISEP and LEI-ISEP• ISEP, a 163 years old public engineering school– Located in Porto, Portugal (very fashionable nowadays)• +6700 students, 400 teachers and 120 staf

– In 2015-2016 ISEP ofers• 12 first cycle engineering 3-year programs (bachelor)• 11 second cycle engineering 2-year programs (master)• 19 post-graduation one-year programs

– About ISEP Informatics Engineering Program (LEI-ISEP)• Portuguese bachelor degree with the largest enrolment of

freshmen (+300) and amount of students (+1200)• For 2015-2016 there were 1040 candidates for 210 slots

The CDIO™ Initiative• CDIO motivation– Change the Engineering

Education Process

– Founders 2000:MIT, Chalmers,KTH and Linköping

Personal and Interpersonal Skills, and Product, Process, and

System Building Skills

Before 1950Practice

1960Science& Practice

1980Science

2000CDIO

Disciplinary Knowledge

The CDIO™ Initiative• The “Need” of CDIO– Educate students who understand how to Conceive-Design-

Implement-Operate complex value-added engineering systems in a modern team-based engineering environment

• The “Objectives” of CDIO– Educate students to master a deeper working knowledge of

the technical fundamentals– Educate engineers to lead in the creation and operation of

new products and systems– Educate all to understand the importance and strategic

impact of research and technological development on society

The CDIO™ Initiative• CDIO adoption– Described using 12 standards of good-practice

1. CDIO as Context2. CDIO Syllabus Outcomes3. Integrated Curriculum4. Introduction to Engineering5. Design-Build Experiences6. CDIO Workspaces7. Integrated Learning Experiences8. Active Learning9. Enhancement of Faculty CDIO Skills10. Enhancement of Faculty Teaching Skills11. CDIO Skills Assessment12. CDIO Program Evaluation

}

}Key performance indicators!

The CDIO™ Initiative• Generic CDIO Syllabus for description of outcomes (1)– 1 DISCIPLINARY KNOWLEDGE AND REASONING• 1.1 KNOWLEDGE OF UNDERLYING DISCIPLINES• 1.2 CORE DISCIPLINARY FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE• 1.3 ADVANCED DISCIPLINARY FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE, METHODS

AND TOOLS

– 2 PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES• 2.1 ANALYTIC REASONING AND PROBLEM SOLVING• 2.2 EXPERIMENTATION, INVESTIGATION AND KNOWLEDGE DISCOVERY• 2.3 SYSTEM THINKING• 2.4 ATTITUDES, THOUGHT AND LEARNING• 2.5 ETHICS, EQUITY AND OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES

The CDIO™ Initiative• Generic CDIO Syllabus for description of outcomes (2)– 3 INTERPERSONAL SKILLS: TEAMWORK/COMMUNICATION• 3.1 TEAMWORK• 3.2 COMMUNICATIONS• 3.3 COMMUNICATIONS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES

– 4 PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN THE ENTERPRISE, SOCIETAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXT• 4.1 EXTERNAL, SOCIETAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXT• 4.2 PROFESSIONAL CONTEXT• 4.3-6 CDIO CONTEXTS

– The outcomes encompass 4 levels and describe the minimum required performance levels (Bloom cognitive scale, etc.)

The CDIO™ Initiative at LEI-ISEP• An undergraduate program (Bologna 1st cycle)–

+300 freshmen and +1200 students in 2015-16

The CDIO™ Initiative at LEI-ISEP• CDIO inspired integrated learning processes– LEI software engineering learning process

The CDIO™ Initiative at LEI-ISEP• Relevant consequences of CDIO adoption at LEI-ISEP– LEI-ISEP Syllabus definition (2007, revised 2015)– Definition and update of simultaneous learning processes,

ensuring the alignment of courses with Syllabus– Courses developing personal, interpersonal, social and

engineering skills, providing context to the disciplinary knowledge– Larger involvement and responsibility of faculty– Emphasis in student group learning over teaching– Extensive feedback about the program and its outcomes in

the context of capstone-internship projects and activities

The CDIO™ Initiative at LEI-ISEP• Self-evaluation of CDIO implementation

Capstone-internship performance at LEI-ISEP• Program results, students and graduates– Very high and growing interest from employers about the

capstone-internship projects:• 2012-13, 394 approved projects - 191 assigned• 2013-14, 420 approved projects - 181 assigned• 2014-15, 417 approved projects - 227 assigned

– Very high student and graduate employability– Increased interaction between employers and LEI-ISEP– The first Portuguese bachelor program certified with the

EUR-ACE Quality Seal by Ordem dos Engenheiros and ENAAE in 2013 (for 6 years)

Assessment and evaluation at LEI-ISEP• Capstone-internship assessment and evaluation– Several instruments used and periodically revised– External Supervisor Inquiry• For advisers: student assessment of ACM computing capabilities

– CDIO Evaluation in Capstone-Internships• For advisers: collect data to verify if the CDIO second level student

outcomes are achieved

– Presentation before a jury of a single student or a group• Jury of 3 teachers + LEI adviser(s) + external supervisor(s)• Capstone grade: 50% project solution + 50% technical report

Capstone-internship results at LEI-ISEP• Capstone grades between 2008-2014

Graduate profiling at LEI-ISEP• Graduates descriptor based grading 2010-2014

Capstone-internship inquiries at LEI-ISEP• Student skills/competence from supervisor inquiries

Ecosystem of a modern engineering program (2)EUR-ACE

LabelsEUR-ACE

Labels

Conclusions about CDIO™ and EUR-ACE• Positive impacts at ISEP– Evidence accumulated since 2012• First option student applications have increased• Student dropout in programs has been reduced• Teachers applying active pedagogical methods in classes• The graduation rate of most ISEP programs has increased• More industry contacts with teachers and managers• Industry more interested in cooperating with programs• Recognition from accreditation/certification agencies, IT

academies, industry, alumni, media, etc.• Nowadays relevant labels for youth, families and employers

A Market Approach forCurricular Capstone-Internships

António Cardoso CostaDep. Eng.ª Informática

ISEP-IPP, Portugal

TEEM'15: 7-9 October 2015 @ ISEP