CDIO is a framework for our activities

Text | Juha Kontio, Dr., Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Business, Turku University of Applied Sciences Photo | Martti Komulainen

For many years, the pedagogical mission of Turku University of Applied Sciences has been innovation pedagogy, which emphasises dialogue between the university, students, working life and the surrounding society. Students learn in multidisciplinary learning environments and applied research and development projects, making use of flexible curricula with an entrepreneurial attitude and awareness of the international operating environment. Alongside innovation pedagogy, the Faculty of Engineering and Business has been utilising the international CDIO network’s (www.cdio. org) educational development framework since 2006. CDIO and innovation pedagogy are mutually supportive and have very similar goals. The objectives and ideas of CDIO and innovation pedagogy are generally recognised in many reports and recommendations.

The CDIO (Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate) network got its start in the early 2000s as a development project involving four higher education institutions. Since then, it has become a global education development community. Turku University of Applied Sciences (Turku UAS) was the first Finnish higher education institution to join the network, and is now part of a network of nearly 200 universities. The network provides a fertile peer forum for dialogue among education professionals and sharing good practices at the global level.

A key element in the CDIO approach is the 12 standards to describe the target state of education. These standards support long-term educational development. Some of the standards emphasise a change in thinking when organising education, while others focus on implementing education. A key feature involves increasing working life orientation by utilising active learning methods. On the other hand, it’s also important to develop the product development cycle and solution-oriented thinking in a functional manner from the very beginning of studies. CDIO provides a qualitative framework, which also means improving international comparability.

The CDIO objectives continue to respond well to today's educational development challenges, and the key elements of the approach are continuously examined in the network's working groups. Examples of development work include clarifying the definitions of the 12 original standards and introducing four new optional standards (sustainable development, engineering entrepreneurship,

internationalisation and mobility, and simulation-based mathematics). The competence framework (CDIO Syllabus) has also been modernised and updated, and the target and purpose of the entire network have been refined.

Here at Turku UAS, the CDIO approach is visible at many levels. The general objectives of our education have been considered in more detail, and learning objectives have been defined in cooperation with working life. Our education is based on modules, the learning plan consists of mutually supportive themes and it clearly integrates personal, social, product and system design skills. All UAS degree programmes include the Introduction course during the first yea. It builds a practical, working life-oriented framework for students in their respective field of study. The first year also includes a Project Hatchery course, where students become familiar with our pedagogical model, learn about project-style work and are introduced to a multidisciplinary operating environment. Our learning environment has been renewed and enables practical learning via active teaching and learning methods. The extensive Innovation Project entity for third-year students brings CDIO and innovation pedagogy themes together in genuine, challenging and multidisciplinary development projects.

Support for learning is at the heart of all learning, and competent personnel play a key role in it. As a result of our pedagogical solutions, the teaching task has become more diverse and challenging. From the CDIO perspective, it was important to ensure the development of both pedagogical competence and working life competence and allow people to actively experiment with new work methods. More extensive applied research and development activities contribute to developing working life competence.

Joining the CDIO community has had a significant impact on the educational solutions selected in the Faculty of Engineering and Business at Turku UAS, and it has provided an excellent framework for developing operations. This publication describes Faculty of Engineering and Business activities at many levels and presents a picture of how CDIO influences our operations at this time. We will continue to develop the CDIO framework and work with themes highlighted by the community. In the future, we will also be focusing even more on assessing the impact of development work and solutions.

We hope you enjoy reading our publication!

A key element in the CDIO approach is the 12 standards to describe the target state of education.