This paper describes the journey and discusses the approaches of enhancing faculty teaching competencies (CDIO Standard 10) for the Diploma in Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering at the School of Engineering (SEG) in Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP), Singapore.
In NYP, we value capability development and believe that training builds a culture of continuous learning that spurs our staff to improve their skills and knowledge. The development of a structured training program to prepare staff for the implementation of CDIO at the school has provided support for staff to further enhance their competence in integrated learning experiences (Standard 7), active and experiential learning (Standard 8), and assessing student learning (Standard 11).
Under the enhanced training program, the staff was trained to formulate learning outcomes using the revised Blooms Taxonomy of cognitive domain. The staff was also introduced to a variety of active learning strategies which could be interwoven into their lessons to actively engage student attention and encourage class involvement. In addition, the staff was encouraged to rethink and redesign the way students are assessed by adopting methods that were aligned to the learning activities and outcomes.
The strategies in designing the staff training program, as well as the strategies to encourage and support staff in enhancing their teaching competencies will be highlighted in the paper. The paper also examines the critical factors for ensuring a successful transformation and identifies the challenges faced in managing such change. Finally, we outline the future course of action to be put in place to enhance faculty effectiveness in helping students to be better prepared to meet the rigors of the engineering profession.
Proceedings of the 10th International CDIO Conference, Barcelona, Spain, June 15-19 2014