Pedagogic Issues and Technology Assisted Engineering Education

Abstract

This paper confines itself mainly to the pedagogic aspects of degree level Engineering Education. However, many of the concepts are equally applicable to Higher Education. The central theme of this paper is that, many of the ills of the current teacher-centric education system can be effectively addressed, if we are able to shift the emphasis from teaching to learning. A very important first step in this process is to carefully consider and clearly articulate the goals of all educational programmes. The concepts discussed in this paper draw significantly from the Washington Accord documents related to Engineering Education, but goes well beyond. It also draws upon the work done by nearly 500 faculty members from a large number of Institutions under the NMEICT project "Developing suitable pedagogical methods for various classes, intellectual calibers and research in e-learning" funded by the MHRD, Government of India. It is argued that if specific learning objectives for a programme of study can be clearly defined well in advance, then many subsequent activities such as technology assisted content search, content development, small group collaborative learning, group mentoring, development of CAI lessons, appropriate simulation tools, activity based learning and computer aided evaluation can be effectively planned and implemented. In other words, appropriate technology development and deployment become much easier when the pedagogic issues are well settled.