O-CDIO : Engineering Education Framework with Embedded Design Thinking Methods

Technology and its applications have an ever-increasing role in our daily lives. Healthcare, logistics, commerce, manufacturing, and even social interaction, all have aspects of technology embedded in them. The complexity and importance of the technical systems we use varies, yet they are becoming increasingly versatile and more important to the functionality of entire systems and their services. At the same time, the complexity of understanding the future needs of the role that technology plays in such systems and what they are supposed to deliver varies from linear to chaotic. This has had a fundamental impact on the engineering profession. The more complicated, complex or even chaotic a system is, the more innovative and cooperative an engineer needs to be. Thus, engineers also need to understand people. This thesis presents a novel engineering education model, O-CDIO, which is based on an existing framework known as the CDIO framework. The O-CDIO model is derived from the results of the university level engineering education reform enacted in a multidisciplinary science university in Northern Europe, and from the scientific discourse within the domain of the engineering education research and literature. The timeline for the research was fall 2011 to fall 2015. The model that was developed emphasizes the need to educate engineers to become problem definers in addition to educating them to become problem solvers. This can be achieved by integrating human-centered design thinking methods and challenges into engineering courses from day one to graduation. The results of the piloted courses in the reform process show that transferable working life skills, such as communication, teamwork, problem-solving, prototyping skills, and tolerance towards ambiguity, were enhanced. These skills are widely seen as necessary for future engineering. The preliminary results also show that the courses provide an opportunity for self-discovery, increased self-efficacy, and result in an increase in entrepreneurial thinking. There were clear limitations to this research. The piloted courses had no control groups. The reflections on and comparisons of the results were achieved by considering the results of similar studies and the literature. Although some of the courses were run for three consecutive years, this research has very little longitudinal evidence. Future research should focus on implementation of the O-CDIO model as a whole, with longitudinal research set as one of its goals.Teknologian rooli maailmanlaajuisesti verkottuneessa teollisuudessa ja yhteiskunnassa on merkittävä ja ennustettavissa olevan tulevaisuuden ajan myös kasvussa. Se on myös enenevissä määrin sekä monimutkainen että moniulotteinen. Terveydenhuolto, teollisuus, koulutus, liikenne, ja internet, jopa sosiaalinen kanssakäyminen ovat esimerkkejä aloista ja ilmiöistä jotka ovat jollain tavalla riippuvaisia niiden sisältämän tekniikan toimivuudesta. Samaan aikaan teknologioiden ja tekniikan roolin ymmärtäminen sen eri konteksteissa on haastavampaa. Tekniikalla ei ole itsetarkoitusta. Sen tehtävä on aina palvella. Tämä asettaa uudenlaisia haasteita diplomi-insinööreille ja heidän kouluttamiselle. Tekniikan koulutus yliopistotasolla on maailmanlaajuisesti kyennyt vastaamaan sille asetettuihin haasteisiin. Tosin lähes poikkeuksetta muutos on syntynyt ulkoisen muutostarpeen aiheuttamana. Mitä monimutkaisemmaksi ja moniulotteisemmaksi tekniikalle ja teknologioille asetetut vaatimukset kehittyvät sitä monipuolisemmaksi pitää myös koulutuksen muuttua. Tämä tutkimus ja tieteellinen raportti perustuu suomalaisessa monialayliopistossa tapahtuneeseen tekniikan koulutuksen muutosprosessiin, tuloksiin sen aikana pilotoiduista kursseista ja alan kirjallisuuteen. Tutkimuksen tuloksena syntyi tekniikan koulutuksen malli joka johdettiin edellä mainituista tutkimuksen tuloksista, olemassa olevasta tekniikan koulutusmallista nimeltä CDIO ja kirjallisuudesta. Mallin ydinidea on kouluttaa diplomi-insinööreistä ongelmanhahmottajia ongelmanratkaisijoiden lisäksi. Tämä tapahtuu integroimalla ihmis- ja käyttäytymistieteisiin perustuvia opettamismetodeja läpi koko koulutuksen ensimmäisestä päivästä valmistumiseen asti. Reformin aikana tehdyt tutkimukset osoittivat että opettamismetodit saavuttivat niille asetetut oppimistavoitteet. Työelämätaidot kuten viestintä-, ryhmätyö-, ongelmanratkaisu- ja prototypointitaidot lisääntyivät. Alustavat tulokset myös osoittivat että opiskelijoiden reflektointikyky ja positiivinen suhtautuminen yrittäjyyteen lisääntyivät. Lisätutkimuksen tarve aiheeseen liittyen on ilmeinen. Tutkituissa kursseissa ei ollut mahdollista käyttää kontrolliryhmiä eikä O-CDIO mallia ole missään vaiheessa testattu kokonaisuudessaan. Lisäksi pitkän ajan vaikutuksia ei voitu tutkimuksen ajallisista kestosta johtuen testata. Pisimpään samanlaisena pysyneeltä kurssilta saatiin tutkimusaineistoa kolmelta eri vuodelta. Lisäksi tämän raportin kirjoittaja vastasi myös lähes poikkeuksetta tutkittujen kurssien ideoinnista, kehittämisestä ja opettamisesta. Tämä on otettu analyysivaiheessa huomioon mutta silti vaikuttaa tutkimustuloksiin. Luonnollinen lisätutkimuksen aihe on tutkia O-CDIO mallia kokonaisuudessaan todellisessa tekniikan koulutuksen kehyksessä ja riittävällä aikajänteellä.Siirretty Doriast

