Enhancing Autonomy & Employability Amongst Engineering Students by the Use of Embedded ‘learning-by-doing’ Teaching Practices Dr Hafid Belaidi & Dr Robert Jenner Department of Engineering Science University of Greenwich

Outline Problems with engineering subjects in HE Modern trends in the teaching of engineering subjects ‘ learning-by-doing ‘ approach through class demonstrations and its effects on employability attributes Embedding employability into course or programme level design

The problem Some subjects have strong mathematical base and perceived by students to be challenging and difficult Traditionally delivered through formal lectures, tutorials & 2 to 3 lab exercises Large class sizes of several cohorts with wide ranging abilities Difficult to keep students focused throughout a full lecture session

Trend in HE Common problems throughout the engineering education sector Several pedagogies been tried (Elgezawy (2008)) and others introduced virtual labs – big capital investment needed

The strategy Introduce simple in-class demonstrations at regular intervals to break up monotony and re-enforce concepts This has generates dialogue with students challenging their peers to the understanding of concepts Helps bring students back into the lecture to understand the theory behind what they have physically witness in class

The strategy Students can verify concepts away from the classroom using cheap & easy to setup experiments ,log their observation and engage with their peer through the portal Students get familiar with and understand the behaviour of physical quantities and materials The methods has yielded results by showing improvement in success rates

Embedding Employability at a Module/programme Level Flipped environment: how can we bring the workplace into the classroom? Rather than just flipping roles…we flip environments…try to mimic workplace Project-based-learning used to mirror industrial roles Work flow and working practices mimic industry 60 credit course used to provide a ‘day at work’

A typical project team!

Specification & planning A Typical Engineering Project Workflow Teamwork & Professionalism Analytical Skills Market trends Current legislation Primary need Data gathering Data handling Current technology Project planning Schedule of works Action plans Set objectives Creativity Lateral thinking Precision & accuracy Reflection Synetics Practical skill Strategy Verification Data generation Report writing Recording Oral presentation Definition of Problem Research Specification & planning Embodiment of schemes Manufacture & test Final reporting Conceptual design

How do we Implement the Workplace Model?

Workplace Model Management Structure Copyright © 2015 BBC

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