Evaluating the Implementation of CDIO Programs at Singapore Polytechnic: The Second Year

This paper describes the evaluation of the second year of implementation of the CDIO initiative in engineering programs in 4 schools in Singapore Polytechnic. Unlike the first year where changes were made to the syllabuses to incorporate the CDIO skills to develop the students’ personal and interpersonal skills and attributes, the second year focused more on the professional and system and product building skills such as conceiving user needs, visualizing, problem solving and project planning and management. A range of evaluation tools were used to collect students’ perception of the new skills and their integration into the curriculum. 

Preliminary findings of the evaluation showed that students were generally positive about the activities introduced as they provided them with opportunities to learn a range of skills. The students were able to integrate and transfer knowledge learnt in other courses and in the first year to the second year courses. Teamwork was consistently well rated in the courses as the design implement activities required students to work on projects and tasks collaboratively. The findings also showed that, as in the first year of implementation, the teaching of thinking skills needs improvement and that lecturers’ behaviours and teaching competence were key influences of students’ experience and learning. 

The paper will report on the conclusions drawn from the evaluation and make comparisons with the findings of the first year of implementation. It will also discuss the support needed for further improvements to the curriculum implementation and faculty teaching.