MECHANICAL ENGINEERING CURRICULUM BY PROPAEDEUTIC CYCLES. AN INTEGRATED AND INCLUSIVE PROPOSAL

In Colombia the requirements of professional in technical and technological levels have increased in the light of new economic and productive dynamics that are generated in the country. Therefore the national government has been promoting the development of higher education programs for these levels by enacting laws and regulations aimed at improving the training and promoting coordination of knowledge so that they can achieve relevant professional to the country reality .

The Technological Faculty of Francisco José de Caldas University in Bogotá has led for more than fifteen years training professional technological and engineering processes through cycles, recognized from the Ministery of Education.
This work presents the structure of an undergraduate curriculum in mechanical engineering in propaedeutic cycles education model. The program consists of two education phases clearly identified, articulated and differentiated in order to allow the sequencing and complementarity of knowledge, so that it can be both a Technologist in Mechanical and a Mechanical Engineer, with high professional conditions, relevance and quick integration into the labor market.
The first stage, look for the education of a professional in Mechanical Technology with capabilities to solve problems in the area of mechanics, from the use, application and adaptation of available technologies, systematic conceptualization of the state of problems to solve and develop creative and practical technological solutions.

In the second cycle, it seeks to complement the education of the technologist to reach a professional in Mechanical Engineering. For this purpose, promotes articulation and deepening of technology cycle concepts and the appropriation of new knowledge in order to support the future engineer with higher skills in the analysis and conceptualization, so that it can address the problems broadly and count with more tools to support the development of solutions. This is achieved by focusing on the recognition of phenomena, modeling of systems and processes to raise more elaborate solutions involving requirement complex analysis and verification and impact analysis of proposed solutions.

Pedagogical strategies used in the curriculum are intended to strengthen decision-making, multidisciplinary work, systematic problem solving and responsability in the management of natural resources.