need of facuty training in engineering
Upload: guru-nank-dev-engineering-college-ludhiana-punjab-india-141006
Post on 17-Jan-2015
783 views
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
Need of Faculty Training in Engineering
(SUBJECT DOMAIN AND PEDAGOGY)
Dr. J. N. Jha
Professor and Head (Civil Engg.)
Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Ludhiana, Punjab India
Email: [email protected]
Effect of Training
Job Done in a Wrong way unknowingly(Before Training)
Job Done in a Right way knowingly(After Training)
Job Done in a Right way unknowingly(Training and Updating)
Faculty Training (Subject domain and Pedagogy)
Broad objectives (Pedagogy Training) Assist faculty to become more effective
teachers which will enable them to improve the learning outcomes of their students.
Job-requirements and employer expectations from the newly graduate engineers within the developing Indian economy and available international opportunities and link these to the current learner requirements and teaching-learning process.
To equip the faculty with the latest tools and techniques for effective teaching
Training through discussions, group work, lectures, laboratory work, workshop exercises, assignments, projects, etc.,
To prepare faculty for their role as motivators and guides within and outside classrooms for helping students achieve their post education goals.
Challenges of Faculty Training
Pre World War II of 19th century: Engineering education- Emphasized
training at Shop floor, Drafting and Laboratory courses for industrial practice (Industry oriented)
Post World War II of 19th century: Engineering Education: More emphasis from
practice to theory toward scientific and mathematical fundamentals (Shift from practice to theory in the curriculum)
Practice to Theory Learning- Aftereffects
Chorus of complaints (began to arise from the employers of engineering graduates) - New hires lacked skills in areas as critical and creative thinking, communication, and teamwork
Theory-oriented lecture-based instruction (dominating engineering education ) - Failed to address both the development of skills desired by industry and the learning needs of much of the student population
How to overcome?
Meaningful engineering education reform (Understanding the need for change)
To explore alternative approaches to teaching (Preparing the faculty to teach utilizing the new methods and technologies -A word of caution : Do not overemphasize Digital technology - Result in an e-version of the whole curriculum!)
Transforming faculty from “knowledge imparters”(Discrete lectures designed to tell students what they need to know) “knowledge developers”(Guiding students to become active learners, skill development in gathering and evaluating information)
Traditional reluctance of faculty members to participate in professional development /Training
Apprehension that FD program/training created and maintained with TEQIP funding may disappear once the funding ends
Faculty Development/Training Programme
Component of FD Programme - Instructional development and support Campus infrastructure and climate
Instructional development and support
Programs open to all faculty, Programs specifically for new faculty
members, and Programs for graduate students
Campus infrastructure and climate
Appointment of Faculty coordinator: To organise, coordinate the faculty development/Training efforts based on Training Need Analysis
Teaching Resource Centre: Sources For pedagogical expertise along with it should compliment the discipline specific expertise
Incentive, reward and involvement of Faculty: Provisions for the faculty incentive and reward system Who not only supports but brings the improvements in teaching and educational method
Training Programs for New Faculty
College teaching only skilled vocation that neither requires prior training for its practitioners before joining the job nor is being provided by the employer after or during the job
Typical time required for new faculty membersto become as productive in research and effective in teaching are generally 4–5 years (Self Learning Process)
A good faculty Training program can reduce the learning curve to 1–2 years “quick starters”
Types of Training Programs open to all faculty
Workshops : Designed specifically for engineering and science faculty covering various aspects of pedagogy
Seminars : Teaching methodology and use of modern technology, Learning outcomes assessment,
Teaching Inter disciplinary Subjects : Design introduce need based multidisciplinary subjects and other topics
Sensitization: Supporting women , minorities and physically disable in engineering for inclusive growth
Special Training Programs for graduate student
Learning curve for new Faculty can also be shortened by providing them with some training while they are still in graduate school
Suggested Topics : Addressing different student learning styles, Effective lecturing techniques, Active and cooperative learning, Dealing with common student problems, Success strategies
Important Factors Required for successful Faculty Training Programme
Emphasize discipline specific relevance in Training programs
Discipline specific relevance is perhaps the single most important feature of any training that induces engineers/Faculty to take them seriously
Workshops/Seminars: Recommend specific discipline wise examples for devising effective teaching strategies.
Tailor made presentation as per the needs of the targeted audience (explicit about the promotional materials)
Engineers/Participants/Faculty likely to come to a Training workshop if there is some plan to address their specific needs and problems
Insert the Practicality Aspect in the Training second most critical characteristic of successful
engineering Training programs is their perceived practicality
Most Faculty/Participants who attend Training on teaching workshops want to know what they can do next Monday to make their classes work better (Not seeking philosophical discussions about the nature of learning)
Some material (especially research data) should be part of the presentation to support the practical ideas
Include both pedagogical expertise and disciplinary expertise
Construct some practical examples and exercises with some insertion of technical content/terms like “partial differential equations” and “entropy” during introduction of the training programme.
