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oa On cooperative engagement strategies in the Arab Gulf States: Potential plans and current practices
- Publisher: Hamad bin Khalifa University Press (HBKU Press)
- Source: QScience Proceedings, Engineering Leaders Conference 2014 on Engineering Education, Aug 2015, Volume 2015, 29
Abstract
Engineering education in the Arab Gulf States (the Region) faces significant challenges as it seeks to meet the demands on the engineering profession in the twenty-first century. This paper focuses on classroom-based pedagogies of engagement, and cooperative learning strategies in particular. The paper is a follow up to previous work by the author, on viable strategies to improve the classroom environment of engineering colleges in the Region. At the start, the paper provides an overview of engineering education in the Region. Then, relates author's findings on teaching/learning practices in Region's colleges, and sheds light on active learning protocols, focusing on cooperative engagement strategies. Next, it identifies barriers to reformation in general, and to the use of modern pedagogical skills in particular. The paper also argues that any change in Region's classroom practices (dominated by traditional lecture-based methods) should be supported by the university administration. What is necessary to create a change, is for the department or college, to have a feasible set of plans: articulated expectations, opportunities for faculty to learn about new pedagogies, and an equitable reward system.
