Improving Teaching and Learning Effectiveness in Engineering Education

This paper presents the results from a study undertaken to improve the teaching and learning effectiveness in engineering education courses, specifically for Technical and Vocational Education (TVE) system in Bahrain. A teaching and learning assessment tool was developed for participants (existing TVE teachers in electrical and electronic engineering and a pilot group of TVE students). The purpose was to examine the existing approaches of teaching and learning practised in TVE educational environment as well as learning styles preferred by TVE students. The results confirmed that TVE teachers applied limited methods of teaching and learning. However, TVE students had widely varying learning preferences, as they are more motivated by using the experiential learning approach. The experiential learning model allowed students to make their own learning choices and relate what they were learning to the real-work applications (using diagrams, hyperlinked text, video, pictures, interactive examples, virtual reality simulations, and animations). Based on the drawn conclusions, a teaching and learning guideline for engineering education was originated specifically for the needs of the TVE system in Bahrain. The guideline is a potential tool for structuring and improving engineering learning courses in TVE. The guideline will also help in meeting modern industrial requirements by equipping students with better skills, abilities and attitude.