ENGINEERING EDUCATION ACCREDITATION IN CHINA

Yu Shouwen Tsinghua University

,CEEAA； CSEE 2012-10-23,Beijing,CHINA

OUTLINE---

An Overview of China’s Higher Education Master of Engineering ProgramDevelopment of China’s Engineering Education Program Accreditation System with outcome based criteria

Outstanding engineers training project (OETP) in china

In China---Data Analysis• China is largely an agrarian society, with

nearly half of the working population in agriculture.

• Approximately 29 percent of the workforce is in services and 22 percent in industry,

• China’s economy has experienced accelerated growth in recent years

• Even if the GDP were to quadruple between 2000 and 2020, the GDP per capita would still be only about 3,000 USD

AN OVERVIEW OF CHINA’S HIGHER EDUCATION ---[PART FROM--PROF.GE D K,2005)INCLUDING—UNIVERSITIES, COLLEGES, AND ADULTS HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS** NOT INCLUDING GRADUATE STUDENTS—(~1/30,2011)

The total number of students in regular higher education

2004-------------------------------- 14.1549 millions

2006------------------------------- ~23.00 millions

2007----------------------- ~24.09 millions

2011----------------------- ~29.5 millions

DIVERSITY OF THE NEEDS OF HUMAN RESOURCE

--Balance between globalization and localization

--Quality of higher engineering education—The needs of human resources :

According to the needs for international level and local economic region

Encouraging Outstanding Young People to Be Modern Engineers in the 21st Century

• ‘Better Engineers and Better Professionals”

• Some outstanding Chinese youths in current society didn’t want to choose engineering technology as their major

• They were unlikely to be cultivated to be engineers and professionals.

• The preferred majors of many young people included such hot specialties as: finance, commerce, administration, foreign language, law etc.

Engineering Education System in China

12

11 PhD in Eng

10Doctor Level

D. Eng

9

8 Master in EngM. Eng7

Master Level

6Bachelor in Eng

5

4

Bachelor Level3

Vocational Education2 Technical College

1

In 2011 ， the number of engineering students in universities

reached 4.276 M which accounted for 31.7% of all the undergraduate students in China, and made China the largest engineering education country in the world.

30% of the educational programs in universities were engineering programs.

Scope of Engineering Education in China

Percentage of Eng degrees in all degrees awarded by Chinese universities in 2010.

Resource: Educational Statistics in China, 2011.

Scope of Engineering Education in China(2010)

Universities which have Eng Programs

1003 out of 1090Colleges which have Eng Programs

1207 out of 1215

Resource: Educational Statistics in China, 2011.

Status and Development of Engineering Education in China

Engineering Education Accreditation in China

Outline

We hope engineering educational program accreditation will:

Plays a key role in the quality insurance system of engineering education.

Links engineering education with industry and being a driving force to promote the reform of engineering education.

Promotes Chinese engineering and technology talents

joining in the international competition and mobility.

Purpose of Accreditation

The theoretical research and practice of program evaluation in China could be traced back to the late 20th century.

The program evaluation of architecture, urban planning, civil engineering, construction environment and equipment engineering, water supply and drainage works, engineering

management began in 1993.

China launched the engineering educational program

accreditation in 2006 and began to establish the

accreditation system.

Development of Engineering Educational Accreditation in China

Till 2011,there are:

◦ 219 programs in the 6 fields of Architecture and civil engineering having been accredited.

◦ 132 programs in mechanical, chemical, electrical, computer, hydraulic, transportation, environmental, light industry, food, safety and mineral engineering having been accredited.

Programs been accredited

Discipline Fields

No. of Programs been accredited each year

No. of Programs in the country

Percentage of programs

been accredited 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Subtotal

Mechanical 2 2 2 6 5 5 22 1559 1.41%

Chemical 2 2 2 3 2 3 14 546 2.56%

EE 2 2 3 2 6 4 19 3295 0.58%

Computer 2 2 2 3 2 4 15 903 1.66%

Hydraulic   2 2 2 2 3 11 141 7.80%

Transportation   2 2 2 2 3 11 395 2.78%

Environmental   2 2 2 2 2 10 349 2.87%Light industry

and food  2 1 3 1 2 9 698 1.29%

Safety   2 2 3 3 3 13 134 5.97%

Mineral     1 3 2 2 8 239 5.44%

Subtotal 8 18 19 29 27 31 132 8529 1.55%

Architecture 1992-2011, 219 programs been accredited 1296 16.90%

Total 351 11602 3.03%

Programs been accredited

According to the overall planning, program accreditation work will cover most engineering disciplines in China (around 30 categories)  within the next few years. Programs in materials, mapping, instrumentation engineering will be added in the accreditation calendar of 2012.

