Implementation Kit

The Implementation Kit is organized loosely around the CDIO Standards, a set of identified effective practices for engineering education.

For each group of related topics, there is a brief description of the topics with links to papers or reports that explain methods, frameworks, benchmarking studies, and examples of implementation:

The first section addresses CDIO as the Context of engineering education. It also includes information about change and implementation in general. The focus is on:

• Standard 1 – CDIO as Context

The Curriculum section includes methods to specify learning outcomes and design curriculum to address them, with an emphasis on students’ introduction to engineering. The focus is on:

• Standard 2 – Learning Outcomes
• Standard 3 – Integrated Curriculum
• Standard 4 – Introduction to Engineering

The section on Design-Implement Experiences and Workspaces includes methods to engage students in authentic engineering activities in well-designed engineering workspaces, as well as suggestions for enhancing the personal, interpersonal, and system building skills of the teaching faculty. The focus in on:

• Standard 5 – Design Implement Experiences
• Standard 6 – Engineering Workspaces
• Standard 9 – Enhancement of Faculty Skills Competence

The Teaching and Learning section describes methods and tools to improve teaching quality, as well as suggestions for enhancing the teaching and assessment skills of the faculty. The focus is on:

• Standard 7 – Integrated Learning Experiences
• Standard 8 – Active Learning
• Standard 10 – Enhancement of Faculty Teaching Competence

The Assessment and Evaluation section includes methods for assessing student learning and evaluating instructional programs. The focus is on:

• Standard 11 – Learning Assessment
• Standard 12 – Program Evaluation

The suggested process for implementing the CDIO approach starts with the adoption of the principle that CDIO is the context of engineering education, followed by the specification of the intended learning outcomes of the engineering program. These two steps establish the context, program goals, and specific objectives for learning.

The next step is to benchmark your program in four areas: your curriculum, your use of design-implement experiences and workspaces, your approaches to teaching and learning, and your assessment and evaluation practices. With the benchmarking results, you can identify areas for improvement and design your program to meet your goals. On the way to reaching program goals, you will probably find that you need to initiate or strengthen programs that enhance faculty competence in skills and in teaching.  

Additional Resources

Additional resources in the Knowledge Library provide an array of materials to accelerate your adaptation of CDIO to your local national, university, and disciplinary conditions. We hope these resources will save you time, allow you to achieve early successes, and help you to identify low cost and sustainable approaches.

For specific inquiries regarding the Worldwide CDIO Initiative, please complete and submit this form.