Work in progress: Framework for developing

design-centric engineering curricula

Alexa Ray Fernando Nurzal Effiyana Ghazali Syed Ahmad Helmi Al Haddad
College of Engineering Centre for Engineering Education Centre for Engineering Education
National University Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Manila, Philippines Johor Bahru, Malaysia Johor Bahru, Malaysia
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
2022 IEEE World Engineering Education Conference (EDUNINE) | 978-1-6654-8336-0/22/$31.00 ©2022 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/EDUNINE53672.2022.9782329

Khairiyah Mohd-Yusof
Centre for Engineering Education
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Johor Bahru, Malaysia
[email protected]

Abstract—Research and reports show that design experience Engineering educators must be able to develop students’
is a critical component of an engineering undergraduate design skills and assess their skills appropriately through
program. However, in most engineering curricula, the approach engineering design courses [5]. Unfortunately, aside from
in design education is more theoretical than practical and is design thinking being a marginal consideration, engineering
bookended with a first-year design introduction course and a education is generally bookended with a cornerstone design
final-year capstone design project, which limit the design course in the first year, a capstone design course in the senior
experience of the students and give negative implications to their year, and a highly technical course load in between [6], [7].
design capabilities. While there have been many attempts to This format of engineering education may have negative
address the issue, student design experience continues to be an
implications for senior students' design thinking ability [8].
area of concern in engineering curricula. This paper presents
the preliminary result of review of models, theories and
Therefore, curriculum refinement is needed to optimize
practices employed in design-centric engineering curriculum. It design-thinking activities throughout the curriculum [9]. Lots
is hoped that the completion of this research will provide a of attention has been devoted to engineering design education
comprehensive but flexible framework that will aid engineering in recent years. Nevertheless, the lack of an integrated
curricularists in developing engineering curricula centered on education system towards engineering design programs can
design with consideration of global standards and different undermine the benefits of such efforts [2]. What is required is
contexts in engineering education. a thorough rethinking of the engineering education
framework, centered around developing engineering students
Keywords— design education, engineering education, design- into design-capable cohorts [10].
centric curriculum, engineering design, engineering curriculum
This paper presents the preliminary result of literature
I. INTRODUCTION review in answering the question “what is the current state-of-
the-art in design-centric engineering curriculum?”
The global market demands engineers that have
capabilities of handling the challenges imposed by design II. BACKGROUND
problems. Problems that do not just require strong engineering
fundamentals but also multi-disciplinary system perspective, A. Engineering, Design and Education
good communication skills, the ability to work in teams, skills Design has been defined by engineers as a “systematic,
and knowledge in economics, regulations, market flexibility, intelligent process in which designers generate, evaluate, and
product commonization and environmental impact [1], [2]. specify concepts for devices, systems, or processes whose
Washington Accord (WA), one of the agreements/Accords form and function achieve clients' objectives or users' needs
under the International Engineering Alliance (IEA), while satisfying a specified set of constraints” [11]. The
acknowledges that accreditation of engineering academic National Academy of Engineers (NAE) and industry leaders
programs is a key foundation for the practice of engineering. recognize the need to develop engineers who are design
ABET, a member of the WA, treats design experience as one thinkers because of their abilities to handle complex, open-
critical requirement in accreditation. ABET emphasized that ended, and ill-defined real-world problems [11], [12].
engineering students must be prepared for engineering
practice through a curriculum culminating in a major design There have been serious concerns raised on the ability of
experience [3]. This calls for institutions of higher learning to a country to produce large number of highly-skilled engineers
design, develop and deliver engineering education that will who will address the needs of the ever-demanding economy,
address the acquisition of design abilities throughout the technology and society. Thus, the quantity and quality of
curriculum. engineers, especially design-capable engineers, significantly
equate to the competitiveness of a country. Engineers must be
One of the best approaches of developing an all-rounded trained to become designers and design thinkers to support this
21st-century engineering talent is to embed design courses and need. Higher education institutions need to consider coming
projects in the curriculum. Unfortunately, the second half of up with an improved or new engineering education curriculum
the 20th century was dominated by science-oriented anchored in mathematics and sciences, centered on
engineering curricula that focus on theory rather than practical emphasizing the professional role of the engineer and
engineering design. This resulted in graduates far less demanding new competencies suited for newly emerging
experienced in engineering practice and design [4]. world contexts. Thus, the field of engineering, design and

