scholarly journals Nurturing Entrepreneurship Skills, Creativity and Communication Skills: An Exploratory Study on Omani Arab EFL Learners

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samia Naqvi
Keyword(s):  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Domain Knowledge ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Undergraduate Level ◽  
Communication Course ◽  
Entrepreneurial Skills ◽  
Assignment Model

To prepare students to face the world of work, universities should ensure that engineers graduating from their campuses demonstrate entrepreneurial skills and the ability to understand market forces alongside domain knowledge. This exploratory study focused on the design, application, and evaluation of a research-based coursework assignment in a business communication course offered to undergraduate level engineering students at a university college in Oman. The assignment aimed at developing students’ entrepreneurship skills, basic business concepts, creativity, critical thinking, communication skills, and research skills. Student perceptions on the role of assignment in developing the above-mentioned skills and in influencing their affective domain were gathered using a survey questionnaire carrying closed and open-ended questions. The data were analyzed using SPSS and frequency tables were generated. The results of the survey revealed that the students enjoyed working on the assignment and showed strong agreement for most of the items on the role of assignment in developing their skills and knowledge. The assignment model used in this study can support teachers in designing assessments that target the development of entrepreneurial skills alongside other meta-skills and can help solve the problem of unemployment in due course.

scholarly journals Nurturing Entrepreneurship Skills, Creativity and Communication Skills: An Exploratory Study on Omani Arab EFL Learners

2021 ◽  
pp. 150-168
Author(s):  
Samia Naqvi
Keyword(s):  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Domain Knowledge ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Undergraduate Level ◽  
Communication Course ◽  
Entrepreneurial Skills ◽  
Assignment Model

To prepare students to face the world of work, universities should ensure that engineers graduating from their campuses demonstrate entrepreneurial skills and the ability to understand market forces alongside domain knowledge. This exploratory study focused on the design, application, and evaluation of a research-based coursework assignment in a business communication course offered to undergraduate level engineering students at a university college in Oman. The assignment aimed at developing students’ entrepreneurship skills, basic business concepts, creativity, critical thinking, communication skills, and research skills. Student perceptions on the role of assignment in developing the above-mentioned skills and in influencing their affective domain were gathered using a survey questionnaire carrying closed and open-ended questions. The data were analyzed using SPSS and frequency tables were generated. The results of the survey revealed that the students enjoyed working on the assignment and showed strong agreement for most of the items on the role of assignment in developing their skills and knowledge. The assignment model used in this study can support teachers in designing assessments that target the development of entrepreneurial skills alongside other meta-skills and can help solve the problem of unemployment in due course.

Graduate Employability and Communication Competence

2016 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 442-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trish L. Clokie ◽  
Elna Fourie
Keyword(s):  
Communication Skills ◽  
Communication Competence ◽  
Communication Education ◽  
Communication Course ◽  
Course Content ◽  
New Graduates ◽  
Graduate Employability ◽  
Communication Competencies ◽  
Research Questions

This research establishes the role of communication education in employability by determining how employers of graduates view communication, identifying communication skills that employers view as relevant, and establishing whether these skills are included in communication courses. To achieve these aims, local businesses were surveyed, and the results were compared with communication course descriptors. The research shows, consistent with worldwide trends, that local employers value communication competencies highly when recruiting new graduates, and specific communication skills required in an industry reflect course content. However, some skills are still lacking, and the research questions where the responsibility lies in developing these skills.

Development and Usage of TAPS Packages in the Mechanical Engineering Course

2010 ◽  
pp. 91-119
Author(s):  
Manjit Singh Sidhu
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Interface Design ◽  
Domain Knowledge ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Computer Software ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Situational Learning

The Mechanical Engineering course is largely based on practical skills and requires the acquisition of basic skills and domain knowledge before applying them on real problems. In order to design and develop a technology assisted problem solving (TAPS) package particularly to guide students in learning and solving engineering problems, it is necessary to be acquainted with its development and its process of realization in practical terms in computer software. User interface design has been applied in learning environments as discussed in previous Chapter 3. Therefore it is informative to discover the extent to which they help engineering students in their learning and thereby be incorporated in TAPS packages. This examination includes an overview of good practice in the positioning and operation of navigational features, visual screen presentation, the nature of presentation, help and feedback and views on the role of the learner in using the TAPS packages. This Chapter discusses the need to learn practical Mechanical Engineering skills and reviews the tutorial and situational learning approaches. Additionally the Chapter provides an overview of TAPS packages and the approach adopted for problem solving and student learning.

scholarly journals Procepts and proceptual solutions in undergraduate mathematics 

Pythagoras ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 0 (72) ◽  
Author(s):  
Inderasan Naidoo ◽  
Belinda Huntley
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Applied Mathematics ◽  
First Year ◽  
Undergraduate Mathematics ◽  
Undergraduate Level ◽  
Mathematical Problems ◽  
Mathematics Teaching And Learning ◽  
Traditional Manner

