Tag Archives: Cooperative Learning

OBE and Cooperative Learning in Engineering Institutions

on 03/07/2017

In the present time, universities, education regulators and teachers are involved in much discussion on how to best prepare engineers for future jobs in the industry. In this regard, questions such as “Should industry standards be taught as a discipline for its own sake or for the body of knowledge, skills and values to be derived from it (or both)?” and “Are projects executed during study as part of curriculum sufficiently providing the students exposure required to deliver on real-world job projects?” remain central issues in shaping the approach of teachers and policy makers alike. To address these questions, approaches such as Outcome Based Education (OBE) and Cooperative Learning are already in practice in developed countries. These approaches provide opportunities for promotion and adoption of best practices, developing linkages with industry, stimulation of innovation and diversity in engineering education in keeping pace with changing scenario of the world. OBE is an advanced model of education focused on achieving goals through approaches of Problem Based Learning (PBL), Linking Programme Learning Objectives and Outcomes, and Course Learning Outcomes. It is high time that efforts be taken for implementation of OBE based system in all engineering programs as “it is high time we must move forward from the old methods of education”. Benefits of OBE system includes more directed and coherent curriculum, graduates produced will be more “relevant” to industry needs and other stakeholders (more well-rounded graduates), and Continual Quality Improvement (CQI) becomes an inevitable consequence. Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) is trying its best to regulate the profession of engineering along international standards and has arranged several training programms on OBE based systems over last four to five years. PEC became a provisional member of the Washington Accord (an international agreement for accrediting undergraduate engineering degree programmes) in 2010 and is taking all efforts to become its permanent member. Under the guidance, and support of PEC, a very few engineering institutions of the country have embarked upon the OBE system for their selected engineering programs. Its implementation requires some additional resources and big efforts for regular faculty training. However, the benefits of Co-operative learning is still unknown in this part of world. The idea of Co-operative learning is to intertwine academic and practical training in an architecture that puts equal emphasis on theoretical knowledge as well as skills required for practical jobs. By introducing mandatory placements in companies and merging them in to study cycle of a degree course, future graduates could be better prepared for jobs nationally and internationally. Co-operative learning also promotes social and academic relationships well beyond the classroom and individual course creates environments where students can practice building leadership skills. There is a great need for HEC and PEC to jointly organize a workshop in this regard to eulogize its benefits and must take steps for implementation of cooperative learning in the engineering education of the country resulting in improved job perspectives for future graduating engineers.