ifoundry: organizational change for the transformation of engineering education
TRANSCRIPT
iFoundry: Organizational Change for Transformation of Engineering
EducationDavid E. Goldberg
Illinois Foundry for Innovation in Engineering EducationUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Urbana, IL 61801 [email protected]
Motivation & Roadmap
• Good thinking & doing in engineering education.
• Need engineers as category creators
• Why can’t we change more broadly & quickly?
• Roadmap– The institutional problem of change: An
academic NIMBY problem.– Promoting respectful change.– iFoundry: Six elements for change.
© David E. Goldberg 2008
An Academic NIMBY Problem
• NIMBY = Not in my backyard.• “It is OK to change the
curriculum…”• “….as long as you leave my
course alone.”• Politics of logrolling: You
support my not changing. I support your not changing.
• Even though agreement for change is widespread, specific changes are resisted.
© David E. Goldberg 2008
Can We Promote Respectful Change?
• Have two problems:
– Need locus for change.
– Need respect for academic governance.
• Three elements of solution:
– Suggests pilot unit, where change is mission.
– Need federalist governance.
– Ultimate curriculum decision stays home.
• Illinois established iFoundry: Illinois Foundry for Innovation in Engineering Education.
© David E. Goldberg 2008
Six Elements of iFoundry
• 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. 5300 at research U.
• Open-source curriculum change. Do it in the open.
© David E. Goldberg 2008
Bottom Line
• From cold war engineers to category creators.
• Institution thwarts change.
• iFoundry: A new pilot programs across departmental boundaries to promote change.
• Organizational innovation is crucial to educational innovation.
• Also need to consider nature of engineering and content of engineering education.
© David E. Goldberg 2008
http://www.illigal.uiuc.edu/web/ifoundry
iFoundry: Organizational Change for Transformation of Engineering
EducationDavid E. Goldberg
Illinois Foundry for Innovation in Engineering EducationUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Urbana, IL 61801 [email protected]