Page 95 - 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

78 EDUCATING THE ENGINEER OF 2020

terminal objectives of a course). Because objectives are included in the
object structure of a course, it is a straightforward process to produce a
tree of learning objectives.
There are two additional levels in the Greenfield object structure—
the program and knowledge areas. A “knowledge area” is a group of
courses that share certain instructional objectives and outcomes. For
example, in a program that focuses on manufacturing engineering, there
are typically courses that focus on manufacturing systems and courses
that focus on manufacturing processes. By defining programs in this
way, we can provide a tree of objectives for an entire program. By treat-
ing prerequisite knowledge as a “child object” of a course, for example,
we can better manage requirements for a full curriculum. Meta-tags
embedded at each level of the hierarchy define content, special technol-
ogy support requirements, etc.
Authorship and intellectual property rights are embedded in the
objects. Thus, a document with multiple authors can be created by ref-
erencing different objects. Data about use restrictions and ownership
are drawn from the database and displayed in the composite document.

CHANGING OUR CULTURE

Technology provides one platform for reforming our educational
processes, but technology cannot make a difference unless people and
organizations change and adapt. The Greenfield Coalition is in the final
phase of a research study of the factors that enhance, and the factors
that impede, the diffusion of learning technologies. Each classroom is
an arena in which the culture of learners and the culture of teachers
must negotiate their beliefs, values, and behaviors. Changes in educa-
tional process are not simply a matter of adopting IT. IT must also lead
to changes in our approaches to learning enabled by that technology.
Does IT give us a better means of enhancing modern approaches to
learning (Bloom, 1956; Gagne, 1985; Filipczak, 1996), or does it merely
divert future engineers from a deeper understanding and better decision
making?

THE GREENFIELD COALITION AND FOCUS: HOPE

The Greenfield Coalition and Focus: HOPE is a coalition of five
universities, three university affiliates, six manufacturing companies, the

Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.