‘LEARNING WITHOUT LECTURES’ WILL PRODUCE WORK-READY ENGINEERING GRADUATES

Engineering has increasingly been taught at UK universities in very narrow fields. An undergraduate can do a degree in dozens of engineering sectors from civil, automotive, chemical, nuclear, mechanical or motor sport engineering and more.

Any one of these courses are fine if an undergraduate knows the specialism they want to study and can assume that job is going to be available when they graduate. If they’re not sure, many enrol on a general or a mechanical engineering degree.

But employers often remark that while an engineering degree will give students the knowledge, it won’t always teach them how and when to use it. So many have to set up a graduate training scheme to teach that when they start work.

Now a new approach to training the engineers of the future is about to launch.

The New Model Institute of Technology and Engineering (NMITE), will welcome its first cohort to Hereford this September, pioneering learning without lectures.

Professor Dave Allan is its Professor of Learning and Teaching. He explained why he’s planning such radical new teaching methods.

“Skills such as project management, teamwork, negotiation, communication and creativity are essential to being a successful engineer,” he said. “These have long been part of engineering qualifications in this country. The Engineering Council has an internationally agreed standard of what constitutes an engineering programme and what the student should be able to do on graduation. The council has required these soft skills for a number of years but most institutions either can’t teach them or teach them at such an introductory level that the student can’t develop any competency.

“We have a greenfield site at NMITE so are not constrained by institutional habits or procedures. We are also not constrained by an established delivery model, or by the building and facilities on campus, and this gives us the ability to do things more effectively. One of them is how students learn, as well as what they learn.”

NMITE students will learn in groups, in specially designed studio environments rather than classrooms or lecture theatres. They will complete one module at a time, with a total focus on that subject for a month, 9am-5pm five days a week.

“They will be assigned an academic for the entire module, resulting in much higher contact time and allowing students to learn, discuss and debate with each other,” added Dave. “It is a Masters degree in three years and will require academics to teach and educate, not to undertake research.

“Every module will have a real-world challenge with an external sponsor.”

Even before NMITE has opened its doors, he reports that around 400 commercial partners are interested in working with the institute, from small charity organisations to multi-nationals.

The NMITE will include three new centres at Hereford’s Skylon Park, with a total capacity to host 600 future learners, degree apprenticeship and short course participants at any one time.

Apprentices thrive at Bicester Construction Skills Centre

The first cohort of apprentices have started at the new Construction Skills Centre in Bicester.

Launched as part of Abingdon & Witney College’s apprenticeship programme, the facility enables apprentices to train for the fast-growing property maintenance sector, alongside professional skills in plumbing, gas engineering, electrical installation, carpentry and joinery trades.

The first cohort consisted of 12 apprentices, including six Level 3 site carpenters, two Level 2 site carpenters, two bench joiners and two Level 3 plumbing and domestic heating engineers.

The centre was designed with input from industry professionals to house the type of industry-standard equipment that apprentices will find in the workplace, including a professional gas centre, electrical training bays for wiring regulation training and a large carpentry workshop.