Curricular reform
We now had our learning goals. The next task the CDIO Initiative members undertook was to make changes to our courses, the sequence and manner in which they’re taught, and their content.

We modified our curricula to include design and build projects. We coordinated and linked conventional subjects to demonstrate the interdisciplinary nature of engineering. And, we created challenging experiences in which students design, build and operate product systems.
We also determined to make a great effort to encourage extracurricular learning by integrating internships, co-ops, and student-generated projects into your experience.

Teaching and learning reform

We know some interesting facts about how experiences affect learning. Engineering students tend to learn by experiencing the concrete and then applying the experience it to the abstract. Unlike their counterparts of years past, many engineering students today don’t arrive at college armed with hands-on experiences like tinkering with cars or building radios. Yet, hands-on experience is a vital foundation on which to base theory and science. To address this, the CDIO programs make four important improvements to the way engineering is taught and learned: they increase active and hands-on learning, emphasize problem formulation and solution, thoroughly explore the underlying concepts of the tools and techniques of engineering, institute innovative and exciting ways of gathering feedback.

Hands-on learning? Where do you do that? Next>