Engineering Education in Saudi Arabia: Problems and Solutions

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Engineering Education in Saudi Arabia Problems
and Solutions

• Muhammad Taher Abuelmaatti
• King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals,
  Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

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Current Status

• More than ten universities and technical colleges
  offer engineering education.
• Over 80 of practicing engineers are expatriates.
• In the public sector 76 are Saudi engineers and
  in the private sector only 16.
• Required is 3300 engineers/annum, available is
  1675/annum only.

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Problems Retention, Attrition and Graduation
Rates

• Students retention is an indicator of quality and
  efficiency of institutions.
• High performer institutions are those that make
  student retention and success a high
  institutional priority.
• Engineering is known to be a discipline in which
  retention is a particular concern.

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At One of the Best Universities in Saudi Arabia

• In 1424/1425 the total number of engineering
  students who discontinued their studies for
  different reasons was 1078
• In 1424/1425 the total number of engineering
  graduates was 658.
• In 1424/1425 the total number of students who
  discontinued their preparatory year studies was
  731 41 of the total number of preparatory year
  students (was 1781).

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Factors Contributing to Attrition

• Poor qualifications on entry despite the high
  GPAs. Students are
• Competent only to perform limited manipulations.
• Not used to questioning.
• Showing a performance to rote learning.
• Taking longer than necessary to work.
• Able to cope at the level of specific numerical
  routines but not at the level of problem solving.

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• Difficulties faced in studying in English the
  language of engineering education in Saudi
  Arabia.
• Lack of personal commitment to college education.
• Inadequate study skills students may delay the
  initiation of an effective program of study.

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• Untrained teaching faculty.
• Order of presentation of course material may
  complicate the understanding of the bits and
  pieces of the course.
• Course administration few exams, infrequent or
  late feedback do not allow students to recover in
  time.

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Solutions A. Preparatory Year Foundation Course
(1 Credit Hour)

• The major goal of this course is to bridge the
  gap between the two cultures the college and the
  school culture.
• Contents should address making transition to
  college life, differences between college and
  school cultures, note taking, study skills
  techniques and time management.

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Solutions B. Freshman Orientation Courses

• Common reasons cited by students who discontinues
  from any professional program in the first year
  are lack of information about
• 1. What the degree program involves.
• 2. What opportunities are there for industrial
  training.
• 3.Typical employment destinations for
  graduates.

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• These problems are compounded by the fact that a
  specific department has almost no contact hours
  per week of formal sessions with its first year
  freshmen students usually they study basic
  sciences.

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Proposal for Freshman Orientation Courses

• The major purpose of these courses is to give the
  students
• 1. An overview of the discipline.
• 2. An idea of the type of career
  opportunities.
• 3. A chance to meet faculty and students in
  the program.
• This would help the students make informed
  decisions about a major and a career.

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Freshman Orientation Engineering Courses

• Courses Goals
• To increase students understanding of
  engineering discipline.
• To promote students enthusiasm for pursuing a
  course of study.
• To provide orientation for the students.
• To develop the ability to apply fundamental
  engineering skills, including problem solving,
  communication, basic programming and other
  computer skills.
• To gain practical design experience.

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First Semester Course (2 Credit Hours)

• Course Description
• 1. Introduction to Engineering Culture (15)
• This part of the course provides the
  students with information about the college
  resources and opportunities, academic dishonesty,
  and the degree requirements.

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• 2. Team Problem Solving (60)
• Students are divided into teams of
  maximum size four during the first week of class.
  After the sixth week they can be divided into new
  teams and again assigned to new team at twelfth
  week. After several weeks of experience working
  in teams, a professor from the Communication
  Department could be invited to lecture on group
  dynamics and working effectively in teams. The
  course should cover a variety of general problem
  solving methods.

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• 3. Introduction to Social and Ethical Issues in
  Engineering (10)
• To make students aware of the social and
  ethical issues and to give them some practice.
• 4. Introduction to Major Areas and Major Problems
  in Each Area (15)
• Areas are covered by faculty
  presentations. Students are required to hand in
  short summaries of each presentation.

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Second Semester (2 Credit Hours)

• This course should be structured around a
  combination of disciplines. It should include a
  review of follow-up procedures from the first
  semesters in addition to multidisciplinary
  projects. The projects must show the students how
  disciplines interact.
• The two courses must be current and attractive to
  students and address industry needs.

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• The two-course sequence must adopt a Hands on
  and workshop delivery approach in addition to
  inviting speakers from industry, especially
  recent graduates.
• Excursions to industrial plants should be part
  of the course with students writing reports about
  their observations.

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• Thank You