Teaching Pedagogy For Engineering Education

Abstract

In this paper, the author presents the teaching philosophies that he has been upholding throughout more than 17 years of experience in engineering education. Being an academic in the tertiary institutions, the author proposes to place emphasis in the education of knowledge, the constant enhancement of personal knowledge via life-long learning, and the expansion of existing knowledge. He also advocates the implementation of the principle of parsimony in educating the students. Since everyone is unique in his/her own way, an educator should also treat the students impartially and sincerely. Different teaching approaches which were developed from the basis of these philosophies have been proposed. The approaches include keeping the explanations simple, predicting the questions and answers, ensuring that the teaching flow is managed in a gradual, systematic, and progressive manner, introducing metaphors, similes, and analogies to assist the pace of learning, using graphical and/or video illustrations, as well as, organizing site visits. The author also stresses the importance of cultivating interests among students. This can be achieved by constantly engaging with the students, keeping the atmosphere collegial, sharing personal real-life experience, incorporating fun activities in the classes, and encouraging students to transcend beyond the requirements set by the educators. It is also worthwhile noting that, the teaching approaches are to be periodically reviewed for continuous improvements.