STEM engagement with special needs learners: inception of special needs engineering pedagogy

Declining STEM Education interest is a key challenge to fulfil the technical job market demand to drive the future economic growth. Interestingly, various institutions comprising Universities, Technical corporations, NGOs, Govt organization, etc. have been practicing STEM education promotion at primary and secondary levels. However, engagement with students from Special Needs Learners (SNL) is less covered leading to a very different social challenge involving EDI (Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion). The aim of this study is to understand possibility of implementing engineering pedagogy for special needs learner. The research was carried out through a STEM workshop in the department of mechanical engineering involving students with additional support needs in S3 (14-15 years old) from deprived area. In this workshop, students were introduced to different materials, how materials can be used to increase human quality of life, how engineers test materials and how materials can be used to achieve a sustainable environment and economy through both conventional and active learning pedagogy which included undergraduate level engineering laboratory course involving optical microscopy of microstructures for engineering materials. Results showed that 90% of the learners agreed that after the workshop they had learnt something new about materials and their effect on the environment. Interestingly, it is also revealed that active learning pedagogy is more effective for Special Needs Learners (SNL) compare to conventional theory-based pedagogy. Using an auto-ethnography approach it can be concluded that students enjoyed the workshop and the opportunity to visit the university and the laboratory facilities. They highly engaged throughout the workshop. It is expected that this finding paves the way towards developing Special Needs Engineering Pedagogy in higher education and such innovative pedagogy could be extended to special needs learners in other disciplines such as language learner among SNL community

E-learning tools: engaging our students?

Since Generation Z students have grown up around WIFI-laptops, video game, etc. they expect technology to be involved in teaching approaches, however students' perception towards e-learning tools indicate that 80% of students (∼180 students) prefer a face-to-face approach.(undefined

Design and ergonomic analysis of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) remanufacturing workcell fixture using digital mock-up environment

Traditionally, operations in recycling industry such as WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) are labour intensive and time consuming due to the nature of discrete / non-standards product states. Hence, small-mid scale WEEE recycling companies require significant product state assessment, process design and technology commitment in order to bid for mass refurbishment projects. Employing digital process simulation tools (which is prevalent in automotive and aircraft manufacturing industries) will result in design of ergonomically viable workstations. This paper introduces design and ergonomic assessment for remanufacturing workcell for light weight, hull shaped free-formed components. It demonstrates that the use of digital process simulation is a valuable tool and leads pathways towards establishing better workplaces where work related disorders are frequentely reported in such industries