ACK shares Project Based Learning (PBL) experience

The School of Engineering’s Center for Project Based Learning (PBL) at the Australian College of Kuwait (ACK) successfully wrapped up its first PBL Symposium in collaboration with the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS). Under the theme of “Preparing Students for the Workplace”, the symposium brought together industry employers, educators and students to share experiences and insights related to PBL in engineering education.

Keynote speaker, Prof Alex Stojcevski - RMIT University, shared his wealth of international experiences and knowledge in PBL, while highlighting PBL as a strategy to achieve innovation in engineering education. He presented evidence for PBL leading to higher academic performance and higher overall quality of education.

Commenting on the event, Prof Alex stated: “The PBL Symposium organized by ACK provided an opportunity for staff and students to hear more about some of the world practices in PBL. As a keynote speaker of the Symposium, it gave me clear insight to the transparent educational model of ACK and provided me with a great deal of evidence of why PBL can work in this wonderful institution. All the credits go to the staff and students of this institution who made the Symposium an interactive platform for all. ACK is well on the way of becoming a leader in PBL in the region.”

From his end, Dr Martin Jaeger, Manager of the Center for PBL, stated during his welcoming address: “ACK is one of the leading institutions of higher education in the Middle East that utilizes a PBL approach in Engineering Education. ACK’s model of learning facilitation is differentiated by its project-based approach in that the approach enables students to look into real life problems and to develop solutions throughout their 3rd and 4th year of their studies. The goal is to produce graduates with integrated technical and professional knowledge and competencies.”

Through learning approaches such as PBL, students take ownership of their learning and develop skills and knowledge within a communicative and constructive environment. Students are being introduced to the simulation of multidisciplinary engineering design projects that requires the collaboration of students from different engineering disciplines. They work in teams, solve real life engineering problems, develop solution techniques, and develop critical thinking that enhances learning and prepares them for the workplace.

PBL at ACK’s School of Engineering has been continually enhanced over the years in order to accommodate local and regional needs. The accumulated expertise in PBL is based on both research, related to active learning approaches, and practical experience. As a result, a comprehensive variety of topics was presented during the paper presentations of the symposium, ranging from team formation aspects to application of PBL to differential calculus. Presentations from Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), Mohamed Abdulrahman Al-Bahar Company, WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoff and Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), covering skills that are expected from young engineering professionals and graduates, provided further evidence that the PBL approach as practiced in ACK’s School of Engineering is capable of producing engineering graduates who are ready for the workplace and future challenges.