Engineering undergraduates’ knowledge: insights into skills’ awareness, difference and interdependence

Purpose This study seeks insights into the engineering undergraduates’ knowledge of problem-solving process, teamwork characteristics and communication skills. Design/methodology/approach The data for the study were collected through consecutive sampling technique from 78 engineering undergraduates at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, Pilani Campus, India on a five-point Likert scale-based questionnaire. Findings Exploratory factor analysis results traced three stages of the problem-solving process. However, the results of teamwork characteristics and communication skills validated the literature-based results. An important finding was that all the three skills were correlated. This means that one skill can be used to develop and promote other skills. The paired sample t -test demonstrated that all the three skills were perceived with a difference, which indicates that these skills worked in collaboration without losing their individuality. Research limitations/implications This study supports that there is a need to engage learners in an active and collaborative environment to improve the engineering undergraduates’ knowledge of skills. Originality/value The conscious effort to make the engineering undergraduates aware would reduce the gap between the graduating engineers skills currently possessed in academia and the required skills at workplace.