iFoundry: Illinois Foundryfor Innovation in Engineering Education

Systems, Organizational, and Content Innovations for Effective Change

David E. Goldberg & Andreas Cangellaris

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign{deg,cangella}@illinois.edu

Motivation

• We live in a creative era, but… • We teach an engineering curriculum formed in crucible

of WW2/cold war.• Need for change is widely recognized, but…• Efforts at change are local and largely unsuccessful.• One-by-one institution-wise efforts are inherently

limited• Successes do not diffuse, & curriculum changes slowly.• Question: Can engineering education transform to better

align with present and future practice?

Roadmap• Failure of engineering education change efforts.• Systems view of the problem of academic change.• iFoundry: Cross-departmental incubator or pilot.• What engineers don’t learn: A view from industrial-

based senior design.• 3Space content framework: ThingSpace, ThinkTank, &

FolkSpace.• Corporate partners, not piggybanks.• 3 concrete elements for change: ThingLab, 3Space

Studios, & Operation Fresh.• Resources: brains, budget & next steps needed to help.

Changing Engineering Education?• Creative era demands category

creating engineers, not just category enhancers.

• Many have made efforts to re-vision engineering ed.

• Corporations: Many companies sponsor esearch, conferences, educational change.

• Academy: NSF coalitions, Engineer of 2020, Duderstadt report, Olin College.

• Bottom line: Some success, but limited, almost no diffusion across departments, colleges, borders.

Systems View of Change• Engineering education is a

complex system.• Changing one element in

isolation not systemic or sustained change.

• Most change focuses on pedagogy & formal curriculum modification.

• Important, but organization & content often ignored.

• Effective change fires on all 4 cylinders.

Why Curriculum Doesn’t Change• Organizational resistance: Academic

NIMBY (not in my back yard) problem. OK to reform, but don’t change MY course!

• Content errors after WW2: Math and science squeezed out design in WW2 and cold war. Don’t have correct content or materials (books, cases, artifacts) to teach anything else.

• Reform doesn’t scale: Best exemplars require faculty heroics, funding, and exclusive dedication to undergraduate education. Won’t xfer verbatim to Illiniois with 5300 ugrads and world-class research enterprise.

Vannevar Bush (1890-1974)

iFoundry: Unblocking the Organization

• Collaborative, interdepartmental pilot unit. Permit change.

• Volunteers. Enthusiasm for change among faculty & student participants.

• Existing authority. Use signatory authority for modification of curricula for immediate pilot.

• Respect faculty governance. Permanent changes go through usual channels.

• Scalability. 300 @ teaching U vs. 5300 at research U.

• Open-source curriculum change. Do it in the open.http://www.illigal.uiuc.edu/web/ifoundry/files/2007/08/ifoundry_concept.pdf

What Engineers Don’t Learn& Why They Don’t Learn It

• Opportunity to diagnose ills: Cold war curriculum feeding outstanding real-world senior design course.

• General Engineering at Illinois has had industrial-based senior design since the 70s.

• Teams of 3 students solve real world problem. Company pays $8500 to department. Faculty advisor coaches.

• Key question: What don’t seniors know when they go to visit their client.

A Tale of Massive Quality Failure• After 4 years they

– Can’t ask questions (Socrates 101).– Can’t label things (Aristotle 101).– Can’t model qualitatively (Aristotle 102, Hume

101). – Can’t decompose problems (Descartes 101). – Can’t experiment or measure (Locke 101).– Can’t visualize/draw (Monge 101).– Can’t communicate (Newman 101).

• Huge “quality” failure: “product” (engineering students) inadequate to intended function.

• 7 failures as decomposition for repair.• Must teach critical/creative thought in context of

design.• Also require coaching on basics of technology &

basics of teamwork and communication. Socrates (470-399 BCE)

Start with Artifacts, Not Analysis• Cold war content shifted to

math and science, but these are not the essence of engineering.

• Place artifacts (things)—products, processes, and systems—at center.

• Recognize importance of engineeering thought (think) and engineering as social process (folk).

• Yields philosophically well grounded decomposition of content.

3Space: A Systems Approach

• Systematically and systemically work on content errors and organizational hurdles to effect curriculum change.

• Content, 3Space:– ThingSpace– ThinkSpace– FolkSpace

• Organization: iFoundry

3Space

ThingSpace• ThingTalk-artifact language.• ThingViz-artifact visualization &

workings.• ThingTube-clips & audios of artifacts.• ThingUse-customer requirements

and usability.• ThingStyle-industrial design and

styling for aesthetics and use.• ThingMake-prototyping and

manufacturing processes.• ThingLib-Libraries of historical and

current things in solid models and drawings.

• ThingSafe-Safety and ethics of artifacts.

• ThingPast-History and heroes of technology.

ThinkSpace• What engineer’s don’t

learn:– Can’t question: Socrates

101.– Can’t label: Aristotle 101.– Can’t model: Hume 101 &

Aristotle 102.– Can’t decompose:

Descartes 101.– Can’t ideate: Osborn 101.– Can’t measure: Locke 101

or Bacon 101.– Can’t communicate:

Newman 101

FolkSpace• Things are created by

people for people.• Important skills:

– Conversation– Organization– Influence– Empathy – Modeling

• At personal, interpersonal, organizational, and cultural levels.

• Tech visionary research at Illinois particularly helpful.

Corporate Partners Wanted• Research universities often looking for research $$$.• iFoundry wants minds as much as pocketbooks for

educational reform. • Premise: engineer of the future exists in industry

today.• Need corporate perspective and perspiration to help

realize education that matches 21st century practice.• iFoundry and 3Space are special frameworks that can

unlock significant change in engineering education around the world.

• WE NEED CORPORATE HELP to calibrate with real world.

iFoundry: 4 Initial Elements • ThingLab: Advanced laboratory to transform traditional engineering

graphics course into an integrated platform for engineering artifact education.

• 3Space Studios: Advanced digital media studio to generate brief video, podcasts, associated solid models & animations, and other materials to promote open & viral curriculum development

• Operation Fresh: Transformation of the freshmen year of engineering with pilot and iFoundry testing of 3 key courses (in 3Space).

• HAPI Themes: Organize humanities and social science courses into pre-approved and voluntary themes. Inject business, emotional intelligence, and communication into early years.

Timeline

• Fall 2008: Workshop on First Year of Engineering & planning for fall launch. HAPI themes to advisors.

• Spring 2009: Pilot 3 courses in single sections.• Summer 2009: Pilot elective courses, e.g.,

industrial design for engineers.• Fall 2009: Admit first class of iFoundry students,

run courses as curriculum substitutes with dept. cooperation.

More Information• iFoundry:

http://www.illigal.uiuc.edu/web/ifoundry • ETSI: http://www.illigal.uiuc.edu/web/etsi • Sp08 ETC:

http://www.illigal.uiuc.edu/web/etsi/etc-sp08/ • Engineer of the future:

http://www.illigal.uiuc.edu/web/etsi/engineer-of-the-future/

• ENG491: http://www.illigal.uiuc.edu/web/ifoundry/eng-491/

• MTV: http://online.engr.uiuc.edu/webcourses/ge498tv/index.html

• TEE: http://online.engr.uiuc.edu/webcourses/ge498tee/index.html

• Leake: http://leake.ge.uiuc.edu/ • Goldberg: http://www-illigal.ge.uiuc.edu/