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 education provides a rich exploration on how engineering design as “the process of devising a system,
students can become engineers who are capable of doing component, or process to meet desired needs. It is a
design. decision-making process (often iterative), in which the
basic sciences, mathematics, and the engineering
B. Design Abilities sciences are applied to convert resources optimally to
Sheppard, et. al., identified and defined what is acquired meet these stated needs.”
through a focus on design—“design thinking, design process,
and design skills” [13]. According to Nagel, et. al., regardless of the
particular engineering design methodology employed,
1) Design Thinking all approaches generally agree on four high-level steps,
According to Tim Brown, Executive Chair of illustrated in Fig. 2. First, identifying a proper set of
IDEO, design thinking is a human-centered approach customer needs is key to understanding the opportunity
to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to for a successful product. Once needs are understood,
integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of solutions can be conceptualized. From this set of
technology, and the requirements for business success conceptual solutions, a preferred concept can be
[12]. Design thinking is presented as an approach to embodied and, ultimately, the details implemented.
problem-solving that is well suited for addressing the The process is iterative, yet systematic, ensuring that
complex problems we face today. Organizations that the original customer needs are fully addressed in the
have adopted this way of working are showing positive detailed implementation. These four broad activities
results in delivering effective solutions [14]. Existing are based on eleven published books on engineering
studies have illustrated that this is a rich and fruitful design by scholars and experts in engineering and
area for scholarly discussion and research [15]. product design such as Dym, Dieter, Hyman, Ullman,
and Ulrich and Eppinger [18].
In 1969, Nobel Prize laureate Herbert Simon
outlined one of the first formal models of the design
thinking process with seven steps—define, research,
ideate, prototype, choose, implement, and learn.
Simon’s model shaped the modern and most widely-
Fig. 2. General Design Process
used 5-stage design thinking process proposed by
Hasso-Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford
(d.school), the leading university when it comes to 3) Design Skills
teaching Design Thinking. d.school’s model includes Design skills encompass skills necessary to design
empathise, define, ideate, prototype, and test. such as communication, teamwork, and project
However, the Interaction Design Foundation (IDF) management. Engineering researchers have identified
proposed that design thinking process is non-linear, specific skills necessary for successful engineering
that results from one phase may reveal some insights design, including the ability to (a) tolerate ambiguity
about the users, which in turn may lead to another through a divergent-convergent thinking process, (b)
brainstorming session in an earlier phase to improve the think in terms of a bigger picture, (c) handle
solution [16]. Fig. 1 shows IDF’s new proposed model. uncertainty, (d) make decisions, (e) think as part of a
team in a social process, and (f) think and communicate
in several languages of design [11]. In the survey
instrument designed by Gentili, et. al., seven design
skills were categorized as (a) teamwork, (b)
information gathering, (c) problem definition, (d) idea
generation, (e) evaluation and decision making, (f)
implementation, and (g) communication [19].

TABLE I. CRITERIA FOR ASSESSING ENGINEERING DESIGN SKILLS

Phases Steps Performance Criteria (Skill)
Problem Phase Problem Recognition Students can set open-ended,
challenging, and impactive design
problems and analyze diverse
information
Problem Definition Students can define design
problems, including design
requirements and constraints
Fig. 1. Five-stage Non-linear Design Thinking Model Solution Phase Idea Generation Students can define design
problems, including design
requirements and constraints
Optimal solution selection Students can select optimal
2) Design Process solutions from several possible
Design process can be described as iterative solutions based on originality and
applicability
phases of defining, generating, testing, and evaluating Implementation Phase Solution improvement Students can elaborate selected
ideas. To solve authentic engineering problems, one optimal solutions with drawings or
prototypes and examine whether
must engage in the design process like successful they reflect design requirements and
practicing engineers do. They, for example, work in constraints
Presentation and reporting Students can effectively deliver
teams, identify constraints (scope the problem), use a engineering design processes and
results with writings and words.
variety of sources of information, consider economic, Process Management Design process Students can finish their design
social, and environmental aspects, propose realistic Phase management activities within the time appointed
by managing the design process
solutions, and clearly communicate their through team activities.
recommendations [17]. ABET defines engineering

