Curriculum differences here & abroad

[turmoil]

I was interested in the differences in the 1st year Curriculum's of two Universities.(Chemical Engineering)
Ist is from Birmingham University in the U.K.
2nd is from UP Diliman.

Physical Education??
Arts and Humanities??

Says it all really!



Birmingham UK Curriculum:

Modelling Concepts and Tools



Fluid Flow, Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer

Chemical Engineering Design and Professional Skills A&B

Properties and Applications of Materials

Chemistry for Engineers

Electrical, Electronic and Computer Systems



Chemical and Biochemical Processes

Other Engineering Modules or Modules Outside Main Discipline

Mass, Heat and Momentum Transport A&B

Process Integration and Unit Operations A&B

Functional Products

Process Systems

Computing for Design

Reactors and Catalysis

Principles of Process Control

Product Design Exercise



UP Curriculum:
First Year, 1st semester
Subjects Units
GE 1 (Arts and Humanities)* 3
GE 2 (Social Sciences & Philosophy)** 3
GE 3 (Social Sciences & Philosophy)** 3
Math 17 (Algebra and Trigonometry) 5
Chem 16 (General Chemistry I) 5
Physical Education (2)
Total 19

First Year, 2nd semester
Subjects Units
GE 4 (Arts and Humanities, )* 3
Chem 17 (General Chemistry II) 5
Physics 71 (Elementary Physics I) 4
Physics 71.1 (Elementary Physics I Lab) 1
Math 53 (Elementary Analysis I) 5
Physical Education (2)
Total 18


http://www.engg.upd.edu.ph/~che/Undergraduate/checurriculum.html
http://www.eng2.bham.ac.uk/chemical/ug/chembeng.htm

[iRebirth]

these two reputable universities face two disparate realities. so they are hardly comparable.
for instance, very few schools teach calculus in the high school level. i believe that College Algebra is incorporated in the curriculum to level the competencies of those coming from private and public schools.

besides, the philippine educational system takes after the american system, if i'm not mistaken. so you'd find more similarities with American universities which have their own version of the General Education or GE.


although i do want to question why most if not all colleges, UP included, exempt arts students from taking at the very least, basic calculus. kawawa naman sila kasi daig pa sila ng high school seniors ng taga-ibang bansa.

[_SCUD_]

Asus, nagtaka ka pa. Eh yang mga pang 1st yr. at 2nd yr subjects ng UP o kahit ano pang school sa Pilipinas tinuturo na sa HS Grade 7 or 8 sa ibang bansa.

Pero wag ka ha, yung mga fresh grads at newly licensed Eng'rs pa ang malalakas ang loob na magsigaw na at par sila sa mga Engr's sa ibang bansa.

[fattybearyus]

Mahina talaga ang loob ng Pilipinas magbigay ng mataas na mga curso sa mga estudyante. For example, in other countries, medicine can be taken as a bachelor's degree. So is law. Pero sa atin ang daming kailangan pagdaanan. Meron pang P.E at kung anu anung English, Filipino at mga Minor subjects na pampagulo.

[Dacs]

I will not go into details but being a ChE graduate from UPD, all that I can say is that while the curriculum is heavily mirrored to our western counterparts (Unit Operations, Chemical Process, etc), UP is sorely lacking in these categories:

1. UP curriculum needs to be updated to reflect the recent changes in the techologies related to Chemical Engineering
2. Lack of focus in the use of softwares needed in the industry. Process Simulation is one of them.
3. Exposure to the actual industry is quite lacking. It's one thing to know the principles, but it's quite another in practice. UP doesn't require its students to undergo OJT. Weird.

My 2 cents.

[KuyaDanny]

It seems the threadstarter is comparing the first-year course lists of a three-year program (Birmingham) and a five-year program (UPD). Surely they will be different, as the prerequisites also will be.

As for Humanities, Arts, and Physical Education, these are also required for bachelor's degrees awarded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (http://web.mit.edu/catalogue/overv.chap3-gir.shtml), if you think that is an example of a good school.

[hahahaok]

The Philippine Education system, in general, must have reforms. It must concentrate more on science and math. Why not teach algebra on the 6th grade, geometry and trigonometry on the first two years (HS) and calculus on the remaining years? So that, when you enter college, wala nang algebra and trigonometry course. Refresher and enrichment nalang sa calculus for one whole year sa college. We really lag behind!

[kungpow]

Kulang ng teachers na trained para magturo ng calculus...tsaka ng geometry at trigonometry

The Philippine Education system, in general, must have reforms. It must concentrate more on science and math. Why not teach algebra on the 6th grade, geometry and trigonometry on the first two years (HS) and calculus on the remaining years? So that, when you enter college, wala nang algebra and trigonometry course. Refresher and enrichment nalang sa calculus for one whole year sa college. We really lag behind!

[Shinobi No Kami]

It seems the threadstarter is comparing the first-year course lists of a three-year program (Birmingham) and a five-year program (UPD). Surely they will be different, as the prerequisites also will be.

As for Humanities, Arts, and Physical Education, these are also required for bachelor's degrees awarded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (http://web.mit.edu/catalogue/overv.chap3-gir.shtml), if you think that is an example of a good school.
You beat me to it. Some people forget that, in the Philippines, the prerequisite for entrance to a university is only 10 years of formal education. This is usually 2 years shorter than the requirement for other countries.

