On the use of semantics for curriculum development of new Engineering Technology Programme

Engineering technology education has undergone many changes over the past few decades, with the most recent one being the establishment of a new qualification for engineering technologists. This qualification is intended to decouple the engineering technology qualification from the engineering technician qualification. The establishment of a new degree for engineering technologists poses challenges for curriculum developers who need to ensure that the new curriculum will serve to shape graduates as envisaged by the new qualification standards. This is especially challenging because engineering technologists have always followed the same curriculum as engineering technicians for the initial phase of their education. This work focuses the particular challenge of planning of the curriculum knowledge that will shape the intended knower. In this paper, we present some preliminary thoughts on an outcomes-led approach toward determining how the new graduate attributes affect selection, sequencing and pacing. We use legitimation code theory to conceptualise the relationship between knowledge and outcomes.