Hacking Curriculum

Group members: Andrew Palmer & Bonnie Qian

Problem statement:

Students have little knowledge of what is ahead of them in their chosen field, because the current curricula focus on teaching the ¡°what¡± and ¡°how¡±, but not the ¡°why¡±. First years students are not exposed to the most cutting edge problems and technologies, final year students have little knowledge of job market and opportunities.

Proposed solution:

Targeting the first year program because it is the most regulated, we propose a flexible way to enhance the curriculum: a hackathon-style event organised by older students (3rd or 4th year), which focuses on a real-life challenge to be solved in teams. The content of the problem is to be adapted for each department. Mentors and experts from industry and research will be present to guide the teams, and a jury will decide at the end of the event on the feasibility of the proposed solutions.

This solution can easily be expanded to higher year students, creating this interesting and agile feedback loops between the generations and alumni.

Next steps:

First, identify a department willing to do a pilot. Second, contact the Fachverein for older students of the department who will be the content architects of the event.

PDF presentation slides: Download 5_Hacking curriculum (PDF, 8.8 MB)