Annual General Assembly 2006 - Dalian

Project Session 1

Study in Standardizing of Undergraduate Marine Engineering Curriculum

Boris Butman - United States Merchant Marine Academy, USA

ABSTRACT

Although mandated by the STCW Convention, the undergraduate marine engineering programs still differ in their duration, content, onboard training, specific requirements, etc. Analysis of various curricula reveals quite substantial discrepancies, especially in the program structure and the academic courses that are included into the program.

The content of this paper is based on the results of a research project sponsored by the IAMU: analysis and assessment of undergraduate marine engineering programs in various countries for possible standardization. The curricula of 27 maritime educational centers has been reviewed, classified, broken down into components and analyzed. As a result, a standardized distributions by curricula elements for both, license oriented and license/degree oriented curricula, have been developed. Further analyses and statistical evaluation of the weights of the curricula elements allowed to propose the sound and justifiable average values for the weights of those components. An appropriate assortment of academic courses for each of the proposed building blocks of a standard curriculum has been identified, accompanied with a set of alternative courses. Standard curricula materials require much more space than this paper allows: for detailed information the reader is referred to the final report provided to IAMU.

In the summary a series of practical recommendation is offered.

Keywords: marine engineering education; curriculum; programs; license and degree components of programs; program accreditation

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