SOSE professors lead charge in the implementation of new Icam-inspired Engineering programs

In preparation of the rollout of new Engineering programs to be offered in the Ateneo de Manila University, the Department of Information Systems and Computer Science (DISCS), as well as the Department of Electronics, Computer and Communications Engineering (ECCE) have been working on creating new courses that take inspiration from professors’ experiences in the Institut Catholique d’Arts et Métiers or Icam, a Jesuit university in France that is notable for its Graduate Engineering programs.

Part of this collaboration is the implementation of a teacher exchange program which happens almost annually. Rosula Reyes, PhD, a retired professor from ECCE, as well as Mr. Alberto Medalla, a lecturer from DISCS, recently finished their teaching immersion in Icam. During their stay, they were tasked to deliver and discuss modules on various Engineering topics to students enrolled in the institution.

Overseas Ateneo professors

Dr. Reyes, a retiring professor, taught in Icam until December 2019; months before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Medalla arrived shortly after Dr. Reyes, around February 2020. He was scheduled to stay for four weeks in France, but it was cut short due to the worsening COVID-19 situation.

In an interview with Dimensions, Mr. Medalla revealed that during his stay in France, he had to juggle between being a Masters student and teaching his students back at the Ateneo on top of handling classes in Icam.

In order to cater to his students back in Manila, Mr. Medalla prepared and sent pre-recorded lectures on various topics in his coding classes. Similar to the online learning setup, he utilized web-based learning systems such as Moodle and simulated recorded lectures even before the shift to online classes.

“[In Icam]... it's a method of teaching methods in which most of the work is mostly student-centered. Most of the work is actually done by the students themselves”, Mr. Medalla observed, when asked about their main observations on the French institution’s curriculum and teaching style.

“They had student meetings, student-led discussions, and very little lectures coming from the professors. Most of the time, it would just be the professor going around the teams just in case they may have any questions,” Dr. Reyes said.

Drawing inspiration from Icam’s methodology

Icam’s engineering curriculum is centered around skill-based learning and assessments. Their curriculum revolves around an “interdisciplinary approach to problem solving thanks to the core engineering and technical courses” that make up their programs.

Mr. Medalla detailed that students were given “problem-based learning” or PBL modules every week – which he was tasked to teach and implement. Each module had a main problem that they are supposed to discuss and work on. At the end of each module, students will present and share their findings and solutions with their fellow students across different Icam campuses. Dr. Reyes observed that although students had various approaches to the given problem, they achieved the same answers.

Teaching in Icam was also a learning experience for both Dr. Reyes and Mr. Medalla. Dr. Reyes shared that to her, it felt like starting over again. “[...] I’ve

grown a lot in terms of preparing myself for that international position,” she said. She added that it also helped her in her new position as the regional director for the International Association of Jesuit Engineering Schools.

For Mr. Medalla, it made him feel more confident in the system that the Ateneo has for its engineering programs. He said that it made him realize that Ateneo has a lot to offer as well. Both instructors expressed their interest in implementing the problem-based learning that Icam offers.

Dr. Reyes felt that a student-centered learning approach similar to Icam’s would be essential not only for a more enriched education, but also for fostering a team aspect among engineering students. Mr. Medalla, in relation to the upcoming rollout of new engineering programs in the Ateneo, said that these new offerings would follow the Icam curriculum. He further explained that its learning modules would be patterned to the problem-based learning method that is implemented in the French institution.

Future of Ateneo engineering courses

Mr. Medalla further elaborated that the upcoming engineering programs will consist of module-based, self-study problem-based modules. When a student reaches their junior or senior year in Ateneo, they will be given the opportunity to spend one year in a counterpart university. During this time, students will already be working on their capstone project which involves implementing a design that they have made before. However, he stated that usually, students will end up implementing another group’s design. “It’s an important aspect in what they want the students to learn, [which is] being able to create your design in such a way that you can hand it off to another team for implementation,” he said.

These new programs, which will be implemented with the help of an international cohort, are expected to be launched two to three years from now, according to Mr. Medalla. Currently, preparations are being done for its implementation such as training, dry-runs, and the selection of faculty members that would be involved in delivering the program’s modules.

As she hangs up her gloves as a professor, Dr. Reyes is filled with optimism for the new programs, as well as the future of her department.

“The programs are going to be a very good opportunity for the ECCE program and Ateneo as a whole to be able to partner with France to pursue further the faculty research initiatives, as well as an improved core curriculum for engineering,” she expressed.

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Text: Derreck De Leon

Photo: Patricia Abu