No university can teach students about right work attitude
As in other forward-thinking countries, the UAE has been modernising its teaching methods. While there is still an appropriate time for use of a lecture approach, most of the teaching in the UAE is mov- ing toward problem-based learning and flipped classrooms, which require the students to use higher level thinking skills and to master the application of the material instead of just memorising it.
In higher education, technology has enabled significantly greater and more in-depth learning opportunities through the use of simulators. It is now possible to simulate everything from the results of a social marketing campaign, to building and wind stress testing a skyscraper, to performing surgery. Technology has also enabled greater collaboration between the students including shared workspaces, distributed study sessions, and classes held in real-time across international locations.
The greatest challenges that higher education has always faced and will face are student preparation and the pace of change. In some countries and some curricula, students are able to graduate without possessing the reading, writing, speaking, and mathematical skills that are required to be successful in higher education; this is largely due to social promotion and continually weakening graduation requirements. The pace of change in nearly all industries is at an all-time high and is continuing to increase. Higher education institutions are challenged to ensure that their courses incorporate the latest research in each field, and more importantly, that they teach the students how to learn on their own, as an industry will continue to change and graduates will not return to school every time there is a significant change.
With most curricula changing from lecture to problem-based
Institutions are now focusing on skills that companies seek and students are graduating much better prepared for the real-world.
learning, students are learning some of the most important skills that are required in the workforce — critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, teamwork, communication, and persistence. Education institutions are now focusing on skills that companies are seeking and students are graduating much better prepared for the real-world.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to make every student employable in their desired field. While universities can prepare students with the knowledge and skills they need, no university can cause students to have the right attitude for work. This must start much earlier in a child’s life and is the responsibility of parents. The best employers hire for attitude and train for skills as suggested by the great business author Jim Collins in his book Good to Great.