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 One of the most comprehensive and recent
instruments developed to assess and enhance
engineering design skills is the one by Jin, et. al, which
details the skills essential in engineering design based
on the design phases [5]. Table I summarizes the
details.
C. Design Education in Engineering Curricula
In recent years, industry leaders, academics, and ABET
standards have expressed a renewed interest in teaching
engineers to solve real-world and open-ended problems
through design education [11]. Decisions to retain design
thinking courses as optional electives are missed opportunities
for engineering educators to encourage design thinking.
Design content and experiences in the second and third years
of the engineering curricula have not changed significantly
[6].
Engineering design education helps students to develop
problem-solving skills by teaching them to better synthesize,
integrate and analyze knowledge. Students should be exposed Fig. 3. JMU-SOE design-centric curriculum showing engineering design
to the variety of available design methods [18]. In short, an courses spine [7]
education in engineering design can give students the skill
required to creatively solve real-world problems. The work of Nagel, et. al. is an example of how to infuse
aspects of design into a traditional curriculum. They described
Numerous efforts at improving engineering education by their proposed engineering design curriculum paradigm as
integrating design activities have been pursued to improve the “centralized”. This contrasts with other paradigms where
engineering readiness of students [11]. Unfortunately, capstone design activities connect supporting courses
engineering higher education institutions either do not give (traditional model) or where integrated design activities are
enough attention to design education or do not have sufficient carried through courses (integrated model). The proposed
access, capability or resources in designing, developing and paradigm is “centralized” in that it feeds design activity into
delivering design-centric curricula. the other technical courses in contrast to design activities that
carry in parallel across multiple courses. Fig. 4 illustrates the
D. Making Engineering Curricula Design-Centric proposed design-centric paradigm.
In order to make engineering curricula design-centric, a
systematic approach to engineering design, which is a
coordinated plan aimed at finding solutions to problems, must
be employed. Any design approach that is based on a
method—“a procedure, technique, or way of doing something,
esp. in accordance with a definite plan”—or a system—“a
coordinated body of methods or a scheme or plan of
procedure” is systematic [18]. This coincides with what
Wojcik, et. al. has theorized that the approach to making
engineering curricula a design-centric one can be generally
classified into two types: (a) through a large-scale curricular
revision in which programs are restructured to focus more
heavily on design, e.g. new design courses or studios; and (b) Fig. 4. Comparison of (a) the traditional design education paradigm, (b)
through infusing aspects of design into existing engineering “integrated” design paradigms and (c) the proposed centralized design
science (traditional) classes, weaving design throughout the paradigm [18]
curriculum without drastically changing the course
requirements [20]. The following are just examples of the two III. PRELIMINARY FINDINGS
types and does not necessarily mean that it is the best per type Design is a complex process of solving complex problems
as this is still an on-going research. ensuring the satisfaction of needs. Design in practice requires
An example of large-scale curricular revision to make an professionals who are well-founded on design knowledge and
engineering curriculum a design-centric one is that of the methods and who have acquired design abilities. Critical is the
School of Engineering (SOE) of James Madison University acquisition of design skills, design process and design
(JMU). The SOE strives to provide a holistic curriculum thinking abilities. Unfortunately, these abilities are either
through the integration of the JMU liberal arts core and several acquired only through years of experience in practice or
sequences of engineering courses on engineering design, experienced only by senior undergraduate engineering
business, technology management, engineering science, students which yield to a very limited amount of exposure to
sustainability, and systems analysis. The engineering design design. While design abilities can be acquired by practicing
sequence is meant to be the core or spine of the engineering engineers through trainings in their companies or as a
curriculum. During the design sequence, students apply their continuing professional activity, it is a common expectation
knowledge to the completion of multiple multi-semester from the industry, engineering professional organizations and
design projects. Fig. 3 shows the structure of their design- accreditation agencies that design abilities should be
centric engineering curriculum. possessed by engineering students by the time of their

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