This paper explores and promotes the notion of ‘procept’ in an undergraduate mathematics course in Linear Algebra for first year pure and engineering students. On the basis of students’ preference for procedural to conceptual solutions to mathematical problems, this paper augments the role of certain concepts in pure and applied mathematics, particularly in the problem‐solving approaches at the undergraduate level by providing novel solutions to problems solved in the usual traditional manner. The development of the concept of ‘procept’ and its applicability to mathematics teaching and learning is important to mathematics education research and tertiary pure and applied mathematics didactics in South Africa, welcoming the amalgamation of the theories developed at pre‐tertiary level mathematics with theorems and proof at the undergraduate level.

scholarly journals THE SELF-REPORTED CONFIDENCE AND PROFICIENCY LEVELS OF UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING STUDENTS IN AN ENGINEERING TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION COURSE

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Parker ◽  
Kathryn Marcynuk
Keyword(s):  
Lifelong Learning ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Technical Communication ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Communication Course ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Personal Strengths ◽  
Personal Skills ◽  
Initial Survey

We have conducted surveys at thebeginning and the end of semesters in an EngineeringTechnical Communication course, surveys that aredesigned to determine how confident our students feelabout “Communication Skills” and personal skillsdevelopment, or “Lifelong Learning” (defined here asthe ability to devise ways to develop broader knowledgeand to identify personal strengths and weaknesses). Ourobjective is to see whether students’ confidence levelsincrease and then compare these levels with wherestudents believe they should be once they graduate. Inthis paper, we report on the data obtained from thesetwo surveys conducted from Winter 2013 until Winter2015. Normally, one section of the class completed thesurveys, although two sections (A01 and A02) completedthe surveys in both the Winter 2013 semester and in theWinter 2015 semester, for a total of 9 classes thatparticipated.. So far, we have found that students doindeed feel more confident in all the surveyed areas atthe end of the semester.Yet, regardless of their growing confidence,many students also feel they have not yet achieved thelevel of proficiency expected of them once they graduate.For example, for “personal skills” (such as applyingcritical inquiry and analysis to engineering problemsand doing the communications that support theengineering work), 5 represents an ability to lead orinnovate in a particular area, and 3 indicates an abilityto understand and explain. In our surveys the aggregatewas 3.4 for the initial survey (n=450 students) and 3.5for the end-of-term survey (n=378). Most telling,however, is the level students feel they must achieve bythe time they graduate (4.5). In other words, byacknowledging that lifelong learning is an importantattribute, one that they will have to continue to developif they are ever to achieve the level expected of them,students demonstrate a remarkable level of selfawareness.

scholarly journals Archimedes’ principle with surface tension effects in undergraduate fluid mechanics

2021 ◽  
pp. 030641902110554
Author(s):  
David Naylor ◽  
Scott S.H. Tsai
Keyword(s):  
Surface Tension ◽  
Fluid Mechanics ◽  
Buoyancy Force ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Bond Number ◽  
Undergraduate Level ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Floating Object ◽  
Floating Objects

The general physics of how objects float is only partly covered in most undergraduate fluid mechanics courses. Although Archimedes’ principle is a standard topic in fluid statics, the role of surface tension in floating is rarely discussed in detail. For example, very few undergraduate textbooks, if any, mention that the total buoyancy force on a floating object includes the weight of the fluid displaced by the meniscus. This leaves engineering students without an understanding of a wide range of phenomena that occur at a low Bond number (the ratio of buoyancy to interfacial tension forces), such as how heavier-than-water objects can float at a gas-liquid interface. This article makes a case for teaching a more unified version of Archimedes’ principle, which combines the effects of surface tension and hydrostatic pressure in calculating the total buoyancy on floating objects. Sample problems at the undergraduate level and two classroom demonstrations are described that reinforce the basic science concepts.

scholarly journals DESIGN OF AN INTRODUCTORY ENGINEERING DESIGN AND COMMUNICATION COURSE WHICH INTEGRATES FIRST SEMESTER COURSES

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanjeev Bedi ◽  
Carol Hulls ◽  
Chris Rennick ◽  
Mary Robinson ◽  
William Melek
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Engineering Design ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
The Other ◽  
Communication Course ◽  
First Semester ◽  
Hands On

  Abstract - In their first semester at UWaterloo, Mechatronics Engineering students take a course which introduces them to their chosen discipline, and which has a focus on communication skills (MTE 100 – Mechatronics Engineering). In 2010, a multi-year refresh of MTE 100 was initiated to address shortcomings in both the course, and the semester as a whole.  The first semester instructors have now completed the refresh of MTE 100. Multiple hands-on, integrative activities that connect the other first semester courses to MTE 100 were added throughout the first semester.  The introduction of these integrative activities has improved the first semester of the Mechatronics program. Survey data and feedback from end of term course critiques show an increased appreciation of foundational courses like Chemistry. From focus groups conducted with upper year students, there is a strong desire for similar experiences in upper years.  

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