Also, just because one course (ex. Algebra and Trigonometry) from a university has the same title as another course in another university doesn't mean that they are exactly the same courses. The breadth and depth at which these courses are handled can be vastly different.

You can't judge the quality of education offered in an university just by looking at the curriculum. You should also take a look at their faculty profile and their theses. If you're really serious about it, you can talk to people from that school and probably visit the department you are interested in.

[_SCUD_]

Fom MIT Scool of Engineering (http://web.mit.edu/catalogue/degre.engin.deans.shtml)

The first-year curriculum for undergraduates includes physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, and the humanities, arts, and social sciences. An undergraduate student normally becomes affiliated with a particular department at the beginning of the sophomore year and works closely with an advisor from that department or program. A student who would like to explore engineering as a major is encouraged to become involved with one of the engineering departments as early as the freshman year. Nearly every engineering department offers exciting subjects that introduce engineering to freshmen. Freshman Advising Seminars bring students together in small groups with engineering faculty. Undergraduate Research Opportunities Projects (UROPs) are a great way to delve into cutting-edge engineering research. Extracurricular clubs, such as the MIT Rocket Team or the Solar Electric Vehicle Team, offer students hands-on engineering design experiences.

Once a student chooses an undergraduate major, there are many opportunities for individual initiatives. For example, a significant number of students combine their primary undergraduate degrees with a second undergraduate degree in another area, such as management, political science, economics, one of the sciences, or another area of engineering. Others organize their programs so that they can receive undergraduate and graduate degrees simultaneously. A series of minor programs from across the Institute is also available.


Pioneering Programs in Engineering Education

Engineering education has been at the core of the Institute's mission since its founding in 1861. MIT created the contemporary model of engineering education grounded in a dynamic, changing base of science; and pioneered the modern model of the research university, with externally sponsored research programs and a matrix of academic departments and research laboratories working across disciplines. MIT also created entire new fields, for example, chemical engineering, sanitary engineering, naval architecture and marine engineering, and the first course in aeronautical engineering. Today, the School of Engineering is responding with new degree programs to the molecular and genomic revolutions that have made biology a foundational science for engineering.


_________
Naval, Marine, Chemical and Sanitary Engineering. Yan sana ang dapat kinukuha ng mga HS Students, sa laki ng problema ng Pilipinas sa Waste Management hindi mauubusan ang mga Chemical at Sanitary Engr's ng trabaho. Sa laki ng tubig at haba ng coastline ng Pilipinas na mas mahaba pa sa US hindi mawawalan ang mga Marine at Naval Engineers ng gagawin.

[Lady Chablis]

Not only MIT but all top universities (Harvard, Princeton, Yale, etc.) have required core curriculum that all students aiming for a Bachelor of Science degree must take during their first 2 years of undergraduate study. This "Core" is divided almost equally between the sciences and mathematics and the Humanities (literature, philosophy, history, languages, music, art history, the classics, religious studies, etc.). That all students, no matter what their major, need to receive a broad and solid general education is a philosophy that's advocated by USA's top universities. It's great for UP to have that kind of philosophy.

[paenggoy]

To add to what Shinobi and others wrote, from what I know, the UK requires around 13 years of pre-tertiary education while the Philippines requires only 10 (although some take prep and/or Grade 7). That's why the RP has GE subjects during the first two years or so of college.

The same takes place for the U.S., which also requires a K-12 education. Although there are core subjects in several U.S. schools, I think the subjects make up only around 20 percent of total subjects (around 18 out of 90 units). In the Philippines, several schools require almost two years out of four for GE.

There are more differences. For example, in several schools in the UK and the U.S., students usually take only around four subjects per term. In some schools they have heavy loads for most subjects (e.g., they read around one hundred pages per class hour; four to ten books are sometimes assigned in each class). In Britain subjects have different numbers of hours for lectures and durations: some subjects are taken for several months. Even requirements vary: in some U.S. schools, quizzes and graded recitation are rarely given, and students must take comprehensive exams. In several UK courses, only long papers are required. In terms of work, many U.S. students have to work full-time or part-time to pay for tuition (usually 20 hours or more a week), sometimes on top of loans and financial support from relatives who have to work a second shift or mortgage property.

[clawed_out]

Generally speaking, the curriculum abroad is more geared specific on what your major and specialty is.

Most of the faculty members and students are working professionals (shallow and vague explanation based form experience) so learning theories and it's applications are fairly easy. You just have to manage your time in a reasonable manner.

Yes, curriculum is not a good basis to determine wether a school of choice is competent in the outside world.

[turmoil]

Thank you for your very interesting insights.
I am now just beginning to understand the huge difference between the two education systems highlighted.

It seems the threadstarter is comparing the first-year course lists of a three-year program (Birmingham) and a five-year program (UPD). Surely they will be different, as the prerequisites also will be.

As for Humanities, Arts, and Physical Education, these are also required for bachelor's degrees awarded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, if you think that is an example of a good school.


The UK Curriculum represents a 3 year bachelor degree
A master degree can be attained with one extra year either at Uni or within the work place.

Of course the Uni`s in the UK will require 3/4 A levels above C grade which would have been attained after 5 years of high school.
A level = 2 year course.

[paenggoy]

Also, in several countries, you only need vocational/technical training (usually part of secondary school or an additional year) to be able to do work that in the Philippines normally requires a college degree.