The role of an external facilitator in developing new co-creation platforms in university education

Today’s university graduates, regardless of their discipline, need thinking and working skills, that help them to face the complex, “wicked” real-life problems and challenges that cannot be solved tackled with purely rational thinking and straightforward problem solving. Education in general needs to be able to continuously change and develop to meet the needs of the global and local society, and industry. The interest of this study is twofold: to investigate the role of an external facilitator in a process of educational change and to examine whether development is easier initiated, sustained and facilitated from within the organization by an embedded actor, or by an external facilitator along with the factors influencing the process. In this paper we are looking at the role of an external facilitator in change process and we draw our insights from two different cases, from China and Austria. The aims in both cases were essentially similar: to create a collaborative learning environment and implement new practices and more student-centric culture. In both cases the change was initiated with a recruitment of an external facilitator. The results indicate that an active change agent and an outsider who is not fixated with the norms and practices of the current organization, can be a significant catalyst in driving change. The study depicts advantages of pushing change as an outsider who is not embedded in the organization, but also downsides stemming from issues such as lacking tacit knowledge and insider information. In addition, the cases illustrate how change promoters are required on different levels of university hierarchy starting from university leadership to the faculty and students.Peer reviewe

Self-efficacy in product development student teams - what shapes students’ perceived self-efficacy

This paper aims to provide a perspective of the student ́s perceived self-efficacy in a team based project course where students face open-ended, ill-defined problems. We discuss the development of self-efficacy in the team members and how different situations and events affect their perceived self-efficacy. The data used in this paper was gathered through interviews from students taking a yearlong masters ́ level capstone course. Results of the study show that the students’ overall self-efficacy increased most in team-based moments. We show also how entrepreneurial self-efficacy of students can be enhanced during problem- based New Product Development process. Finally we will conclude the potential of the researched course to provide practical experiences of project work as well as its potential for delivering entrepreneurial skills for the students during their education.Peer reviewe

