Assessing the Competencies of Engineering Students in Generic Skills: Insights from India

Sai Manideep Appana; Hari Babu Bathini; Paramaiah Ch; Raghuveer Katragadda; Surya Prakasha Rao B.K; Ravi Sankar Pasupuleti

doi:10.54392/ajir25212

Authors

Sai Manideep Appana Department of Management Studies, Vignan’s Foundation for Science, Technology and Research, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India. Author
Hari Babu Bathini School of Management, Siddhartha Academy of Higher Education, Deemed to be University, Vijayawada - 520 007, Andhra Pradesh, India. Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1977-6912
Paramaiah Ch School of Business, Skyline University College, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Author https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3504-2481
Raghuveer Katragadda School of Management, Siddhartha Academy of Higher Education, Deemed to be University, Vijayawada - 520 007, Andhra Pradesh, India. Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6428-8213
Surya Prakasha Rao B.K School of Business, PNG University of Technology, Lae, Morobe Province, Papuva New Guinea. Author https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1517-8904
Ravi Sankar Pasupuleti Department of Applied Science and Humanities, Tirumala Engineering College, Narasaraopeta, Andhra Pradesh, India Author https://orcid.org/0009-0007-9091-3688

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54392/ajir25212

Keywords:

Engineering students, Generic skills, Higher education, AHP, TOPSIS, India

Abstract

Development of generic skills is a primary focus for educational policies and accreditation bodies, there has been insufficient exploration into engineering students' perceptions of these skills and their motivation to develop them. Typically, the promotion of such competencies relies on conventional methods rather than well-organized curriculum frameworks. In addition, the absence of a unified definition and interpretation of generic skills across various disciplines complicates curriculum design. This study seeks to evaluate the competencies of engineering students in generic skills by employing an innovative decision-making approach. The proposed method assesses students' skills within a structured framework by combining the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). AHP method is utilized to determine the weights of different competency criteria, whereas the TOPSIS method is employed to rank criteria according to their proficiency in these skills. The approach taken in this study demonstrates the efficacy of addressing decision-making challenges and underscores its practical utility and dependability in evaluating the development of generic skills. Finally, this study's findings determined the importance set of generic skills in the context of the Indian higher education system.

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