Page 70 - Educating the Engineer of 2020: Adapting Engineering Education to the New Century

Educating the Engineer of 2020: Adapting Engineering Education to the New Century
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11338.html

RECOMMENDATIONS 53

With the increased robustness of information technology and the
rapidly expanding number of educational models being developed at
engineering campuses, one could conceive of an engineering “program”
at institution A that consists, in part, of courses offered online by insti-
tutions B and C, and internships at industrial site D. As long as institu-
tion A defines its outcome goals, has rigorous metrics for their attain-
ment, and stands behind the “program,” one can conceive that such an
approach could be accredited. Such a hypothetical model is meant to be
illustrative of unconventional approaches that can be explored. A re-
newed effort to mine the promising approaches that were developed by
the coalitions could be a source of inspiration for such efforts. Thus, we
recommend that

3. Engineering schools should more vigorously exploit the flexibility
inherent in the outcomes-based accreditation approach to experi-
ment with novel models for baccalaureate education. ABET should
ensure that evaluators look for innovation and experimentation in
the curriculum and not just hold institutions to a strict interpreta-
tion of the guidelines as they see them.

Based on the curricular experiments that have been conducted un-
der the National Science Foundation (NSF) Coalitions Program, it is
apparent that students who are introduced to engineering design, engi-
neering problem solving, and the concept of engineering as a servant of
society early in their undergraduate education are more likely to pursue
their engineering programs to completion. The same approach appar-
ently is also more appealing to women and underrepresented minority
students who are in such short supply in engineering programs and
much more likely to drop out. Treating the freshman year as a “sink or
swim” experience and accepting attrition as inevitable is both unfair to
students and wasteful of resources and faculty time. Thus, we recom-
mend that

4. Whatever other creative approaches are taken in the four-year
engineering curriculum, the essence of engineering—the iterative
process of designing, predicting performance, building, and test-
ing—should be taught from the earliest stages of the curriculum,
including the first year.

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