Work In Progress: Changing Engineering Education: Stimulating Innovation and Overcoming Resistance

In the commercial world, there are cycles of innovation. New products are developed, marketed, improved, and most eventually die. Products succeed by meeting customer needs and desires, and customers often decide to purchase based on marketing and advertising. Customer satisfaction depends on performance, value, novelty, and quality. Inferior products die quickly in the competitive marketplace, and even good products are eventually replaced by better ones. Change is a fact of life, and continuous improvement is the goal. Although the academic world pretends to be a source of new ideas and innovative techniques, we can point to very few examples of highly successful innovations in engineering education. This paper will explore three stimuli for fundamental change in how we deliver instruction: alternative instructional techniques (computer based learning, inquiry based methods, project based learning, case methods, asynchronous learning and distance education), industry driven initiatives (CAD/CAM, ABET), and changing the population (widening the pipeline; attracting a more diverse incoming class)