Sustainable Experiential Learning: An Effective Tool for Enhancing Student’s Competency and Employability

Abstract

Evolving topics of engineering demand innovative teaching practices. Experiential learning is the method of learning things through experience. Many core concepts in Instrumentation Engineering are obscure and hence difficult to comprehend for students. So experiential learning through industrial visits really comes as an effective tool. The paper presents experiential learning technique through industrial visits. For this, milk processing topic was taught in the class following the conventional method. Then a group of students was asked to visit a Dairy plant to understand the operations carried out in a milk processing industry. A feedback questionnaire was prepared based on the course outcomes. The students provided better ratings in the surveys conducted. The detailed statistical analysis was carried out by applying t-test. It was observed that the students’ logical thinking and analyzing ability improved remarkably. Feedback from employers’ survey indicated students’ industry readiness. Improvement in the students’ employability is also observed. The sustainable mathematical model created out of this framework suggests sustainability factor of 1.08 indicating effectiveness of the model over time.