POTENTIAL PRACTICES FOR ESTABLISHING CURRICULUM AGILITY THROUGH INDUSTRIAL ENGAGEMENT

The present version of Curriculum Agility is described by 10 principles and is progressing to become a future CDIO Standard. The proposed standard, Curriculum Agility, is designed to be responsive to both future and current industrial requirements with the aim of ensuring that the curriculum contributes to developing so called "industry-ready graduates", i.e., engineering graduates that are competent, capable and confident with respect to technical and employability skills. This paper complements the ongoing work in the CDIO community in creating the optional Curriculum Agility standard. At a workshop on industrial engagement in curriculum agility arranged at the 19th International CDIO Conference in Trondheim, Norway, the participating delegates highlighted both challenges and opportunities. Comments on challenges included, "Are their [industry] perspectives too short? In line with societal needs?" and "[Challenge] the industry to advocate for the future because sustainability is an obligation for us." Comments on opportunities included "[opportunity] bringing in industry, reverence, and authenticity" and "[opportunity for] alumni to provide feedback on courses... on new courses, potential [student] projects... possible research projects." The paper will discuss possibilities for a framework to aid curriculum agility development and enable academic practitioners to effectively engage with industrial partners, recognizing that any learning outcomes of a curriculum need to be constructively aligned with industry's current and future requirements. The curriculum also needs to meet other competing stakeholder requirements, such as those from students, institutions, governments, and relevant Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRB), as well as demands from societal perspectives.