The CDIO™ INITIATIVE is an innovative educational framework for producing the next generation of graduates – both engineering and non-engineering. It is aligned to the requirements of professional accreditation bodies. The CDIO Initiative is supervised by the CDIO Council comprising 2 Co-Directors, Regional Leaders and Members-at-Large. Singapore Polytechnic is the current regional leader for Asia.
The CDIO Framework provides students with an education stressing learning fundamentals set in the context of Conceiving – Designing – Implementing – Operating (CDIO) real-world products, processes, services and systems. Institutions of higher learnings across the globe have adopted CDIO as the framework of their curricular planning and outcome-based assessment. It consists of 2 main elements: the CDIO Syllabus and the CDIO Standards. The syllabus provides the required skills and attributes students need to function effectively in the workplace in the chosen discipline of study. The standards provide comprehensive guidelines in program management from stakeholder requirements to curriculum design and deliver; to learning assessment and program evaluation.
The innovative aspect of the CDIO Framework is that it brings together within one framework various aspects of teaching and learning under a unifying theme of what graduates will do in the workplace using the competencies developed at school. The approach is therefore grounded solidly in outcome-based education: “fit-for-purpose” graduates with attributed desired by key stakeholders. It does so by emphasising the context of learning, with learning activities designed to mimic real-world work environment, addressing various workplace challenges with the simultaneous utilization of domain knowledge, requisite skills and desired attitudes. Students receive timely feedback on their task performance and understand clear criteria for performance excellence.
SP has used CDIO to drive various educational initiatives since 2004. As an active member of the CDIO worldwide community, SP has taken up various leadership roles in contributing to the advancement of teaching and learning and sharing its best practices with members at international events.
SP’s CDIO practices are internationally benchmarked and cited in leading engineering education studies, including MIT-commissioned research by Dr Ruth Graham. In her report “The Global State of the Art in Engineering Education” (2018), Dr. Graham highlighted SP among the top universities in engineering education worldwide, noting that “the universities that just fell short of this top 10 list include …Singapore Polytechnic…”, which underscores SP’s position as a global leader in the field.
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SP offers a range of resources catering to different needs from teaching faculty to program managers, with workshops covering basic introduction and adoption of CDIO, to curriculum design or redesign using CDIO, to program evaluation for continual improvement using CDIO.
CDIO members can collaborate with SP on a range of teaching and learning initiatives. Reach out to askedu@sp.edu.sg
Singapore Polytechnic
500 Dover Rd Singapore 139651