While online classes provide students with more flexibility and novel ways to collaborate, success rate reflected in online environment is directly linked to the engaging levels of both the instructor and the students are in a virtual classroom. When students are engaged, they tend to show more interest and perform better. When relevant and interesting teaching materials keep virtual learners engaged, they tend to process it more deeply and retention rate becomes high.
The English Language center at UTAS-Ibri echoed the same by conducting a workshop titled Improving Student Participation in Online Classes on Thursday, 21.10.2021. The presenters Mr Tata Rao Mukiri and Mr Jabez Syam divided the session into two parts where two different types of platforms were introduced. The presenters engaged the audience and created a learning atmosphere. They also provided some useful tips them for both online and face-to-face teaching environment.
Profiles of the Presenters
Mr. T. Rao has been teaching English for the last 16 years. He has worked in KSA and has been working in IbriCT since 2012. He completed CELTA from Cambridge.
Mr. Syam is into the field of ELT since 2004. He has pursued ELT courses including CELTA. He is interested in learning and teaching.
The Information Technology Department, through the Staff Development Committee (SDC) conducted a webinar on Research Paper Writing and Publishing on 12 October 2021 through MS Teams. The SDC had invited Dr Francisco P Dumanig, an assistant professor at the University of Hilo – USA to share his knowledge on the said topic.
The objectives of this webinar were to provide a platform for both students and staff on how to properly write and publish research paper; to encourage students and staff to write and publish a research paper; and most importantly, to address the needs of staff as per their request.
During the presentation, the speaker emphasised on how to write publishable research, how to publish research in high-impact journals (ISI, SCCI, SCOPUS, etc.), and how to increase researchers’ citation index.
The feedback was collected from the participants. On a scale of five, the overall feedback was 4.55
The Quality Assurance Committee in the Information Technology Department conducted an orientation session for five new staff members in the department on Thursday, 21 October 2021. At the beginning of the session, the history, vision, mission, and goals of UTAS-Ibri were explained by the presenter Ms.Wardah Al Majrafi, the QAC – Coordinator IT department . Ms. Wardah also briefly explained the management structure of UTAS-Ibri the roles and responsibilities of the college council and departmental council. The college council members and the IT department DC members showed the new staff around the university campus. In addition, the rules, and responsibilities of being a lecturer at the university were explained, and the different policies that they must be aware of were pointed out. These include the examination policy, staff leave, staff appraisal, staff development, staff termination, and student feedback.
During the second part of the presentation, the different teaching services offered in the Information Technology and Math sections for both the Foundation and Post-foundation programmes were explained. They were made aware of the activity plan prepared by the different committees in the department, and they were briefed about the operational plan for the Information Technology Department for this academic year.
At the end of the session, questions were asked, and these were clarified.
The feedback was collected from the participants. On a scale of five, the overall feedback was 4.45
The Staff Development Committee of the Engineering Department organized a hardware project awareness program on "Problem and implementation of Electronics Projects", on 28th of October 2021 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm at Multipurpose Hall with Dr. Varadharamanjujam Ilankumaran, Head of Section (Electrical and Electronics Engineering), as Resource Speaker.
He delivered the presentation for the benefit of faculty members; mainly for the Electrical and Electronics Section. In his presentation, he gave a very good awareness to the faculty to develop the hardware-based projects using the latest technology. He also explained how to choose the project, how to identify the problems, how to troubleshoot the hardware project, and etc.
The program is very useful to all the faculty members to develop the project proposal and implementation of funded projects, as well as to also to develop the students’ projects.
The staff members felt that the presentation was very much useful and effective. There were 25 members of the staff who participated.
A humane facet of interpersonal skills builds on basic communication skills and often reflects the "humanistic" attributes of individuals. These skills are crucial for all educators and learners as they are needed to succeed in their professional and personal life.
For all the enigma and euphoria surrounding them, interpersonal skills could be something as simple as initiating a conversation. It is all about the art of establishing a connection and nurturing it. It is also a refined skill of using facts and emotions during societal interactions.
On Friday, Oct 15, 2021, Dr Mohsen Amiri and Dr Abdulsalam Al Manthari presented a paper at Sultan Qaboos University ELT Conference.
Dr Abdulsalam highlighted the impact of integrating interpersonal skills with academics for the holistic development of the student. He reiterated that teachers play a crucial role in moulding the personality of the students. However, he quickly added that interpersonal skills could be developed but cannot be learned solely from a textbook. A subtle mention of acquiring worldly wisdom through observing the mundane and academic world was thought-provoking.
The presenters shared many interesting views and one that caught the attention of the audience was, "Personalities are not born; they are forged." It is a process that requires time and diligent efforts. " (Kathrina Geukes).
Dr Abdulsalam and Dr Mohsen linked interpersonal skills with some organised sessions on Personality Development and Interpersonal Skills for UTAS Ibri students. Based on the current research, the personality development sessions had a significant impact on the academic and personal performance of the participants. The presentation convinced the audience to integrate personality development modules with the curriculum for a holistic and robust disposition of students.
