Engineering Technology Curriculum Development: Bridging the Gap between Academia-Industry through Undergraduate Final Year Project.pdf (original) (raw)
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International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development
The Malaysia Higher Education sector has experienced major growth in the 60 years since its independence. In order for Malaysia to keep up with the increasingly challenging and competitive global economy, higher education must be sustainably transformed. One of the key shifts highlighted in the Malaysia Higher Education Blueprint 2015-2025 is through empowering Technology, Vocational, Education and Training (TVET) programmes. Although the graduates from the Malaysian Technical University Network (MTUN) have shown significant achievements through the Graduate Employability rates, there are some pressing issues that still need to be addressed. The industry practitioners have raised concerns about graduates that does not meet employers' expectations and is not well-prepared to enter the workforce. As part of the initiative to address the gap above, the Engineering Technology Infrastructure Program (ETIM) at Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) has taken the effort to appoint the industry practitioners as its Undergraduate Final Year Project (FYP) co-supervisors. These industry co-supervisors plays an important role since the beginning of the course by providing real-life industry problems for the students to propose solutions. This method have seen tremendous improvement towards students' soft skills such as problem-solving and decision-making. This helps the graduates to better prepare themselves upon entering the workforce and simultaneously fulfilling the industry needs in being exposed to real-life industry problems. The industry and academia should continuously work together to ensure that the courses and curriculum are current and in accordance to the requirements posed by the industry
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The establishment of institutions of higher education is to provide education that are relevant to market needs by providing human resources (human capital) through the various programs of study. According to Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (MOHE) the skills needed by a graduate, apart from academics achievement, soft skills such as communication, decision-making skills, leadership, emotional and social intelligence, conflict and global issues, are highly seek in particular career related to engineering profession. Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) as one of the established institutions of higher learning in Malaysia is formed to produce a technical engineer graduates (technical engineers) and adhere to the call by the government in supplying human resource needs for professional group, especially in the industrial sector. By employing the model of mix method learning skills, which is theory and practical, UniMAP is expected to contribute and act as a bridge in meeting the g...
Ac 2009-424: Preparing Better Engineers: Compulsory
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Engineers are responsible for creative, innovative and adaptive designs that solve challenging technical problems and provide sustainable solutions. Professional skills (i.e. management, social/cultural appreciation, budgeting, communication and personal development) are recognised by the profession as an integral part of an engineer's formal education. However, most engineering programmes do not specifically teach these skill sets. We recognised the need to better prepare students for real-world engineering practice that demands innovation and professional skills as well as technical competence. We therefore developed a successful model in which engineering students integrated technical information and professional skills through a real-world research project established in partnership with industry. Material taught throughout a four-year curriculum culminated in the compulsory (equivalent to ~8 credit hours) assessed research project that acts as a pathway towards real-world and sustainable engineering practice. A uniqueness of our model included indigenous people's cultural engagement, where students were taught the importance of understanding and working with indigenous peoples for successful engineering outcomes. The final year student research project benefited the university, students, industry, and the engineering profession at different levels through financial and other gains. The University and its students acquired industry funding, sponsorship, scholarships, graduate employment and research partnerships. Industry and the profession profited from better prepared engineering students, early recruitment opportunities, company marketing and cost-effective taxdeductible research partnerships. To successfully implement compulsory undergraduate research projects, support from colleagues and the profession is necessary. While financial and personnel resources are limited in times of economic uncertainty, we have mitigated these limitations by partnering with external mentors. Partnership with industry Group assignments Ethical awareness Social/Cultural Cultural appreciation in engineering Waitangi workshop Real-world project Communication skills Course assignments Contextual legislation boundaries Real-world application Time management Course duration Management Project budgeting Course assignments Confidence Creativity Project direction, responsibility, ownership Personal Development Patience Research realities Research and teaching partnerships developed with industry: Our undergraduate research project model has generated a wealth of additional benefits to the university and engineering profession (Figure 1). Industry benefits by directly interacting with students, providing company exposure and affording early recruitment. They also benefit from academic partnerships and cost-effective research not easily afforded independently. Simultaneously, the University and students benefit from practical experience and financial support from industry in terms of guest lectures, course prizes, scholarships and field trips. Since the final year projects are research focussed, they often lead onto funded (post)graduate research activity fostering further collaboration between industry and the university. The university benefits moreover through increasing publication outputs, which lead to an overall increase in a PBRF (Performance Based Research Funding) score-a New Zealand government policy that distributes funding to universities based on measured research performance.