As Vietnam is integrating into the global economy, it faces a grand challenge of transforming a very young population into a skilled labor force. This transformation requires the acceleration of reform in the entire education system in general, and in higher education in particular. As one of the flagship universities in Vietnam, the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) System has spearheaded many initiatives aiming to improve the quality of education in Vietnam in order to prepare next-generation graduates who meet the needs of society. A key effort in these indicatives is the adoption of CDIO principles to build a model framework to help accelerate national efforts in curriculum reform through widespread implementation of CDIO in Vietnam.
In this paper, we present the development of this model framework, which includes: a) the framework’s goals of developing model university departments within VNU-HCM System that adapt CDIO principles to systematically reform their curriculum, and of using this pilot implementation to develop generalizable solutions that can be exported and replicated at other university departments within VNU-HCM System and at other universities throughout Vietnam; b) the framework’s main components for achieving these goals; and c)strategies to manage the change process and to promote cultural and organizational changes. The results that we have obtained from the initial implementation suggest that the model framework has the potential for accelerating the efforts, reducing cost, and increasing the likelihood of success. To build on this, we are inviting national and international collaboration to work with us in these efforts toward the goal of improving higher education.