Paper Authors

Abstract

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

Re-engineering the Engineering Curriculum: Meeting International Requirements

Abstract

In 1998, the College of Engineering of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile began an internationalization process. The first step was to compare our programs against international standards; in doing so, the College went through a self-evaluation process, required by ABET. As a consequence, in 2003 all engineering programs reached the substantial equivalence with the old criteria. At present ABET has started to apply the EC2000 criteria to the international evaluations, and it does not give the substantial equivalence anymore. Instead, it has started accrediting programs abroad.

The College of Engineering is going through a curricular reengineering process, to face these new challenges and to go a step further in the internationalization process. The goals proposed to the new curriculum are (1) to change the present paradigm towards a curriculum based on outcomes, (2) to fulfill the ABET EC2000 criteria, (3) to improve the efficiency of the education and learning process, (4) to meet the industry requirements, and (5) to improve the international exchange of students and doubles degrees. This process involves all the engineering majors, and it is a reengineering process, because every aspect of the curriculum is being reviewed and evaluated: years of study, number of credits, design component, curriculum structure, size of the lectures, new learning methodologies, learning assessment and financial issues.

This paper describes the methodology that has being used in the re-engineering process, and the results obtained so far. The paper also discusses the difference between the engineering education and professional exercise in Chile with the rest of the world, and how this has been taken into account for the curricular change.

1. Introduction

The school of Engineering of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile -UC- (Pontifical Catholic University of Chile) , and its homonymous from the Universidad de Chile -UCH- (University of Chile), are deemed the two best schools in their field in Chile; both with over a century of existence. Presently some 30 universities in the country offer undergraduate programs in Engineering.

The whole Chilean university system makes use of a multiple alternatives selection test known as PSU – Prueba de Selección Universitaria – (University Selection Test); the final selection of students is done based on a weighed combination of the results in this test and of the high school score records of each student. Using this combination as an index for the quality of the students selected, The UC Engineering School recruits the very best high school graduates in the country, independent from the major to which they apply. This represents a source of legitimate pride for this school, and has allowed it, for decades, to educate and train a group of very talented youngsters, who afterwards in their professional life, excel in the various fields of the productive environment of the country.

1

• Citation

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

Gazmuri, P., & Pizarro, G., & Bilbao, J. (2007, June), Re Engineering The Engineering Curriculum: Meeting International Requirements Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--2949