We will gradually increase the number of engineering programs to be accredited and enlarge the scope of accreditation work, on the premise of the quality and international comparability of accreditation results.

Future plan

Chinese Engineering Education Accreditation Association (CEEAA) is a non-profit organization affiliated with China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) .

It is authorized by the Ministry of Education to conduct engineering educational program accreditation in the territory of mainland China.

CEEAA consists of over 30 national professional associations, institutes and federations, which cover most of the engineering and technology fields in the country. With the development of accreditation work, members of CEEAA will increase gradually.

Structure of Engineering Educational Program Accreditation

Chinese Engineering Education Accreditation Association

（ membership General meeting)

Board of Supervisor Council

Member(Professiona

l Association)

Member(Institute)

Member(Federation)

……

……

Sub Committee

2

Sub Committee 1

Discipline Secretariat

2

Discipline Secretariat 1

Accreditation Results

Advisory Board

Academic Board

Secretariat

Academic Dept

General Dept

Training & Consulting

DeptInfo Dept

Accreditation Dept

International Dept

CAST

Accreditation Criteria

Criteria

General Principles

General Criteria Complementary Program Criteria

Program Objective

Curriculum Faculty Management

SystemQuality

EvaluationSupportingRecourses

Students Development

Accreditation ProcessThe institution submits application

The institution conducts self-evaluation and submits self-evaluation report

Application accepted

The Sub-Committee reviews and discusses the self-evaluation report

Pass

The Accreditation Visiting team visits the campus

Submits On-site Visit Report to the sub-committee

The Accreditation Sub-committee reviews relevant documents and submit accreditation report to the Council

Council holds Plenary Meeting and votes

The Maintenance of the Accreditation Status

Policy and Procedure of Engineering Educational Programs Accreditation

The Engineering Educational Programs Accreditation Criteria

The Evaluators Selection and Training Methods for Engineering Educational Programs Accreditation

The Working Guidance for the Program Evaluators

The Preparation Working Guidance for Programs to be Accredited

(2006;2007;2008;2009;2010 ;2011Version)

Accreditation Documents

The establishment of engineering educational program accreditation system follows these general principles:

Substantial Equivalence with international accreditation systems

Third party accreditation body

Outcome based

Rigorous and normative

General Principles for Accreditation

We have actively communicated with international accreditation bodies and invited experts from England, Australia, America, Chinese Hong kong and to observe our accreditation work . They gave active assessments to our accreditation system.

Remarks from Foreign Accreditation Observers

The Chinese accreditation visit logistics were very similar to the ABET accreditation visit logistics overall. Meetings and interviews were very similar in nature between the two processes as well as documentation and student work that was examined. The Chinese accreditation team identified issues similar to what ABET accreditors comment on in the United States system, and it was quite interesting for me to see so many similarities.

——Mary E ． F ， Kasarda (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) after observations accreditation visit to School of Mechanical Engineering in Xi’an Jiaotong University in 2011.

The pilot accreditation system developed by CAST has been clearly founded

on an outcomes based assessment approach. The policy, criteria, governance system and assessment processes have been found to be comprehensive and rigorous and will mature to be substantially equivalent with accreditation systems operated by the Washington Accord signatories.

—— Alan Bradley (Associate Director Engineers Australia), after observing the accreditation of mechanical engineering program of HIT in 2008

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The accreditation---Feedback to Ministry of Education ,China, They are linking and driving a big projet---Outstanding Engineers Training Project--

OUTSTANDING ENGINEERS TRAINING PROJECT (OETP)IN CHINA

Since 2010,June----

OETP--START

2010-June 23 Universities---~60 Universities with

194 programs, 2012, ---2nd Phase with ~600

programs Enterprises--~20 Departments of State and

Association---22 Several program per Univ. ,linking Ba.

and Ma. Degree Establish teacher training center and

Practice training center for students

OETP--AIM:

TRANING THE OUTSTANDING ENGINEER Face to industry; Face to the

world ;Face to the future; The duty of different division: State and Local government Ministry of Education Enterprises, Association…… Chinese Academy of Engineering

Overview—Data Encourage young students Master of Engineering Accreditation—Quality OETP STRENGTHEN LINKING UNIVERSITIES

AND INDUSTRY

Thank You!