Assessing the Effectiveness of 'Research Design' as a Pedagogical Tool for Promoting the skill of 'Decision-making' Towards Developing Leadership in Engineering Students
- Conference
- Location
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Portland, Oregon
- Publication Date
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June 23, 2024
- Start Date
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June 23, 2024
- End Date
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July 12, 2024
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Engineering Leadership Development Division (LEAD)
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/46613
Paper Authors
Brainerd Prince Plaksha University
Brainerd Prince is Associate Professor and the Director of the Center for Thinking, Language and Communication at Plaksha University. He teaches courses such as Reimagining Technology and Society, Ethics of Technological Innovation, and Art of Thinking for undergraduate engineering students and Research Design for PhD scholars. He completed his PhD on Sri Aurobindo’s Integral Philosophy from OCMS, Oxford – Middlesex University, London. He was formerly a Research Tutor at OCMS, Oxford, and formerly a Research Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, a Recognized Independent Centre of Oxford University. He is also the Founding Director of Samvada International Research Institute which offers consultancy services to institutions of research and higher education around the world on designing research tracks, research teaching and research projects. His first book The Integral Philosophy of Aurobindo: Hermeneutics and the Study of Religion was published by Routledge, Oxon in 2017. For more information, please visit: https://plaksha.edu.in/faculty-details/dr-brainerd-prince
Sumita Ambasta
Vinayak Krishan Joshi Plaksha University
Vinayak Joshi is a research lead in Centre for Thinking Language and Communication at Plaksha University, India. With an educational background in Psychology, Sociology and Anthropology, his work primarily has been focused on research projects that try to optimize learning through innovative pedagogies, course designs and assessment tools for Engineering students.
Abstract
The engineering fraternity is required to make critical decisions and demonstrate leadership to develop technological innovations. However, during a typical BTech program the engineering students are not taught about effective decision-making or leadership, as these are considered to be management modules, and outside the core engineering curriculum. This research paper, based on a case study from a new technology university in India will present a pedagogical innovation that centers research design as an effective pedagogical tool to teach decision-making and leadership skills. To test this, we collected data on three major questions: student perception of the importance of decision-making and leadership, actual student performance in the course, and student perception on effectivity of research design as a pedagogical tool in making engineering students learn better decision-making and leadership skills. Data was collected from 78 second year BTech students enrolled at a university in India who participated in the course “research design and decision-making”. Both quantitative and qualitative data along with student course performance data were analyzed to answer the research questions. Findings of this research showed that there was a significantly high perceived importance for skills like critical thinking, decision-making and leadership among participants. Furthermore, student performances in the course were significantly higher than expected, showing higher retention of the skills taught. Additionally, students rated the effectiveness of research pedagogy in teaching the skills of critical thinking and decision-making significantly higher than expected. The study results prove that decision-making and leadership skills can be organically brought into engineering when research design is used as a pedagogical tool for teaching about decision-making explicitly.
Prince, B., & Ambasta, S., & Joshi, V. K. (2024, June), Assessing the Effectiveness of 'Research Design' as a Pedagogical Tool for Promoting the skill of 'Decision-making' Towards Developing Leadership in Engineering Students Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/46613
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