Developing Complex Problem-Solving Skills: An Engineering Perspective

Abstract

While technical skills remain the core foundation for engineering graduates, professional competencies, including communication, teamwork, and complex problem solving, are increasingly important to succeed in work environments. To enhance the employability of our students, we have integrated several professional skills courses into our “Software Design and Engineering” Master study curriculum, and combined each of them with a technical course. In this paper, we present a blended-learning course design including didactic methods for teaching complex problem solving. The course is intertwined with a lecture on software integration topics, which enables the students to apply their complex problem solving skills on real projects in a domain-specific context.

Features of the Implementation of Learning Based on Modular Technology in the Corporate Training Center

“…The dual features of the learning objectives are contrasted with the contextual approach, which implies the choice of the educational content with a higher degree of the necessary material for the implementation of a given type of activity. The structure of the course is developed based on the type of activity [17,31].…”

“…The comparative analysis showed that the concept of the occupational skills model is characterized by the systemic and activity approach, the well-structured terminological apparatus, a clearly defined process of designing modular technologies, and a detailed study of the types of educational and program documentation [33,34]. There is a range of pedagogical technologies that can provide the proper level of training in a corporate training center; however, the concept of the occupational skills model, which can ensure the flexibility of the educational process and an increased quality of the development of professional competencies, meets the goals and requirements of the customer to the greatest extent [17].…”

“…Dewi and Primayana [15] believe that module-based learning is a specifically organized learning environment and define it as a sequential step-by-step process aimed at developing professional competencies. There is no doubt that such a step-by-step process requires didactic units that would include the necessary amount of educational information for mastering a particular skill [3,17]. These didactic units are called "training elements" [6].…”

“…At the same time, in the pedagogic theory [16] and practice-oriented publications [6], there are no developed conditions for the effective application of modular technologies in corporate training, in particular, welder training. Thus, the research aims to identify and substantiate the organizational and pedagogical conditions for the effective implementation of modular technology for the development of professional competencies in welder students in a corporate training center [17].…”

Integrating 21st Century Skills in Higher Education Engineering Curricula

“…After the last module, the students apply their complex problem solving skills on a concrete software integration project. A detailed description of this concept can be found in [5].…”