Contemporary ELT Strategies in Engineering Pedagogy

Theory and Practice

S. Mekala, Geetha R, S. Mekala, Geetha R

• Publisher: Routledge India
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781032425290
• eBook ISBN: 9781000546057
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Curricula

This book explores innovative pedagogical practices and teaching and learning strategies in the engineering curriculum for empowered learning.

It highlights the urgency for developing specific skill sets among students that meet the current market recruitment needs. The authors present a detailed framework for fostering a higher level of competence in students especially in their communication skills, their knowledge of media and technology tools, and their leadership skills. The book offers examples of new and effective teaching strategies including cognitive, metacognitive, and socio-affective strategies which align well with the existing and evolving technical curriculum.

The book will be of interest to teachers, students, and researchers of education, engineering, and higher education. It will also be useful for English language teachers, educators, and curriculum developers.

Part I Developing Competency and Skills

Chapter 1 Need for Remodelling the Engineering Curriculum

C. Harishree

DOI: 10.4324/9781003268529-2

The expectations and exigencies at the workplace have seen a momentous transformation from late 20th Century to early 21st Century. With the development of digital technologies in the 21st Century, there has been a transformation in business and in the workplace environment. The repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic have vehemently increased the necessity of digital technologies in peoples’ lives. To survive in this global challenge and meet the unwitnessed job requirements, students have to be prepared with essential digital skills. 21st Century skills are the set of abilities encompassing learning skills, literacy skills, and life skills. They are the most requisite skills set for an individual to thrive in the information age. In the education field, 21st Century skills are broadly used to refer to the set of skills or abilities obligatory for the students to be work-ready individuals. Indian education has been insisting to develop the skills set of the students and teachers to meet the desideratum of the world of work. The digital transformation of the present global workplace demands its workforce to be equipped with the additional skills set along with the subject knowledge. Kampen (2019) has defined 21st Century skills as a “range of competencies taught across all levels of education, that give students the skills they need to navigate an ever-shifting workforce”. Likewise, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) is presently conducting a study on 21st Century skills entitled as “21CS MAP”. It aims to define and implement 21st Century skills in the education field by comparing the curriculum of different countries and analysing the skills incorporated in each curriculum. It has invited the international community of education to participate in the study. The timeline of the IEA study has been proposed between February 2020 and December 2021. Similarly, 21st Century skills has been analysed around the world to prepare the students for the competitive edge of the future workplace situation. In this line, the chapter will discuss the different frameworks of 21st Century learning and the significance of Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) framework in the current scenario of Indian engineering education.

The students of engineering in India are facing a massive employment degeneration due to skills shortage. According to the annual employability survey of Aspiring Minds, “80% of engineers are not employable for any job in the knowledge economy” (Aggarwal, Nithyanand & Sharma, 2019, p. 5). The report further states, “The students should receive academic counselling to make them aware of their skills gaps and to provide them with a support strategy for addressing those gaps” (Aggarwal et al., 2019, p. 7). Accordingly, the skills mismatch between the industrial requirement and students’ skill set has been studied by disparate researchers, and variegated list of skills has been identified as requisite skills set for the students of engineering. Bano and Vasantha (2019) have stated that skills gap arises because of the digitalization and invention of new technologies in the global workplace. The curriculum is not updated at a requisite pace according to the need of these digitalization and technological development of the workplace. Ravichandran and Abirami (2017) have studied the industry-expected skills and students’ skills set through mailing system and direct contacts using questionnaire. The authors have also collected secondary data through published works and have explored few skills set necessary for employment. Despite these studies, the skills gap still persists due to the non-holistic approach on the essential skills set for the workplace preparedness of the students. The skill development training is also not sufficient for the students’ career readiness. It may be due to the lacuna in the engineering curriculum being focused more on improving the technical skills of the students. Hence, the chapter accentuates the need for integrating 21st Century skills in the engineering curriculum and recommends to incorporate this skills set in the English classroom of the students of engineering to have more impact on fostering the students’ skills set. In addition, the chapter explores the methods and approaches that could help in integrating the 21st Century skills in the engineering classroom. Concisely, the chapter expounds the significance of 21st Century skills in the workforce readiness of the students of engineering.

