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| 聽Chris Wainwright, Loren Bailey and Hsu Chieh-ting use Lego to study bridge stress. (Nick Pearce Photo) |
In engineering, the pursuit of perfection is not an option, but a requirement. The nature of the work 鈥� the precision and efficiency 鈥� demand the best as usually millions of dollars and human (or non-human) life rest in the balance.
Because of this, it is vital that engineering education continually become better, more efficient, more precise. At Dalhousie, that's exactly what the Faculty of Engineering is doing. In a May 2008 workshop, faculty, students and industry experts called for curriculum reform for the engineering program.
鈥淲e had to ask ourselves what should we be teaching and how do we do it?鈥� says Pemberton Cyrus, associate dean, undergraduate studies for the Faculty of Engineering. 鈥淲e spent the next 18 months answering those questions.鈥�
January 2010 officially marked a new era in engineering education in Nova Scotia as a new core curriculum was approved for the diploma program (first two years of engineering). In the interest of standardization, all the associated universities 鈥� Acadia, St. Francis Xavier, Saint Mary鈥檚, Cape Breton University, Nova Scotia Agricultural College and the University of PEI 鈥� were involved in the process and have also adopted the changes.
New courses
To understand modern engineering, one has to know where it鈥檚 come from. Engineering students will now fully explore the roots of a profession that has profoundly shaped societal evolution in History of Engineering, a two-semester, mandatory course for all students. In addition to understanding where engineering came from, what it means and reconstructing historical inventions, students will also be introduced to engineering ethics, and why they're important. The new program, designed and delivered by the University of King's College, also places emphasis on writing and is heavily-weighted toward the development of this skill.聽
In creating new courses, the faculty wanted to remove unnecessary duplication of content. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a balancing act,鈥� says Dr. Cyrus. 鈥淪ome concepts have to be repeated, so we had to decide what is and what isn't worth repeating. The materials that are duplicated must be done intentionally.鈥�
To remove duplication from over-lapping courses, first year physics was combined with first-year engineering mechanics. This collaboration with the Faculty of Science also introduces first-year physics students to engineering principles. Not only is the course more efficient, it's more fun with hands-on learning featuring everyone's favourite toy 鈥� Lego. The Faculty of Engineering purchased Lego to create miniatures of structures such as bridges and go beyond simply creating and destroying things, but understanding the factors, such as stress, that must be accounted for in design.
Another innovative combination sees technical communications integrated with design courses. Students鈥� project reports are now marked separately on writing and design, and thus, they have to write well.
鈥淥ne complaint throughout engineering in North America is that, engineers can invent things, but they can鈥檛 communicate their results well,鈥� says Dr. Cyrus. 鈥淣ow throughout all courses we enable students to develop their communications skills to help them get their ideas out.鈥�
Other new offerings include the combined thermo-dynamics and fluid mechanics course, first year computer programming (formerly offered in second-year) and the Biology for Engineers course, designed by the Department of Biology.
Design
To place more emphasis on design, the new curriculum features a design project or course of some kind in every term. A series of steps have been created in design education to develop the student's sense of design right from the start. In their first term they learn to draw, express design and be creative, with no restriction on what they can produce. Then, starting in the second term they begin using constraints and must design things that can actually exist under stress, strain and other requirements.
All students must also complete a major design course in their fourth semester (formerly only electrical and mechanical did this) and must follow the whole design process from idea to construction. The goal is that the level of design ability will be raised in all students as they enter the third year of the bachelor program.
Also reformulated is the entire math curriculum. Four classes are now taught in the first year and are all designed to teach from the engineering perspective. This enables second year math to be more sophisticated, with a solid foundation attained in first year.
Hands-on
An increased focus on design means an increase in hands-on learning. In addition to the aforementioned Lego, the faculty purchased 15 Kitchenaid Mixmasters. Thought to be one of the best engineered appliances on the market, students in mechanical and electrical engineering must dissect the devices, understand why and how they were created, then reassemble them to working order.
On the technological side, three 3-D Rapid Prototype printers were purchased to make students鈥� designs a reality, albeit small ones. About the size of a fridge, each prototyper is capable of printing a plastic model up to a cubic foot from a computer-created drawing, giving students a sense of what is within the realm of design possibility.
Other features include a new interactive computer lab that makes teaching and group work more visual, the new Shell workshop equipped with drills, saws and new workbenches surrounded by windows for the whole campus to see and a new multipurpose lab that can be used by almost all engineering disciplines. Each workstation in the lab features capability for power, water, gas, steam and internet and all benches are on wheels for mobility and one day, with the help of a new building, storage.
Administrative
In addition to improving the educational aspects, the overall program was simplified. Students still complete 22 courses over two years, but those courses are now chosen out of 29 total courses instead of 41. This allows the timetable to be more comfortable for the students and it is easier to move between the different disciplines. Dr. Cyrus also believes they can likely use less classrooms and optimize resources.
鈥淭he curriculum is rebalanced from the student鈥檚 point of view,鈥� explains Dr. Cyrus. 鈥淲e looked at the coursework in every term and tried to make a reasonable mix to give them a workable package for greater learning and efficiency.鈥�
鈥淲ith these changes, we鈥檙e convinced we鈥檒l be producing better engineers.鈥