Do Lecturers Transfer the Required Skills in Workshops and Laboratories? A Case Study: College of Technological Studies, Kuwait.

Authors

  • Salah Al-Ali

Keywords:

Vocational and technical Education, developing Indigenous Manpower, Interaction between vocational and technical education and local industries, Kuwait.

Abstract

Engineering education policy makers and specialists during the last 10 year have focused on linking school, especially vocational and technical institutions, to the world of work, hoping to provide industry and business with the required knowledge, skills, and attitudes. However, there is a considerable gap in the literature between what is learned in workshops and laboratories and the real-life context of vocational and technical students’ present and future workplace. Lecturers in the Gulf States (e.g., Kuwait, Saudi Arabia) may have limited experience, compared with their counterparts in developed countries, in terms of the level of knowledge and working experience in those industries and businesses recruiting graduates from vocational and technical institutions. Therefore, lecturers in vocational and technical institutions in the Gulf States may not have the ability to monitor, assess, maintain, and adapt the technology applied in related industries and businesses. This paper examines whether lecturers consider those skills most needed by industry when teaching their workshops and laboratories. In other words, do lecturers know the level of knowledge, skills, and attitudes required in today’s workplace? The study also examines the degree of industrial involvement with vocational and technical lecturers in determining the types of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that need to be stressed. The study includes a review of the related literature and a questionnaire distributed to a sample of lecturers at the College of Technological Studies. Personal interviews were conducted with selected heads of departments, deans of industrial liaison offices, and department trainees’ direct supervisors in local industry. This paper concludes that lecturers’ workshops and laboratories must emphasize and develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed by industries, otherwise industries will continue to rely on expatriates for their workforce.

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Published

2015-07-21

How to Cite

Al-Ali, S. (2015). Do Lecturers Transfer the Required Skills in Workshops and Laboratories? A Case Study: College of Technological Studies, Kuwait. American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences, 13(1), 110–122. Retrieved from https://asrjetsjournal.org/index.php/American_Scientific_Journal/article/view/822