The presenters concluded on a practical note that students should possess good interpersonal skills and their GPA scores to fare well in the interviews.
Individual Performance Management is a strategic human resources practice intended to attain individual objectives to ensure value added contribution to the organisation's performance.
UTAS –Ibri has always been keen on a system that integrates attempts to improve the performance of UTAS-Ibri staff. Currently, it is all set to embrace IPMS (Individual performance Management System) as a tool to plan, monitor, evaluate and report on the performance of the UTAS-Ibri staff.
Ms Fatma Al-Manthari addressed the ELC and the Business Studies staff on 14.10.2021 and made them conversant with the new facets of IPMS. The presentation aimed at three prime objectives: to build a culture of quality performance, improve performance evaluation systems, and link productivity with initiatives. The audience received detailed guidance on how to link strategic objectives to key results. The IPMS exercise is the first of its kind in UTAS and is a pilot project.
She stressed several steps that would evaluate the performance of the employee at regular intervals and phases. The major ones include the adherence to the objectives producing key results claimed. The timelines, productivity and feedback by the concerned authorities play a crucial role while apprising the performance.
Ms Fatma also stated that the IPMS will be integrated into the system in the upcoming semester starting from January 2022. The teaching staff actively participated in a mock session that allowed the staff to brainstorm and list their objectives and key results.
The English Language Center at UTAS-Ibri took the lead in conducting a one-on-one session with the ELC lecturers. The marathon exercise was phased across four days starting from 17.10.2021 and it concluded successfully on 24.10.21. It gave immense clarity on how to align objectives with learning outcomes, graduate attributes and vision 2040.
On 18.10.2021, Ms Heba offered to share her views on drafting objectives and key results through a quick online session.
The takeaway of the IPMS session was the readiness of the ELC teaching staff to share their objectives and the key results with the panel for feedback and further action. As a panel, Dr Abdulsalam Al Manthari, Dr Sultan Al Ghafri and Dr Maryam Al Ghafri handled the extensive process with poise and precision.
Three students from the Information Technology Department participated in the Arab IOT and AI Challenge, which was conducted in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates during the period 19 to 20 October 2021, as a part of GITEX Technology Week events.
The mission for the challenge was to simulate an innovation-based economy in the Arab region through strategising, facilitating, and promoting innovation, entrepreneurship, and the creation of intellectual property in IoT and AI and their applications.
The students who participated were Mohammed Al Shaaili, Aaisha Al Risi, and Rahma Al Waaili.
They participated with their graduation project, titled "Low-Cost Smart Poultry Farming Based on IoT" under the supervision of Dr Qais, a lecturer in the Information Technology Department. The students competed with other students from different Arab countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, and the UAE.
The participation of the students in the challenge came after winning the OMAN IoT and AI Challenge which was conducted at the Higher College of Technology in Muscat, Oman. The students won that challenge, which qualified them to participate in the Arab competition.
The Student Research Committee of the Business Studies Department organized an online workshop on “Literature Review and Referencing” on Thursday, 14th October 2021, from 10 am to 12 pm via MS Teams. Dr Laly Antony, an accounting lecturer at the department, delivered the workshop. The main aim of the workshop was to explain the importance of literature review in research and various methods for reviewing literature along with some software. The speaker highlighted some of the reviews of different papers in various areas. The students and staff members of the other department and centres attended the workshop as well. The referencing part was not covered in detail, which will be covered in the coming session. At the end of the session, some participants raised their doubts to be clarified by the speaker.
Pillai College of Engineering, New Panvel, Maharashtra, India organized an IEEE Conference on “Technologies and Future Cities 2021” on the 8th and 9th October 2021. The Conference is inaugurated by Dr R.K. Shevgaonkar, Professor, Emeritus, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Bombay.
The industrial experts and academicians from various countries (Oman, India, Turkey, and Taiwan) participated and shared their ideas and research works have been carried out in this field. This conference is funded by AICTE and sponsored by IEEE Bombay Section. Various autonomous bodies like: Institution’s Innovation Council, ISRS, CSIR India, NEERI, and Computer Society of India, acted as the media partners for this event.
UTAS-Ibri Electronics Engineering Lecturer, Dr G. Kumaravel, presented a paper entitled, “Optimal Routing for Solid Waste Management System Using IoT Based Smart Bin”, in this conference under the “Systems for Future Cities” Track. This paper is co-authored by Dr. V. Ilankumaran, Electrical and Electronics Head of Section, Engineering Department, UTAS-Ibri. This paper is actually the research outcome of a TRC-Funded RG Project, “A Novel Waste Management System Using 3G GSM and Ant Colony Optimization Technique”. The Track Chair lauded the research outcome of this project and praised the effectiveness of this work for future cities.
The authors express their sincere thanks to the Dean, ADAA, ADFA, and Engineering Department HOD for their constant support and encouragement.
