Soft Skills And Communication Skills For Engineers

Soft Skills And Communication Skills For EngineersAbstractEngineering upbringing widely recognize an increasing need to equip students with effective call for skills early in their university education and basic professional skills prior to graduation. These, however, ar handed-downly difficult modules to indoctrinate prosperously to larger groups through traditional talking to. Observations suggest a poor absorption rate from the students and thus a lack in their ability to benefit from these skills both personally and professionally. unique(predicate) techniques described in this paper can be easily combine into most fibres of educational activity material.IntroductionOver the divisions there has been an change magnitude in emphasis on soft skills and particularly communication skills in the engineering programs. Reflecting both the demands of potential employers and professional bodies, as swell as the creativity of course designers, modules such(prenominal) as first year ruminate skills and final year professional skills go through become to a greater extent(prenominal) and to a greater extent common. The greatest focus has been placed on fundamental guinea pigs such as presentation skills, effective get over theme, teamwork, and time/project management. Whilst this change is for certain a positive whizz, these modules seem to be among the more challenging to teach and assess success bountifuly, the criteria for success being that the student can understand the concepts presented, obtain them using exercises, and represent the resulting competence through assessment.A modified precept greet is required that addresses the professional students. The approach needs to add involution and obvious relevance students need to feel that any guidelines presented can decide a pressing issue or concern that exists in their world. to a higher place all, to be successful the teaching approach must(prenominal) be dynamic, elicit, pragmatical and organized to manage tactically the attention span of the audience.Modifying the approach memory a large number of undergraduate students continually guided is not the easiest of lying-ins, particularly considering the challenges supra. It was decided that a different and more dynamic teaching approach was required to stimulate students in place of traditional lecturing styles based essentially on one-way communication. If students frequently had to respond, discuss, react or participate they would be far less analogously to disengage or go to sleep Allowing them to make mistakes in a supportive purlieu would also go about way to convincing them that they needed to reform their skills and were doing so by attending the learning sessions. Some might bespeak that a high level of interaction is solely practicable with smaller audiences. Whilst smaller groups atomic number 18 indeed easier to manage this was found not to be the case, although an experienced lecturer is requ ired who is willing to engage in clear discussions and deviate from a detailed lecture plan if necessary.Towards a task-based approachTypically, a traditional ELT syllabus lists learning items in terms of structures, functions, notions and dictionary which argon then set in situations and which usually integrate a variety of skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking). This dominant approach has been characterized as product-orientated beca hire it focuses on what is to be learnt or on products. The problem with this approach, as Nunan (1988) has pointed out, is that input cannot be equated with production and that teaching cannot be equated with learning. In short, what the teacher teaches is not what the learner learns. straddle (2005) in his critique of task-based learning laments the polarization of attitudes in similitude to modern discussion of dustup learning. On the one hand traditionalists argue in opt of a linear, atomistic syllabus design. On the other hand, hard-line task-based ideologues seem to exclude any atomistic activity in favor of all-or-nothing holism. Bygates distinction (2003, p. 176) between tasks and exercises helps to situate this debate. He defines exercises as activities which practice split of a skill, a mod sub-skill, a new piece of knowledge. In contrast, he defines tasks as activities which practice the whole integrated skill in some way. Bygates discussion (2001, pp.23-48) lends support to the idea that task-based teaching needs to be situated in a broad curriculum example, suggesting that isolated tasks atomic number 18 not sufficient in themselves to promote learning. The implication drawn from such research and discussion is that units of learning that involve the strategic use of holistic repeated tasks and supporting atomistic exercises provide one means of avoiding contract ideological positions.A task-based unitary framework is therefore proposed here that leads to student-led holistic outcomes in the form of written reports, spoken presentations and substantial small-group conversations that lead to decision-making outcomes. However, receivable consideration is also given to the design of atomistic exercises within the framework. In her model for task-based learning, Willis (1996, pp.52-65) proposes a pre-task component, a task-cycle component (pre-task/task/post-task) and a language focus component. With regard to focus on form, Willis emphasizes the greatness of a post-task report variety, which could be a written activity such as writing a polished report or a spoken public-report phase in which students can be encourage to focus on truth and can be prompted to recast inaccurate forms. Other key stages for Willis that remedy the linguistic focus of task-based learning are the planning stage during which the teacher can take on a role of language advisor. This 1996 framework by Willis has been influential. In his 2006 Asian EFL Journal (AEJ) conference keynote speech, f or example, Ellis