Does it Matter Which Comes First in a Curriculum for Engineering Students — Theory or Practice?

2010 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur James Swart
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Laboratory Environment ◽  
Electronic Engineering ◽  
Telecommunication Systems ◽  
University Of Technology ◽  
Or Practice ◽  
Practical Instruction

The Department of Electronic Engineering at the Vaal University of Technology, South Africa, emphasizes the importance of practical instruction within a laboratory environment for engineering students, primarily through the design of electronics and telecommunication systems. This article uses the example of a module in radio engineering offered by the department to explore the importance of blending theory and practice in a curriculum for engineering students through two different approaches: presenting the theory before the practice; or the practice before the theory. The merits of both are discussed. The case study showed that either approach can be successfully implemented in a curriculum for engineering students.

scholarly journals First-Year Students’ Views on Prescribed Book for Translation Practice: A Case Study of a South African University of Technology

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Mnguni
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
First Year ◽  
Language Practice ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Translation Practice ◽  
University Of Technology ◽  
Cultural Experiences ◽  
Official Languages

Translation as a field of study is fairly new in South Africa because before 1994, the official languages were English and Afrikaans and everybody was expected to know and use those languages. Consequently, there is not much about translation practice that is written by South African authors. Following this, translation books from outside South Africa are generally used and prescribed, thus stifling inherent experiences, since little is written by the South Africans themselves.  A total number of 46 language practice students participated in this quantitative study. This study explored challenges encountered by first year language practice students, when using their prescribed book, at the Central University of Technology, Welkom Campus. Results indicated that students were not benefitting maximally from using the prescribed book, which is by any standard an excellent book. The socio-cultural experiences of the students were missing, thus prevent students’ from mastering the subject content better. From the data collected, it is recommended, amongst other recommendations, that a bias towards books reflecting South African experiences be prioritized as well as also allowing students to participate in making book choices.

scholarly journals Work-Integrated Learning for Mining Engineering Training and the Employability Nexus in Traditional Research Universities

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6S1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Dipitso
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Professional Associations ◽  
Mining Engineering ◽  
Integrated Learning ◽  
Traditional Research ◽  
Work Integrated Learning ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Engineering Training

Globally, employability is increasingly becoming an issue of concern in higher education due to demands from the labour market requiring work-ready graduates. In the Global South, particularly South Africa, universities are on a quest to develop competence and improve student employability. This paper is set to investigate the impact of work-integrated learning on employability for mining engineering undergraduates in South Africa.  The research data were collected using the mixed methods approach and a case study design. Experiential learning was used to examine the impact of work-integrated learning on the employability of mining engineering students. The findings provide a description of perspectives for mining engineers, lecturers, and workplace supervisors concerning the enhancement of employability for mining engineering students. The findings revealed that professional associations play a crucial role in the development of professional skills. This article argues for strong partnerships with industry partners to nurture the employability of mining engineering students.

Women as Mature-Aged Engineering Students

1993 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danya Driessen
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Student ◽  
Female Student ◽  
Career Choices ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Personal Values ◽  
University Of Technology ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Personal Case

This study, based on female engineering students at the Moorabbin College of TAFE and Swinburne University of Technology, examined the influences on mature-aged women making non-traditional career choices. It was designed to investigate how these influences and the students' personal values had changed since making career choices as a high school student. Through the use of a survey and personal case study interviews, information regarding the problems and benefits of being a mature-aged female student of a non-traditional career was gathered. An insight into the personality type of the ‘non-traditional’ career student was also gained.

scholarly journals Engineering Students’ Innovation Competence: A Comparative Analysis of Nigeria and South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 147
Author(s):  
Omoseni Oyindamola Adepoju ◽  
Nnamdi Nwulu
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Risk Propensity ◽  
Tertiary Institutions ◽  
Engineering Discipline ◽  
University Of Technology ◽  
Innovation Competence ◽  
Graduating Students ◽  
Structured Questionnaire

The main purpose of this study is to assess the role of tertiary institutions in impacting innovation competence among graduating students in the engineering discipline. To achieve this aim, two research questions were investigated: First, we examine if the graduating students possess some key innovative competence qualities innovative competence which include qualities such as creativity, leadership, self-efficacy, energy and risk propensity. Secondly, we investigate the key elements of tertiary institutions that impact innovative competence among the graduating students. A structured questionnaire was administered to graduating engineering students at the Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria and University of Johannesburg, South Africa during the 2019/2020 academic session and their responses were compared. Results indicate that students generally had a high assessment of their innovation competence and attributed some of this competence to their institutions learning environment.

scholarly journals Decolonisation of the curriculum: A case study of the Durban University of Technology in South Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gift Mheta ◽  
◽  
Bwalya Nyangu Lungu ◽  
Thaiurie Govender ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
University Of Technology

scholarly journals Exploring Research and Contextual Relevance in Engineering Education: The Case of a University in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 1093-1098
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Engineering Education ◽  
Higher Education Policy ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
Research Focus ◽  
Engineering Research ◽  
University Of Cape Town

The need for improvement in production and processes and to have a better approach to it necessitates the imperative of engineering education. The practice of engineering education takes place in a context and it is also influenced by the context in which it takes place. Context is the cultural framework or environment in which technical knowledge and skills are learned. Globally, there are changes along socio-economic, environmental, and demographic lines and its driving profound changes in engineering education in the society. This study explored research and contextual relevance in engineering education using a South African University as a case study. The choice of University of cape town for this case study was informed by the ranking of the institution as one of the best universities of engineering in South Africa. The university also has a center for research in engineering education from which research focus was picked to establish its relevance. Findings from this study revealed that engineering research takes place Disciplinary, environment, economic, social, cultural, political context. From the study, it was revealed that university of cape town has five major research focus in engineering education which include teaching and learning in science and engineering, students in transition, knowledge and curriculum, higher education policy and institutional dynamics and evaluation and development of methodologies. These thematic areas were explored for contextual relevance. The study recommended that The study recommends that effort be placed more on research on digitization to ensure relevance with the current clime and also, researches in University of Cape Town should be tailored towards the Fourth Industrial revolution for relevance

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