Impact of Curriculum Decisions on Computer Assisted Design

This paper reports on educational outcomes from a project conducted at the University of Newcastle with Chemical Engineering students using computer assisted design (CAD) software. A number of curriculum decisions were made to improve the learning outcomes for students and to increase their productivity. The project involved curriculum change encompassing the considerations of technology, content, student needs and teaching strategies. The project outcomes revealed very convincing support for the chosen learning methodologies. Students responded positively to the challenge of the project and by example soon endorsed approaches to learning such as student-centred, problem-based, challengeinspired motivation and critical thinking. Central to all activity was an applied approach to learning in that students were tasked with devising a real solution to a real problem using industry standard software. Students appeared intrinsically driven and the learning that took place is best described as deep learning rather than surface learning. Tasks completed by students for assessment were well in advance of previous assessed tasks based on traditional approaches to learning. The project’s success is largely the result of the curriculum change that was introduced.