An international symposium, called “4th Problem Based Learning Symposium”, was held at the Republic Polytechnic Singapore on 18th to 20th of March 2015, where mechanical engineering tutor, John Donald, from Bahrain Polytechnic presented during the renowned conference, themed on the problem-based learning (PBL) approach.
PBL is a learner-centered approach that teaches the students to solve problems by doing their own research.
During the conference, several keynote addresses and lectures were delivered by leading academics from various cultures and countries. However, it soon became clear that many institutions are still outlining the concept (or beginning of the process) of how PBL should be implemented.
This discovery made it clear that the Polytechnic is far ahead of its peers in the implementation of PBL after John Donald illustrated his presentation on “Bahrain Polytechnic: A case study of successful PBL implementation in engineering”; a presentation which speaks about the advances made in implementing PBL in mechanical engineering.
Mr. Donald was well received with the audience learning of the scope and depth of using PBL and the evolution of the Polytechnic’s curriculum into a fully developed learning platform.
“Bahrain Polytechnic should be justly proud of the achievements of our senior management team and Board of Trustees in having the vision to anticipate the importance of this developing new teaching and learning methodology as a response to the needs of the labour market.
“In mechanical engineering, our philosophy of transforming students from passive learners into work-ready graduates has already shown positive results as industry is reporting a marked increase in the quality of applicants from the Polytechnic in comparison with those from other establishments.” said Mr. Donald after his return to Bahrain.
Dr. Mohamed Al Aseeri, Acting CEO, stated: “We knew that PBL would bring the best out of our students. Also, it ensures that our graduates have already earned practical experience.
“I would like to thank Mr. Donald for representing the Polytechnic at the conference, including all the staff which made it happen, as we continue to meet the Bahrain 2030 Vision.” concluded Dr. Al Aseeri.
This is Bahrain Polytechnic’s second participation at the PBL symposium event.
