Engineering’s iFoundry looks at possible shift in curricula, teaching ‘soft skills’
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
To pave the way for curricula reform, the College of Engineering is forging a program based upon organizational change first.
The college recently launched iFoundry: The Illinois Foundry for Innovation in Engineering Education, an interdepartmental curriculum incubator that is exploring ways to enrich and balance engineering curricula so that students develop competencies in crucial “soft skills” – such as communication and teamwork, critical and creative thinking, and ethics – in addition to math and science.
The goal of iFoundry is to shift the focus of engineering education from analysis to artifacts – products, processes and systems – and the ways in which people conceptualize and use them.
“The current engineering curriculum was established during the Cold War era and needs to be thoroughly re-examined and overhauled,” Ilesanmi Adesida, dean of the College, said in a news release announcing iFoundry. “Engineering today is unusually fast-paced and requires an uncommon blend of knowledge and skill along technological, humanistic and artistic dimensions.”
“One of the things that’s difficult about curricula change is that it is a political process, and you really have to change minds before you can get permission to change courses,” said David E. Goldberg, a professor of industrial and enterprise systems engineering and co-director of iFoundry along with Andreas Cangellaris, a professor of electrical and computer engineering. “Curricula change is an academic NIMBY – not in my backyard – problem. Everyone agrees it’s great, except when it comes to changing their own courses or prerequisites. The key to iFoundry is that it respects faculty governance while allowing experimental change.
