Title: An effective pedagogical practice for teaching and assessing in engineering studies

Authors: Nikita Desai

Addresses: Information Technology Department, Dharmsinh Desai University, Nadiad 387 001, Gujarat, India

Abstract: A great quantity of subjects taught in engineering studies seems to be difficult and immaterial from students' perspective. On the contrary these core courses are highly vital to get a clear insight of the essentials in engineering discipline. Unfortunately, in many places and especially in developing countries like India, the ratio of teacher to student is not maintained. As is proved by studies, students prefer to collaborate and use internet for managing difficult course work. The impact of teacher is smaller than expected. This paper suggests a methodology which can generate awareness and importance for a given course, besides increasing confidence for a given subject, in students' community. The method when implemented was also found to improve exam performance of students by 12–15%. Moreover, the method was also observed to reduce the work load of teaching faculty, without compromising with the students' knowledge imparting goal of the teaching institute or teacher. It also enhanced conviction of students towards evaluation technique, in addition to raising their interest in concerned subject. Besides the teacher was also contended as it helped to carry out the evaluation process more smoothly.

Keywords: stress free evaluation; unbiased evaluation; useful learning; evaluation methodologies; pedagogical practices; pedagogy; assessment; engineering studies; student perspectives; core courses; developing countries; India; teacher-student ratios; student collaboration; world wide web; internet; course work; course awareness; student confidence; examinations; performance improvement; student performance; workloads; teaching faculties; higher education; universities; innovation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIIE.2011.045086

International Journal of Innovation in Education, 2011 Vol.1 No.3, pp.246 - 252

Published online: 24 Jan 2012 *

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