Syllabus generation with engineering design

The generation of the first draft of the syllabus was straight forward following the progression of course design that was focused on in class. In a more general sense, it is the same development path as used for any design work (being a chemical engineer, chemical process design comes to mind). It starts at the highest level with defining the purpose of the design. In the case of a syllabus that is the goal of the course, for an industrial process it is the opportunity and input/output(I/O) mass balance.

                Once the purpose is defined, the design process follows a logical descent to greater levels of detail. For chemical process design, from the I/O comes the definition of unit operations (reactors, mixers and separators) needed to convert the inputs into desired outputs.  Then the units are further defined as a specific type, e.g. A/B distillation column, fluidized bed jacketed reactor, hammermill, etc. The cascade continues further to fine details such as specific location of everything down to check valves and wiring.

                Syllabus generation has a similar flow, with the objectives taking the place of unit definition. Both take the purpose and give it an observable structure. The structure is further specified by deciding how the structure will be recognized. Recognition or measurement of objectives are via assessment and unit operations through their specific types.

                After this point, the process takes a less sequential route as the fine details are generated. Compiled process designs are submitted for review as was our syllabi. It was interesting that both short and deep peer-reviews addressed the same areas for improvement in my syllabus. The peer review was helpful in seeing where further clarity and details were required. It is often difficult to see those areas oneself by virtue of being its creator, one knows the whole plan.