How Universities Can Prepare Students for Industry

Interview with: Mak Fong, CEO and Co-Owner, MAKTEAM Software

“We are in the beginning phase of Industry 4.0, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, but our education systems are not designed to produce students who can meet the emerging needs and skill sets demanded by Industry 4.0. Universities need to re-think how they offer degree programs,” advises Mak Fong, CEO and Co-Owner, MAKTEAM Software.

MAKTEAM Software was a solution provider at the Marcus Evans University Leadership Summit 2023.

How is the landscape of learning changing?

Learning and teaching have changed in the past two years, mainly due to the pandemic. Students now recognize that learning does not necessarily have to occur on one campus. They were forced to adapt to learning online and be self-motivated to stay on top of their education. They also have to deal with uncertainty in life, workplace require-ments, and the learning environment.

It is a similar situation in the K-12 learning environment. Students are questioning the usefulness of what they are learning. This new wave of students is demanding their education to be more focused and pragmatic, which will also help them in their future careers. On the other hand, teaching is becoming adaptive and accommodative to the individual circumstances of students.

Are universities today training students with relevant skills?

By and large, they still do, but more and more companies are offering training programs for graduates to better acclimatize into their workforce and job functions. There are many certification training programs that are outcomes-specific to job skills. This supports the idea that a formal B.Sc. degree is not necessarily what Industry needs. There is a mismatch. What students are learning cannot necessarily be fully applied to the workplace.

The Industry needs a workforce with relevant skills on demand, and the ability for people to gain more relevant skills as needs arise. Perhaps we should re-think the traditional time-based degree program that mandates students to spend four years learning before they are considered skilled enough to join the workforce. Perhaps we should consider a stackable sequence of certification programs that eventually lead to a formal degree, with each program to be outcomes-based and specific. This will still allow universities to cover the holistic education traditionally designed for a four-year degree program, but with such an adaptive, Outcomes-based Education (OBE), students can pick and choose which skill sets or outcomes they want to pursue first, and build their careers earlier on.

What changes does this require? How can OBE be achieved?

There are many possibilities and ways of achieving an adaptive OBE. First and foremost is to embrace an outcomes-based teaching delivery culture. Of course, the implementation of an adaptive OBE requires innovative education leaders and changes in the education system, teaching paradigm shifts in teaching delivery, and technol-ogy support.

There are many challenges and ques-tions that universities need to address. Are all existing programs outcomes-based? Are instructors trained sufficient-ly to design their teaching to align with the targeted outcomes? What certifica-tion programs are needed? What support is needed to facilitate the changes?
Most instructors would say they want their students to master higher-level thinking skills, but most of the time their lectures and homework focus almost exclusively on applying skills to problem-solving. There is a systematic approach to designing a course delivery that aligns with outcomes. Backward design, for example, is a practical approach that identifies first the desired results, determines next the acceptable evidence, and then plans learning experience and instruction.

Are existing learning technologies adequate for OBE?

To support teaching delivery, universi-ties have Learning Management Sys-tems (LMS). Some even have LMS 2.0, with advanced features for video streaming, live sessions, or content authoring. Will LMS 2.0 be good enough for an OBE teaching delivery? No. For OBE implementation, they need LMS 3.0 – an Outcomes Assessment System (OAS) that can gauge teaching topics aligned with student outcomes, ensure the right level of challenge, provide formative assessment to instructors with real-time feedback to implement instructional strategies to increase student achievement, and track and monitor individual student’s learning against the intended outcomes.

Most universities do not have a mecha-nism to track whether students are meeting outcomes. If the learning process is even geared to the desired outcome. That is what the learning industry needs. To take universities to the next level of education, the focus must be on learning outcomes. Existing learning measurement systems are insufficient if universities move towards OBE.

Students have realized that they do not need to be restricted to one place. There is a movement right now, and some universities are looking for ways to become more flexible. Sooner or later, they will all have to adapt to these changes. It is time to look at their OAS, and the next wave of technology that can help them move to a different level of teaching and learning.

Learn more about the University Leadership Summit