Frameworks of 21st Century Skills

There are diversified definitions for 21st Century skills, and different frameworks have been proposed by various organization to be incorporated in the curriculum. The common goal of all the frameworks is to encompass basic workplace skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, communication, and teamwork. UNESCO report by Delors et al. (1996) comprises four pillars of education named as ‘Learning to know’, ‘Learning to do’, ‘Learning to be’, and ‘Learning to live together’. It is an important backdrop of lifelong learning. It has prompted the identification of the contemporary prerequisites of education for the changing needs of the workplace. Subsequently, different frameworks have emerged on skills set constituting towards the tenets of 21st Century skills. Dede (2009) has compared P21 framework (2009) with other frameworks namely enGauge framework of Metiri Groups and NCREL (2003), the American Association of colleges and Universities (AACU) framework (2007), the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) (2007) ICT Skills, and Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills (ATC21s) (2010). It has been evident from Dede’s comparison that P21 framework will be more effective in the career readiness of 21st Century students, as it encompasses the all-inclusive skills set of other frameworks. Additionally, the European Commission (2007) framework, the World Economic Forum (2015) framework, and the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu) (Redecker, 2017) are the most significant frameworks of 21st-Century learning for the workplace preparedness of the students of the 21st Century. Furthermore, Wagner (2014) has proposed seven surviving skills for facilitating the 21st-Century students towards career readiness. In addition, the Australian Council for Education Research (ACER) has published a framework (McLean et al., 2012) with five core skills and individual skill development frameworks for critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration skills. Furthermore, there are few frameworks concentrating on set of skills required for the specific circumstances. On the contrary, the P21 framework encompasses the holistic approach towards the requisite skills set to prepare the students for the world of work. Anagun (2018) has emphasized “the framework created by Partnership for 21st Century skills (P21, 2009) has been more widely adopted because of its thematic relevancy for the 21st Century and well-structured design” (p. 826). In this regard, it is evident that the P21 framework is deftly adaptable to the engineering field and can provide necessary skills set for the workplace readiness of the students of engineering.

P21 Framework

The partnership for 21st-Century learning is an organization formed in coalition with experts, business leaders, corporates, academicians, and policy makers. The US Department of Education, Microsoft, Cisco, and the National Educational Academy of US are part of the P21 organization. In 2018, the P21 organization has merged with Battelle for Kids. Since then, the Battelle for Kids organization has been trying to integrate the P21 framework with the academic content of school education. The P21 framework has been used by more than 220 schools in the US and the countries around the world and by the educators and policy makers, education departments, and so on. The purpose of the framework is to enhance the students’ skills set to compete in the constant changing world of work. The framework has emphasized on teaching the recommended 21st Century skills along with the core subjects. The P21 framework can be easily adapted due to its comprehensive view of career ready skills. The P21 organization has stated that the framework will hone the students’ engagement in the learning process eventually ensuring them to graduate better prepared for thriving in today’s global economy (P21, 2009). Apart from the core subjects, the P21 framework categorized 21st Century skills into learning and innovation skills, information media and technology skills, and life and career skills.

Learning and Innovation Skills

Learning and innovation skills are considered quintessential irrespective of the field of study due to its attributes and inevitability in the workplace. It consists of creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, communication and collaboration which are commonly called four C’s. The four C’s are critically examined and implemented in the frameworks of school and college curriculum around the globe for its effectiveness in preparing the students to have competitive edge in the world of work. Trilling and Fadel (2009) have defined four C’s as

the ability to ask and answer important questions, to critically review what others say about a subject, to pose and solve problems, to communicate and work with others in learning and to create new knowledge and innovations that help build a better world.

(p. 49 & 50)

It is vital for the students of engineering to imbibe this skills set to thrive in their workplace environment. Accordingly, to develop the four C’s of the students of engineering, there is a need for a paradigm shift in the traditional content-based teaching by incorporating the four C’s – creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication – that ultimately will equip the students of engineering to identify innovative solutions to the real-world problems, investigate the projects, and collaborate with others to achieve the challenging tasks.

Creativity and Innovation

The P21 framework has defined the characteristics of creativity and innovation, as employing idea creation techniques like brainstorming, creating incremental and radical concepts, being receptive towards diverse perspectives, exhibiting inventiveness, contributing to the field of work by working on novel ideas, and implementing it at workplace. Creativity is not limited to particular field of study. In the 21st Century, demand for creativity has been steadily increasing as the digital technologies has abundant information and readymade solutions for critical situations. Hence, organizations expect its workforce to produce novel ideas and solutions for their products and in crucial situations at workplace.

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

Critical thinking skills can be effective in motivating the learning outcomes of the students. The necessary thinking process for applying one’s knowledge at particular situation n...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• List of Contributors
• Part I Developing Competency and Skills
• Part II Communication Skills
• Part III Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing Skills
• Part IV English for Specific Purposes (ESP)
• Part V Approaches and Strategies
• Part VI Digital Education
• Part VII Teacher Education
• Appendix A Test Items (Pre-Tests)
• Appendix B Test Items for Post-Test
• Index