Participants when hear these familiar magic words, they tend to be more willing to listen to the presenters
Many engineering faculty members who come to the Training workshops do so because they know that one of the facilitators is willing to discuss discipline specific expertise
Cite the research input in the Training Most engineers are “thinkers” tending to make
decisions based on facts, logic, and hard evidence Teaching workshops must have solid theoretical
foundations extensively supported by empirical research, (Science, mathematics, engineering and technology)
Workshop handouts should include summaries of relevant research results and references for those who wish to check the research for themselves for further development
Avoid appearing prescriptive, dogmatic, or evangelical
Presenter while recommending the methods teaching (solid evidence to back them up) must not imply that they are providing a recipe which is the only acceptable way for effective teaching
Most professors resent being told that what they have been doing in their classes for so many years is wrong and now must be done differently
Professor should be encouraged to take a gradual approach, trying one or two new techniques at a time rather than trying to do everything at once,
Practice what you preach Participants are acutely conscious of whether or not
presenters do what they are recommending Some suggested recommendation If one recommendation is to write instructional objectives for
courses, then presenter must also define and write a set of objectives for the present workshop/Training
If the importance of presenting visual information is being emphasized- Presenter should make sure that the graphics presentation of workshop looks professional
If active learning is advocated, the Training/workshop should include large number of group exercises for different type of specific problems
Assessment of Program Effectiveness
Goal of Faculty Training Programme: Ascertaining participant satisfaction Judging the impact of training programs
on the teaching of the participants Discovering whether the programs had
an impact on student’s learning (Rarely bothered)
A Case Study
An e-mail survey conducted to the active engineering faculty (1999) by sending a structured questionnaire to 1621 faculty (e-mail addresses) who had attended Some sort of Faculty Training Program
A follow-up survey was sent a month later to the non-respondents
After elimination of blank and duplicates forms from the returns, number of valid and usable surveys form was only 586, (a return rate of 36%)
75 were again excluded from most analyses because the respondent had not taught undergraduates in the last three years
Actual number of respondent for analysis was only 511.
Main survey results (FDP- All analysis based on only 511 respondent)
Participation in faculty development activities: 82% of the respondents reported attending one
or more teaching workshops on their campuses, 64% attended a meeting or brown-bag lunch
dealing with teaching, 62% consulted books, 59% consulted a newsletter or a web site, 40% observed a videotape, 35% participated in a mentoring program, 13% worked with a teaching consultant
Use of active learning: 60% assigned small group exercises for
brief intervals in their classes with 22% doing so once a week or more,
37% used active learning for most of the classperiod and 8% doing active learning so once a week or more
Use of team-based learning: 73% gave assignments on which students
had the option of working in teams with 35% doing so weekly or more often
54% gave assignments on which teams were required with 16% doing so weekly or more often
82% reported assigning a major team project in some or all of the courses they taught
Writing instructional objectives: 65% reported usually or always writing
formal instructional objectives for their courses.
Giving writing assignments: 88% gave writing assignments in their
engineering classes 21% gave assignments weekly or more
often
Impact of FDP on instructional methods 59% reported that they either began or
increased their use of active learning, 43% wrote instructional objectives, 43% used team-based learning, 28% provided study guides before tests, 18% participated in a mentoring
program
Impact of FDP on Student’s Learning 69% of respondents reported
improvements 6% said they could see no improvement, 25% indicated that they had not made any
efforts
Some Suggestion for In house Faculty Training under TEQIP-II
Some tailor‐made programmes to suit the faculty members’ requirements (Experts from other institutions and industry can be involved)
One week in house course for faculty at the beginning of every semester by each department (Involving outside subject experts to give necessary exposure and depth of knowledge for teaching various courses effectively)
One week pedagogical training for conducting experiments in various lab to all the newly joined faculty members
Training on some state‐of‐the‐art technology Finishing school for engineering graduates Training programme about the use of software available
at the institute for all fresh and newly‐recruited faculty members
Training for in house software development for purposes such as laboratory experiment simulation, assistance for smooth conduct of university examinations etc.
Needs of women teachers kept in mind while finalizing training(Computer Science and Engineering, Information Technology, Electronics and Communication Engineering)
Final Comments
Adopting above suggestions should significantly enhance the chances of making a Training Programme more attractive and persuasive to a broad spectrum of the faculty.
But offer no guarantee of success of the FDP if the above suggestions are adopted
Faculty development programs are like any other college courses and Faculty are also like students: no matter what you do, someone won’t like it.
Acknowledgement
Wishes to acknowledge the various sources used during the preparation of this presentation which may have aided and enhanced the quality of information
Any Question ………..?
The End
Thanks for your attention