Seven Steps to Strategic SDG Sensemaking for Cities

This practitioner paper is based on the need to make sense of UN Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the city level and in an urban context. We examine the need to explain how to utilise the SDGs in strategic, tactical and operative urban development. We find that there are knowledge and practise gaps in how to localise SDGs in the urban context. This need and the lack of existing tools has led to the development of a strategic sensemaking process, which has been tested and developed with municipal and other practitioners, locally and globally. The paper presents findings from this process of development and from implementation pilots, including an SDG Sensemaking Tool (SST), a step by step iterative procedure to address these gaps. The main focus of this paper is the SDG Sensemaking process, which relies on analysing SDGs in relation to any given phenomena or project within or outside a city. The first results in this work-in-progress show that it contributes to an understanding on the complexity of how SDGs are related to the analysed phenomena, and catalyses the SDG localisation process, which helps make sense of how to navigate and measure progress in such complex environments. More research and applications are, however, needed, so as to further understand how urban governance can meet holistic, sustainable-development needs. Future work will, firstly, comprise further integrating SDGs into city-level strategies with a focus on the local, regional, national, and global impact on sustainable development and the actualisation of SDGs, and secondly, on further developing SST so that it can serve these purposes

Software Business – 6th International Conference, ICSOB 2015, Braga, Portugal, June 10-12, 2015, Proceedings

This paper offers blueprints for and reports upon three years experi-ence from teaching the university course “Lean Software Startup” for information technology and economics students. The course aims to give a learning experience on ideation/innovation and subsequent product and business development using the lean startup method. The course educates the students in software business, entrepreneurship, teamwork and the lean startup method. The paper describes the pedagogical design and practical implementation of the course in sufficient detail to serve as an example of how entrepreneurship and business issues can be integrated into a software engineering curriculum. The course is evaluated through learning diaries and a questionnaire, as well as the primary teacher’s learnings in the three course instances. We also examine the course in the context of CDIO and show its connection points to this broader engineering education framework. Finally we discuss the challenges and opportunities of engaging students with different backgrounds in a hands-on entrepreneurial software business course.</p

Proceedings of NordDesign 2016, Volume 2, Trondheim, Norway, 10th - 12th August 2016

This paper aims to provide a perspective of the student´s perceived self-efficacy in a teambased project course where students face open-ended, ill-defined problems. We discuss thedevelopment of self-efficacy in the team members and how different situations and eventsaffect their perceived self-efficacy. The data used in this paper was gathered throughinterviews from students taking a yearlong masters´ level capstone course. Results of thestudy show that the students’ overall self-efficacy increased most in team-based moments. Weshow also how entrepreneurial self-efficacy of students can be enhanced during problembasedNew Product Development process. Finally we will conclude the potential of theresearched course to provide practical experiences of project work as well as its potential fordelivering entrepreneurial skills for the students during their education.</p

SEFI conference 2016 "Engineering Education on Top of the World: Industry University Cooperation"

Previous studies suggest that change in education is often initiated with the recruitment of an external facilitator, faculty with industry experience or newly hired faculty replacing those retiring [1,2]. The main interests of this study are twofold: what role does an external facilitator have in a change process and to discuss whether new development should be initiated, sustained and facilitated from within the organization or by an external change agent.This paper relies on two case studies, one in Austria and one China. Firstly, a case study on an environment supporting an interdisciplinary product development course hosted by a University of Technology in Austria. And secondly, a case study of Sino-Finnish Centre, a collaboration platform between a Finnish and Chinese university. The aims of both cases were essentially similar: to create new practices, a collaborative learning environment and more student-centric culture based on an existing experiential learning platform. In both the change was initiated with a recruitment of an external facilitator. However, the starting points varied significantly: in China the intention was to form a formal strategic partnership between the two universities and the new platform was supposed to be the tangible collaboration environment, whereas in Austria the interest was to create a more student-centric and vibrant atmosphere and a supporting environment around an interdisciplinary product development course.</p

