Using Positive Interdependence and Multi-Modal Assignments to Enhance Student Understanding of Civil Engineering Soft Skills

This study aims to examine the level of employer satisfaction towards industrial training students of the UiTM Pahang Civil Engineering Diploma Program and identify employer satisfaction factors for industrial training students from aspects of knowledge, personality, generic skills, and soft skills. This study is focused on semester four students undergoing industrial training. This study was conducted on 158 respondents from various organizations. Using the important relative index (RII), the level of important factors was ranked through the value of the index. Findings show the highest employer satisfaction is towards the student mastering their knowledge, adhering to the working hours, improving their skills and knowledge, and communicating well with co-workers. Besides, it also shows a good correlation between knowledge and personality among industrial training students. This study found that industrial training students of the Civil Engineering Diploma Program had a good level of control over all four domains. Overall findings showed that employers are satisfied with the industrial training students of the UiTM Pahang Civil Engineering Diploma Program. This study is important to measure the effectiveness of the industrial training syllabus in terms of achieving the program outcomes addressed in the syllabus

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THE ACADEMIC DEBATE AS A TOOL TO DEVELOP SOFT SKILLS IN CIVIL ENGINEERING MASTER TEACHING

10.21125/iceri.2021.1644 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Teresa M. Pellicer ◽

Vicente López-Mateu

Keyword(s):

Civil Engineering ◽

Soft Skills ◽

Academic Debate

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The Interaction of Civil Engineering Students in Group Work through the Social Network Analysis

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13179847 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (17) ◽

pp. 9847

Author(s):

Tito Castillo ◽

Rodrigo F. Herrera ◽

Tania Guffante ◽

Ángel Paredes ◽

Oscar Paredes

Keyword(s):

Social Network ◽

Social Network Analysis ◽

Network Analysis ◽

Group Work ◽

Construction Projects ◽

Engineering Students ◽

Civil Engineering ◽

Soft Skills ◽

Informal Conversation ◽

The Social

A sustainable approach in the construction industry requires civil engineering professionals with technical and soft skills. Those skills complement each other and facilitate the professional to work effectively in multidisciplinary groups during the development of construction projects. Universities apply collaborative learning methods such as group work (GW) in the classroom to achieve these skills. There is disagreement on the best way to select the members of the GW to achieve their best performance, but it is clear that it should favor the interaction of diverse actors to promote the development of soft skills. A random or criteria-based selection could bring groups of people very close together, leading to the academic homogeneity of GW members and impairing performance and learning. Even the most alert instructors lack information about the closeness of their students, so they rely on their intuition without having tools that allow them to confirm their assumptions or relate them to GW performance. The objective of this paper was to discover the social structures within the classrooms and to identify the groups of people close by trust, knowledge, and informal conversation to relate them to their GW performance. For this purpose, a social network analysis (SNA) was applied to Civil Engineering degree students. In addition, a correlation analysis between SNA metrics and GW grades was performed. The results show that beyond the way in which members are selected, there is a social structure that affects such selection and GW performance. This study presents information that can be used for instructors for a better GW selection that propitiates the development of soft skills in Civil Engineering students.

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IMPROVING GRADUATES’ ATTRIBUTES THROUGH LABORATORY TEAMWORK

Proceedings of International Structural Engineering and Construction ◽

10.14455/isec.res.2015.16 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Daniela Ionescu ◽

Joe Petrolito ◽

Bandita Mainali ◽

Haider Al Abadi

Keyword(s):

Communication Skills ◽

Interpersonal Skills ◽

Civil Engineering ◽

Soft Skills ◽

Global Environment ◽

Technical Knowledge ◽

Responsible Attitude

In today’s changing global environment engineering graduates are expected to have both technical and soft skills. Accordingly, La Trobe University has incorporated the soft skills of communication, teamwork, interpersonal skills and leadership into its Civil Engineering course. This paper describes the contribution of teamwork to the development of soft skills during laboratory classes in a number of subjects taught at the second, third and fourth years of study. The assessment for the practical component was designed to enhance teamwork and measure the students’ contribution during the laboratory/field sessions. The practical classes and teamwork requirements improved the students’ technical knowledge, and students became more aware of their own strengths and weaknesses. It also enhanced students’ communication skills and promoted the development of interpersonal skills and a responsible attitude.

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Impact of Seminars on Student Soft Skills Development

International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering - Special Issue ◽

10.35940/ijitee.d1696.029420 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 2189-2192

Keyword(s):

Soft Skills ◽

Personality Development ◽

Vital Role ◽

Student Understanding ◽

Skills Development ◽

Teaching Aids ◽

Careful Preparation

Conduction of seminar is crucial and essential for the students who find difficult in understanding more or less understanding on subject topics. Seminar creates interest in student understanding by means of better teaching aids compare to normal classroom chalk and board/talk session. Seminar plays vital role in business as well educational fields to grasp subject inside. Conducting a successful technical seminar requires careful preparation. Seminar MLRIT focuses on mandatory course of Technical Seminar for empowering students and overall personality development.

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