Abstract

Background: Faculty Development Training (FDT) is the stepping stone for the quality enhancement in Engineering and Technical Education. However, all the FDT are not according to the participant’s needs and expectations because of dearth of information. Various reputed Engineering Institutions in Delhi and NCR, carried out an innovative approach to identify and prioritize faculty needs in order to plan future activities.

Methods: Investigator  designed a questionnaire, based on Linkert 3 point scale , pilot-tested and administered to all faculty members (N=200). The respondents rated their perceived performance and their self rated performance on each eleven competencies (subdivided into 74 sub competencies), described in the literature. The ratings of perceived performance - high/moderate and self-rated performance average/poor were summed up to determine priority rankings for providing the continuous training and education to all Engineering Faculty. The respondents’ rating of various continuing education activities, their willingness to participate and commit time and their suggestions and recommendations for strengthening Faculty Development Programmes (FDP) were also recorded and analyzed.

Results: All the eleven competencies were perceived as ‘significant' by the respondents. They felt confident in teaching in large and small groups, developing attitude, interpersonal skill and decision making ability. The competencies prioritized as "gaps", identified how to improve the learning resources, plan curriculum, evaluate course content and conduct research work. The prioritized activities were to design specialized courses, organize orientation workshops for the newly appointed faculty and their training to improve their research skills. This implied a multiphase approach to Faculty Development Programme. A majority (62.4%) were willing to devote 2-3 hours per week to FDP. Respondents also suggested some measures to the Engineering Education Institution to improve their academicians’ quality.

Conclusion: Researcher introduced and suggested a participatory approach to need assessment by identifying the gaps between "perceived performance" and “self-rated performance”, as criteria for determining priorities. Findings also suggested the need for adopting a comprehensive approach to faculty development training in which both departmental and institutional initiatives are required. Findings are applicable to the Engineering Institutions of Delhi & NCR context but the methodology can be equally applied to any higher Education Institution of any state in India even around the Globe possibly.

Keywords: Need Assessment, Faculty Development Programmes (FDP), Engineering Education, Continuing Technical Education (CTE), Engineering Faculty Development Unit (EFDU) and Teaching Competency.