make extensive reference to it, adopting it as his basic framework.Components of a TaskTasks assure some form of input that may be verbal (a communication/role play/reading) or, nonverbal (pictures/a gesture) followed by an activity, which is in some way derived from the input. This activity sets out what learners need to do in relation to the input. Tasks have also goals and roles for both teachers and learners.Components of a Task (Nunan 1989)From the above diagram, a task can be viewed as a piece of mean focuse work, involving learners in comprehending, producing and/or interacting in the target language.Before fetching up the task of converting the textual content into various tasks, the adjacent points were mention and kept in mind by the investigators-The objective of the task must be stated very clearly-The task must be appropriate for the level of the learners-The task must equip the learners with the ability to afford classroom learningin new situat ions.-Tasks must be interesting and motivating to the students-The form the input takes, must be clear to the teacher-The roles of teachers and students must be specified clearly-Through the task, learners must be encouraged to negotiate meaning-The language that will be generated by the task must be predicted-There should be variety and flexibility in the tasksThe following are eight well documented techniques that can be used flexibly to transform any standard lecture into a more dynamic one. These techniques are summarized below.An emphatic and captivating introductionA successful training session must begin by creating a grit of urgency and somehow capturing the interest of the audience, usually by emphasizing the importance of the topic and its relevance. What rewards can be obtained by applying the content of the session? What pitfalls exist for those who lack the competence? However, it is cardinal that in emphasizing the importance of a topic the presenter is not perceived as finger wagging. For example, when youre in industry youll have to . . . or you wont pass your final year project unless you learn to . . . are unlikely to prove engaging whereas would you like me to help you get more marks for your lab reports without doing any more work is.Use of applicable examples and storytellingExamples, stories and anecdotes turn theories and guidelines into perceived authenticity by providing a true-to-life basis for their application. They will also capture the full attention of most audiences. Use plenty of these at least one for each principal point covered and, wherever possible, focuses on real examples rather than hypotheses. Let students share their similar experiences.Group exercisesHave students actualize short exercises in groups to try out the application of concepts presented, followed by query where each group reports its findings, progress and difficulties to the audience. Exercises of this type break up the session, development engag ement and can be easily conducted even in a lecture theatre. They also force the students to admit their errors, even if these errors are not reported to the audience, and this helps to establish for them the fact that they have learnt something.BrainstormingThis is another interactional technique to provide stimulation and variation. Provide an open question and have students brainstorm in small groups (usually together with those sitting next to them) sooner beginning a discussion session.Demonstrations/simulationsIt is much more effective to demonstrate an idea than to talk about it. Documentation could include some type of physical simulation, a simple game, or even a icon clip. Role playing is particularly effective as it involves the students in an wide awake way, provided that a risk-free and supportive environment is provided to those who participate. This in turn is reliant on the lecturers making sure that students are never embarrassed by failure during an activity. Opinion pollsThis is a quick change and helps students to engage in a new activity or a new aspect of a topic. For example a quick show of men How umpteen people think .?The mind breakUsed to polish the listeners attention span during more demanding presentation components, for example, take a 2 minute break to chat with your neighbor before we move on . . .Facilitation vs. lecturingWhenever possible, lean towards the process of facilitation rather than lecturing. Prompt the audience with relevant questions, challenges their ideas, and shapes an understanding based upon the responses and mobile discussions rather than reading a script. It is, however, important to be respectful towards students who give wrong or poor answers.The techniques presented above provide some of the most important ingredients for an engaging lecture. They are well documented and widely used in isolation. Not all are applicable to all situations and types of material, and the next step is, therefore, to devise session plans into which they are woven appropriately. The choice of techniques will depend largely on the topic to be presented and to some extent the lecturers personality and individual style.Conclusion amend communication is near impossible in the classroom because it depends on many variables. However, if the teacher is to be successful, the content of his message should be clear in his mind and be put in suitable code and familial through appropriate media. There is need for a careful sequencing of ideas and the use of activities that is within the experience and understanding of the students. Whatever learning experience the students are exposed to, they should be allowed to practice it. Learning takes place through the active behavior of the students. It is what the student does that he learns and not what the teacher does. The teacher is only a facilitator of learning. The quality of learning that takes place in any situation, to a very large extent, is dependent on the effectiveness of the teachers plan and communication.