Embedding Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Methodology in Two-Year College Technical Curricula

The program is revising curricula for an engineering design and electronics program to build it around an entrepreneurial component that immerses the students in reengineering throughout the two-year program. The objectives of the project are to provide technical students with continuous quality improvement (CQI) experience, to recruit more students into engineering design, manufacturing, and electronics, and to improve student performance. The revised curricula bring freshmen into the CQI loop in their first semester technical courses where they analyze and recommend improvements on products previously designed by student teams. In succeeding semesters, the students build prototypes, analyze them, and continue to redesign them. They undergo training in workplace skills, including project management, teamwork, problem solving, critical thinking, and communication. In the last semester, the curricula combine technical and business students to form student teams or companies, which manufacture, market, and sell a product. Included on the site is a brief description of the project, and a few educational resources including: a teaching resource manual, student guidebook, and workplace skill modules.