This paper shows how we adapt the CDIO approach in developing learning outcomes or syllabus at the 3rd (XXX) level of detail, at the conceptual stage, for international economics discipline at University of Economics and Business – Vietnam National University, Hanoi. | Journal of Engineering Technology and Education, Vol. 9, March 2012, pp. 101-112 Adaptation of CDIO-Based Learning Outcomes for Non-Engineering Disciplines: A Case study of Higher Educational System in an Emerging Country Dũng Anh VŨ, Nhạ Xuân PHÙNG 1 University of Economics and Business – Vietnam National University, Hanoi ABSTRACT This paper shows how we adapt the CDIO approach in developing learning outcomes or syllabus at the 3rd (XXX) level of detail, at the conceptual stage, for international economics discipline at University of Economics and Business – Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Our practice demonstrates that the approach can be reasonably adapted for other disciplines like economics and business although our conceptual framework of the learning outcomes needs to be validated in the next steps. The paper also discusses the importance of the CDIO approach as one of the models in overcoming the challenges to higher education quality improvement in emerging countries like Vietnam. INTRODUCTION Vietnamese higher education has been challenged by its quality issue. At the 2008 conference for higher education quality organised by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), most of the educators strongly insisted on the need for changing from “the bottom to the top” of the tertiary education system in order to improve and enhance the quality [Phan, 2008]. The fact is that Vietnam still does not have a single university whose quality is assessed and accredited by international quality assurance associations (or organisations) up to the date of 2010. Other researchers point out that “Vietnamese universities are not producing the educated workforce that Vietnam’s economy and society demand. Surveys conducted by government-linked associations have found that as many as 50 percent of Vietnamese university graduates are unable to find jobs in their area of specialization, evidence that the disconnection between classroom and the needs of