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Someone recently asked me, “What do you do in your class? I mean, I walk intoyour classroom, sit down, then what happens?” Ok, I thought, I know how to answer thisquestion: I wanted to enthusiastically explain the structure of the class as a theoreticalblend of psychology, engineering design methods and art; discuss the intentional purposeof building the curriculum iteratively and differently every term, based on the uniquedeveloping social dynamics 13, 41 of every class.Something stopped me and I resisted responding. In that moment, I rememberfeeling the need to shift from an automatic theoretical response 48 to some other,hopefully novel approach, that would underline how I teach; clarify what occurs in theclassroom. I thought I had the answer as an Instructor. And, as I struggled in myresponse, to do what I teach, and avoid responding with a rehearsed, practiced pitch24 , Irealized that the response in my head to the question, “What happens in your class?” wasa conversation stopper. It was necessary to formulate a response that was a conversationstarter. Thus, I began sifting through the memorable moments in my mind, to find a shortstory that would invite someone right into the classroom and step into the role of student;a student required to act as both storyteller and audience. And, at the same time,consider how the story might inform the early stage Professor preparing to teach for thefirst time– a concept often parallel to the inspirational phase of an entrepreneurialventure. One must figure out the passion and iteration on the product, the new creation,and who the audience is.Imagine the experience as a student in the class:Jon walks into the classroom and sits down at the long seminar table. He quietlysuggests that while he is feeling confident about what he has done in his accomplishmentsat school, coordinating early seed funding for his start-up, he is not feeling so good aboutwhat is next for him.During the first moments of class, Jon begins his story, “This is my last class. Iam fulfilling my final credits for the graduate program in Mechanical Engineering,” Hecontinues his story in a comfortable, conversational manner, and quietly leads with theemotion behind his work, “We started this little company that makes and analyzesaffordable and reliable blood tests that will change the health and wellness for people inremote areas of the world. For the first time in their lives, millions of people in thirdworld countries will receive the care they need and deserve.” The classroom was silent.The non-verbal responses of the other students in class indicated variations of effectiveengagement. Their bodies moved forward – some students are leaning towards him,others adjust their bodies so they can get a better view, all are focused on Jon, all eyesare riveted. When Jon stopped speaking, the room is still. There are different kinds ofsilence; you feel it immediately – this is a silence of deep engagement.The Instructor breaks the silence, “What are your impressions of Jon’s story?”Classmates in graduate engineering, design, business, law, and humanities make itclear to Jon that he is a natural “conversational storyteller.” One classmate explained,“Everyone can’t do what you just did. You make it understandable and comfortable. Andit’s a meaningful, memorable story – it’s clear to us that you didn’t do the start-up just tosay you did it. ” They all left the classroom that day, planning to do the homework Joninspired: create pages of short stories from every part of your life. Be so comfortablewith the stories that they become second nature, a natural way to respond, and reliablepreparation for a conversation with a classmate, an advisor, a team mate on a project, aninterviewer for your dream job, a venture capitalist, a board of a non profit. They alsowondered what Jon meant when he suggested he was not confident about his future. Wewill return to the story of Jon later in the Conversational Storytelling section of the paper.</p

Seven Steps to Strategic SDG Sensemaking for Cities

This practitioner paper is based on the need to make sense of UN Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the city level and in an urban context. We examine the need to explain how to utilise the SDGs in strategic, tactical and operative urban development. We find that there are knowledge and practise gaps in how to localise SDGs in the urban context. This need and the lack of existing tools has led to the development of a strategic sensemaking process, which has been tested and developed with municipal and other practitioners, locally and globally. The paper presents findings from this process of development and from implementation pilots, including an SDG Sensemaking Tool (SST), a step by step iterative procedure to address these gaps. The main focus of this paper is the SDG Sensemaking process, which relies on analysing SDGs in relation to any given phenomena or project within or outside a city. The first results in this work-in-progress show that it contributes to an understanding on the complexity of how SDGs are related to the analysed phenomena, and catalyses the SDG localisation process, which helps make sense of how to navigate and measure progress in such complex environments. More research and applications are, however, needed, so as to further understand how urban governance can meet holistic, sustainable-development needs. Future work will, firstly, comprise further integrating SDGs into city-level strategies with a focus on the local, regional, national, and global impact on sustainable development and the actualisation of SDGs, and secondly, on further developing SST so that it can serve these purposes