Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Session 3248

An Industrial Engineering Technology Curriculum for the Millennium Donna C.S. Summers University of Dayton

Abstract

The Industrial Engineering Technology program at the University of Dayton has completed a major effort to study our existing curriculum and courses as the means to improve the coordination and dissemination of knowledge. While courses within our program have been and will continue to be updated each time a course is taught, this improvement effort was more far- reaching. We sought insight into future curriculum structure as well as future course configuration. The driving force behind this coordinated large-scale effort is our graduates and the companies who hire them.

The effort carefully reviewed our curriculum, the courses offered, their sequence and contents. Decisions to modify the existing curriculum and corresponding courses were based on information obtained through carefully constructed surveys. These surveys captured the needs and expectations of our graduates and the industries that hire them. The information gathered by these surveys enabled us to evaluate our curricula, establish course direction, select and update appropriate coursework, implement changes in course sequencing, and link courses into related series.

The leadership at the University of Dayton is focusing on the idea of being a mission driven and market responsive university, creating and providing value for our customers. The difficulty with encouraging academic programs to become more market-responsive, is the lack of clear cut plans and examples on how to do so. This effort provides an example of how a process approach can be utilized to redesign a curriculum to enhance its value.

The improvement methodology used in this large-scale effort is based on Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle. This paper describes the assessment measures we are using to ensure the integrity and continuity of our improvement activities. The paper also discusses how the surveys were used in order to gain insight into the changes necessary to create an Industrial Engineering Technology curriculum for the new millennium.

The Method: A Process Orientation

To revitalize our program, the Industrial Engineering Technology (IET) division decided to focus our efforts on creating alignment between student learning, curriculum design, and career paths following graduation. This placed the emphasis on education as a process. We felt this approach would enable us to improve our customers’ perception of value, thereby increasing both enrollment and employment opportunities upon graduation.

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Summers, D. C. (2000, June), An Industrial Engineering Technology Curriculum For The Millennium Paper presented at 2000 Annual Conference, St. Louis, Missouri. 10.18260/1-2--8450