case study – ucc accred: be degree in civil engineering qa: dept of civil & environmental eng
TRANSCRIPT
Case Study – UCC
Accred: BE degree in Civil Engineering
QA: Dept of Civil & Environmental Eng
J Philip O’kane PhD CEng
Professor of Civil Engineering (1845)
Head of Department of Civil & Env Eng
Former Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, UCC and NUI
In 2000 Combined QA & Accred
With Elec Eng
• IEI recommendations for continued accreditation of our 3rd level degree
• Up-grade labs!
• Reported under-resourcing to Dept of E&Sc in 2 ex 25
• Strategic plan 2000-2005, on our own!
• UCC QA Office not satisified with combination• No self-assessment
• No QA of 4th or 5th levels
In Last Week of May 2005 Back-to-back QA & Accred
• Separated from Elec & Microelectronic Eng
• IEI– Red book!
• UCC QA office– Stable procedures– All QA docs on the UCC intranet!
IEI Accred in Late May 2005
• Red book - 2004!
• Training to meet the red book – oct 2004
• Chair of accred panel at CIT – jan 2005
• Chair of accred panel at NUIG – mar 2005– Accred of IEI by washington accord
• Univ of missouri at rolla
• Univ of newfoundland at st. Johns
• Univ of hong kong
– Success!
IEI Accred in Late May 2005 • Deadline for submission of docs
– mid April 2005
• Begin– January 6– Declare emergency– Engage with the process– Run as fast as possible
• Aim to set the national standard!– Relational database of docs– Deliver both hardcopy and CD– Useful for other purposes
• our website, recruiting new staff and students, publicity …
Contents of CD ROM, now on our website!
Structure of Documentation.doc
This folder contains the following sub-folders. 1. MainDocument –main accreditation document and appendix G.2. NavigationalTool – this folder contains three sub-folders.
YearMatrices with the learning modules on a year by year basis. LearningOutcomesMatrices - with programme areas y-by-y basis.BookofModules - all the module descriptions.
3. MultimediaHomoFaber virtual exhibition and supporting Academic Papers on curriculum.
D&A_K IFA&S_P D_S&E U_E&R W&L C S&M T ICT D&D EP CE4001 CE4001 CE4001 S&BC CE4001 CE4001 CE4001
Working backwards from final year, each year matrix shows how modules CE4001, CE4002 … deliver all 6 programme outcomes in the six learning areas.
For example, the learning outcomes for module CE4001 determine the hits in the matrix below.
Each module entry is hot-linked to the book of modules.
Programme Outcomes/Programme Areas
Derive and apply solutions from knowledge
Identify, formulate, analyse & solve engineering problems
Design a. Systems, components; Processes; b. experiments
Understand a. ethics b. responsib-ilities
Work & Learn Communicate
Science & Math
Technology CE4002CM CE4002CM CE4005CM CE4006SMS CE4007SMS CE4009EM CE4010SME CE4013SME GL4014EM CE4015EM
CE4018 SMB CE4020 EM
CE4002CM CE4004CM CE4005CM CE4008SMS CE4012SME CE4014SME CE4019SMB
CE4002CM
CE4018 SMB
CE4002CM CE4002CM
CE4005CM
YearMatrix for final year
Learning outcome (a) Derive & apply solutions from knowledge Programme Areas
Year 4 Year 3 Year 2 Year 1
Science & Math ST3905CM
GL3006SMS
AM2021 AM2022 AM2032
AM1021 AM1022 CM1001 MA1008 PY1006 PY1007
Technology CE4002CM CE3002CM
CE3004CM
CE3005CCM
CE3007CM
CE3010SMB
CE3013EM
CE2001 CE2002 CE2003 CE2004 CE2008
ICT CE4002CM CE3013EM
CE3011CM
AM2021 AM2032 AM2022 CE2001 CE2002
AM1021 AM1022
LearningOutcomeMatrix
The four Books of Modules
CE4001
CE4001
CE4001
CE4001
Textbooks - mandatoryJohnston, S., Gostelow, P., Jones, E. and Fourikis, R. ENGINEERING AND SOCIETY An Australian Perspective. ISBN 0 06 312145 X. Harper Educational, Pymble, NSW. 1995. Venables, J. Communication Skills for Engineers and Scientists ISBN 0852954557. Institution of Chemical Engineers, London. 2002
Web sites http://www.irishplanninginstitute.ie/index.jsphttp://www.pleanala.ie/conduct.htmlhttp://www.umsl.edu/~rkeel/280/soconstr.htmlhttp://www.iei.ie/ethics/codeofethics.pasp
Related texts Engineering and Society Ferguson, Eugene S.Engineering and the Mind’s EyeISBN 0-262-06147-3. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass. 1993. Latour, BrunoScience in Action – How to follow Engineers and Scientists through Society.ISBN 0-674-79291-2. Harvard University Press. 1987.
The QA Exercise
All staff elect a Chair who is not the Professorial Head of Department.
All staff elect a small committeefor the QA exercise.The HOD is a member of the committee.
Staff, student, graduate and employer Questionnaires
• The primary objective is to enable the gathering of views on all aspects of the work of the department and, in particular, any suggestions for improvement.
Self-assessment!
Benchmarking
• Within ireland– None relevant!
– Position not accepted by the QA office
– Asked the professorial head to do it
• Outside ireland– RAE procedure in the UK
– Extern examiners from MIT
– Professor of structural engineering from the TU helsinki
Chair of Dept QA Committee
• Writes the internal QA report– New mission statement– Summary of self-assessment reports– Recommendations– Primary document for external QA panel
Accred and QA Exercises
• Complementary
• Best done back-to-back
• Prepare in 2.5 months
• Defend in 1 week
• Use IT for maximum continuity
• Accred far more significant than QA
• Problem of credibility of recommendations
The Dialectic of the Universities
• Contradictions• Must balance the books
• Cannot charge undergraduate fees
• State grant in decline
• Must pay national wage agreements
• Non-EU students pay fees and displace Irish students
The Dialectic of the Universities
• Contradictions• Professors must
– Lead academically
– Follow Governing Body
– Not show independence of thought & action
– Not mention ethics
– Raise money to balance the books
In a room under the stands of the University of Chicago's sport stadium.
Enrico Fermi [1901-1954]
A small neutron source was placed on the floor. Then more and more graphite pieces were put on it, all of which contained a little uranium ball.
Control rods of cadmium were inserted to absorb neutrons.
It went critical – chain reaction of slow neutrons – December 2, 1942
Health & Safety?
SCRAM, "Safety Control Reserve Axed Man".
The "suicide squad", with borated water filled pails
The “great and good”