A Conceptual Model for Engineering Curriculum Integration and Synthesis, With an Application to Industrial Engineering

这是匹兹堡大学工业工程系系级改革的规划拨款。这个项目解决了工程教育中一个重要而紧迫的问题--如何开发一个全面的、综合的课程，该课程(1)教学合理，(2)为工业实践和研究生院的毕业工程学生做好充分的准备，(3)训练他们容易地识别和应用他们的工程背景，以解决国内外的非结构化问题。特别是，我们的重点是工业工程(IE)课程，但我们的成果可以扩展并适用于其他工程学科。课程改革的方法包含四个主要目标，即(1)整合整个课程的概念；(2)教学生综合不同的概念来解决无结构的问题；(3)在社会框架内提供问题解决的方法和策略，允许他们在本地和全球范围内应用；以及(4)创建一种可移植的开发方法，可以很容易地适应其他工程学科。该项目基于对IE课程改革先前工作的充分理解，并由包括教师、学生和实习工程师在内的各种来源的意见来构思和组织。该提案定义了构成“工业工程科学”的核心知识领域，并解决了学生在解决复杂的现实世界问题时如何整合不同概念的迫切需要。该提案还概述了一项计划，强调将工业工程概念/方法与更广泛的工程专业知识相结合，以解决开放式、无组织的问题。我们提出的将技术技能和终身能力整合到课程中的模式基于两个独特的方面：强化和“适时”概念整合。该提案概述了一项计划，以确保学生更多地接触和更好地了解当今的全球商业环境。该计划还确保我们的毕业生将拥有终身工程能力，如商业实践技能；分析数据和处理不确定性的技能；熟练掌握信息系统和编程；设计、创新和解决问题的技能；以及沟通和团队合作技能，以便成功应用所学知识。此外，还提供了评估该方法的质量以及如何利用反馈来改进学生学习的计划。这一计划拨款的结果可移植到其他课程规划环境中--在类似规模的其他IE计划中；扩大到更大或更小的IE计划；以及其他工程计划。还提供了广泛传播我们工作的计划。

This is a planning grant for department level reform in the Industrial Engineering Department of the University of Pittsburgh. This project addresses an important and pressing issue in engineering education - how to develop a comprehensive, integrated curriculum that is (1) pedagogically sound, (2) thoroughly prepares graduating engineering students for industrial practice and graduate school, and (3) trains them to readily recognize and apply their engineering background to solve unstructured problems, both locally and beyond US borders. In particular, the focus is on the Industrial Engineering (IE) curriculum but our results could be extended and adapted to other engineering disciplines. The approach to curriculum reform that contains four overarching objectives, namely (1) the integration of concepts across the curriculum; (2) teaching students to synthesize different concepts to solve unstructured problems; (3) providing problem solving methods and strategies within a societal framework that allows for their application within a local as well as a global context; and (4) creating a portable development methodology that can be readily adapted to other engineering disciplines.The project is based on a sound understanding of prior work on IE curriculum reform, and is conceived and organized with input from a variety of sources, including faculty, students and practicing engineers. The proposal defines the core knowledge areas that constitute "Industrial Engineering science" and addresses the vital need for students to see how to integrate different concepts in solving complex real world problems. The proposal also outlines a plan to emphasize the synthesis of IE concepts/methods with broader engineering proficiencies in order to solve open-ended, unstructured problems. The model we propose for integrating and synthesizing technical skills and life-long proficiencies into the curriculum is based on two unique aspects: reinforcement and "just-in-time" concept integration. The proposal outlines a plan to ensure that students receive greater exposure to and a better understanding of today's global business environment. The plan also ensures that our graduates will have the life-long engineering capabilities such as business practice skills; skills to analyze data and deal with uncertainty; proficiency with information systems and programming; design, innovation and problem solving skills; and communication and teamwork skills, in order to successfully apply what they learn. Additionally, a plan is provided for evaluating both the quality of the approach and how feedback will be used to improve student learning. Results of this planning grant are portable to other curriculum planning contexts - within other IE programs of a similar size; scaled up to larger or down to smaller IE programs; and to other engineering programs. Plans are also provided for broad dissemination of our work.