THE CDIO APPROACH TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENT SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES

The CDIO approach includes a methodology for embedding the development of student skills and attributes in an engineering program. The methodology starts with the CDIO Syllabus which features a comprehensive list of skills and attributes. After progressing through a series of steps, an explicit plan is produced which indicates how the required skills and attributes should be developed within the curriculum. Implementing the methodology poses a number of challenges and these are discussed. It is also noted that other initiatives to improve graduate skills, dating back 10 to 15 years, have not resulted in any discernable improvement. The literature is then consulted and this leads to a number of proposals for enhancing the CDIO methodology. The outcome is a methodology that is more demanding to implement and further work is needed to provide support for the additional tasks that have been proposed. However it is argued that the enhanced methodology is more likely to ensure that students will graduate with the skills and attributes they require to become professional engineers.