On June 30, 2014, 24 engineering lecturers from the five HEEAP Vietnamese partner universities traveled to Arizona State University to take part in a HEEAP Faculty Development Training. The cohort spent six weeks learning about engineering curriculum design, student success and active learning techniques.
During their training, the cohort learned valuable lessons that will not only benefit their own classes, but also serve to transform education at their institutions. Upon their return, Faculty from each of the five universities shared that they planned to hold workshops and seminars to disseminate the knowledge gained during the HEEAP workshop at their universities. During the program, a number of activities and projects were conduct-ed to support the faculty’s progress towards the development of course learning outcomes (CLOs) for a se-lected course that they teach in Vietnam. These activities addressed the writing of course learning outcomes, identifying and modifying the level of instruction related to the CLOs using Bloom’s Taxonomy, the creation of a set of assessments for their CLOs, as well as plans for the modification of their classroom instructional practices so that they can introduce active learning exercises. 
These activities support the creation of a course portfolio for each faculty member’s target class that outlines the CLO, where the content related to these CLOs are addressed in the class, and provides a sample of an assessment that can be used to evaluate student performance with respect to the CLO. The faculty also participated in a week of English language training that focused on presentation skills, audience analysis, leading a discussion, questioning methods, pronunciation and grammar skills development. Another week was dedicated to statistical analysis and design of experiments (DoE), where the faculty learned how statistical and process-oriented thinking can guide the experimental planning process to produce the most effective experimental strategy. This week also focused on teaching the fundamental concepts and methodologies of DoE in a straightforward manner that allowed participants to master the techniques.
During their 6-week program, the cohort visited the Intel Corporation’s Chandler, Arizona facility where managers from different departments at Intel shared information on what they look for when hiring engineers for their plants around the world, including Intel’s largest and most advanced assembly and test facility in their global manufacturing network, located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Some of the characteristics mentioned when selecting employee candidates were: English proficiency, strong knowledge in statistical concepts for designing experiments and data analysis, and good interpersonal skills, such as working in teams, good communication and problem solving skills.
These desired attributes reinforced and validated HEEAP’s training pro-gram, which focuses on developing curriculum that strengthens those and other important skills for the global engineers of the future. The faculty left Arizona on August 9, 2014 after a closing ceremony where ASU’s Deputy Provost and Chief of Staff, Mark Searle, addressed the certificate award ceremony and congratulated the HEEAP faculty on completing their training at ASU, while challenging them to become agents of change at their universities—contributing to the larger effort of education reform in Vietnam.
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