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College of Engineering & Science
What is spiral curriculum?
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 Spiral Curriculum
Spiral curriculum, a concept widely attributed to Jerome Bruner [1], refers to a curriculum design
in which key concepts are presented repeatedly throughout the curriculum, but with deepening
layers of complexity, or in different applications. Such treatment allows the earlier introduction
of concepts traditionally reserved for later, more specialized courses in the curriculum, after
students have mastered some fundamental principles that are often very theoretical and likely to
discourage students who are eager to apply the concepts they are learning to real-world
applications.

How does this method help the student?

Over the past several years, Detroit Mercy’s Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) program
has designed and implemented such a spiral curriculum, built on a robotics theme. In their very
first semester at the university, all engineering students complete a hands robotics project that
introduces concepts related to mechatronics. As the ECE students progress through the integrated
curriculum, they complete more complex robotics projects, and participate in courses that are
tightly integrated with each other.

How it works
 Figure X: Electrical Engineering Spiral Curriculum
Figure X represents the spiral structure of the curriculum, showing how traditionally disparate
topical areas are treated in an integrated fashion in the two fundamentals courses (Fund I and
Fund II). After Fund I, the students begin to experience tight integration across courses. For
example, shared projects across Fund II, Signals and Systems, and Digital Logic have been a
consistent feature in the four years since the curriculum was launched. Signals and Systems
introduces concepts related to control and communications systems which are later reinforced in
two separate courses. The Advanced Electronic Systems course continues the integration with
shared projects with the Microprocessors course. All of this prepares students to think of EE
design as a systems integration problem rather than simply a collection of unrelated component
designs that are never put together in a larger context.

[1]  J. S. Bruner, The process of education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1960.
 
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University of Detroit Mercy,
a Catholic university in the
Jesuit and Mercy traditions

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Detroit, MI 48221-3038
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https://eng-sci.udmercy.edu/academics/engineering/electrical-computer/spiral-curriculum.php