Partnership Approach
General Objectives
The objective of the partnership is to strengthen the capacity of DIT to review, develop, and deliver a Bachelor Level Civil Engineering course contextualized to the social and economic needs of Timor Leste. Curriculum development is about having an institutional process which strives to evaluate the relevance of the course content and critically analyse the institution's ability to deliver it. The EWB partnership is primarily concerned with assisting DIT to design a curriculum development process that can be sustainably led by faculty and staff.
The project objectives are to:
- Help develop stakeholder (e.g. private industry, government, NGO's, peer institutions) networks for the purpose of soliciting curriculum feedback and connecting DIT academics with development and research opportunities
- Build the technical and teaching capacity of faculty to effectively support the academic and professional development needs of DIT Civil Engineering Students
- Develop a curriculum review and development process that will result in an academic program that produces Civil Engineering graduates with the competency and skills needed by stakeholders.
Current Activities
- Build up contacts within the Industry
- Develop an ongoing process to develop a standard of competency appropriate for Timor
- Leste that graduates should reach at the end of their study
- Review the curriculum to meet the agreed standard and define an implementation plan
- Develop the syllabus
Team Structure
Working Group
The curriculum development working group includes the Civil Engineering faculty and student assistant, the Pro-Rector of Academics and the EWB volunteer. with the EWB volunteer supporting and advising.
Leadership
The team is led by Aderita, the Director of the School of Engineering and Science.
EWB Volunteer
The purpose of EWB involvement is to help DIT incubate a sustainable curriculum development process and connect DIT with additional resources that may be helpful in establishing best practices. The EWB volunteer seeks to support and advise with regards to project management, curriculum design best practices and to facilitate / broker relationships with stakeholders.
The Curriculum (pre project)
The curriculum is structured over 3 years of studies. Each year is broken in trimesters. The curriculum is made of approximately 40 subjects (17 General, 12 in Structure, 6 in Water, 6 in Geotechnics&Roads). Each subject represents 32 hours of class and 2 credits. A student needs at least 146 credits to graduate.
Year 1 is general with soft skills such as languages, calculus and physics.
Year 2 to 3 are more specific with courses on Structure, Water and Roads. The current major is Structure.
During Year 3 the students undertake a 3 months work placement in the Industry and complete a thesis as a separate project.
The curriculum was developed by local individuals with some exposure with international curriculums. The curriculum was then recognised by the Ministry of Education. No peer review by experienced personnel was undertaken.
The students are assessed for each subject on their presence, homework and a mid semester and end of semester exams. To pass a subject the students need a mark above 55%.
The EWB Volunteer
Brad is the second EWB volunteer working on the project. He is working with the team focusing on building up a team dynamics and getting all the teachers involved in the project.
Brad is carrying the following activities:
- assisting Aderita to lead the team building up her leadership skills
- guiding the team along the project building up their academic skills
- liaising with the Industry building up working relationships and encouraging the teachers to do so
Brad is continuing to support the management of the civil team by also helping out on the senior management team. Brad will continue the previous volunteer's work with regards to strengthening areas of strategic management and working towards improving planning and governance.