The Future of Education

To ensure students of a 4-year engineering technology programme receive the best of learning in both theoretical and practical areas, conventional delivery channels were incorporated in the curriculum structure, e.g. lectures, labwork, tutorials and workshops. However this arguably ‘traditional’ approach is inadequate to cater for the fast-paced dynamism of the industry, where graduates often find themselves disconnected with current industrial settings and practices upon entering the workplace. This could be related to the rather rigid curriculum contents, organisation and delivery methods associated with the teaching and learning of technical programmes in general. In addition the curriculum review and revise processes are usually lengthy and onerous, making the positive changes inevitably outpaced by transformation of the industrial parctices. Therefore the integration of concurrent, in-trend elements of engineering practices in the existing curriculum and syllabus is necessary to enhance the students’ learning experience. Recommended by the Engineering Technology Accreditation Council (ETAC), these exercises could be categorised as ‘active’ and ‘passive’ (Fig. 1), or simply denoted as ‘classroom in industry’ or ‘industry in classroon’ approaches. Whether bringing the students out to the relevant industry for site visit and interviews, or embedding real industrial problems in final year project (FYP), case studies, feasibility studies or investigation, this ‘active’ engagement would allow students first hand experience of their future workplace while learning the basic tenets in teh respective courses. Similarly in a ‘passive’ manner, industrial participation in classrooms could be arranged via talks, studies, courses, consultations and evaluation of course-based projects, industrial logbook entries as well as employment of teaching staff with strong industrial background. Incorporation of these elements of engineering practices in the University’s engineering technology programmes are organised and presented in this paper to illustrate the activites crafted with the industry to narrow the gap between textbooks and real world scenarios for in-house students. Notwithstanding the room aplenty for improvement, these engagements have had a profound impact on the students’ learning, especially in bridging the theory-practical gap while providing exposure to current industrial practices and technology, hence better equping them for the industry upon graduation.

Keywords: Civil engineering technology, engineering practices, industry, technical problems;

References:
[1] Board of Engineers Malaysia. (2019). Engineering Technology Programme Accreditation Standard 2019. Engineering Technology Accreditation Council (ETAC).
[2] Board of Engineers Malaysia. (2015). Engineering Technology Programme Accreditation Manual 2015. Engineering Technology Accreditation Council (ETAC).