Hey, 12th grad students, if you are looking to join an engineering college this year, this article is just for you!
You probably would have heard that first-year of engineering is all about basics, learning Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Electronics, etc. It will introduce you to the fundamental concepts of engineering, which is important for any stream.
But wait,
“For 2 full years, you have been learning hundreds of concepts, formulas, derivations, and writing tests! Will the same thing continue in the first year too!?” Unfortunately, it’s almost a yes.
Well, in the later stages you will eventually work on a few projects ( if you wish to, on your own!), but it’s time to realize that project-based learning is essential from the very beginning of your engineering career, that is, your first year. Even the fundamentals of engineering will be well-understood only with hands-on projects. These generally include basic or mini-projects in the domain of mechanical, electronics and computer science.
Here are exactly 5 reasons why project-based learning is essential for any student from their first year:
- Inter-disciplinary learning - Topics such as IoT, embedded systems, mechatronics projects have become so popular that every engineering student must be aware of at least the basics of these domains. In order to complete any small or major project, you definitely need to have a slight knowledge of other streams of engineering as well. This is termed as “Inter-disciplinary” learning. For example, if you are an electronics student, you definitely need to basic coding and mechanical engineering to work on any basic project. It has become very crucial in today’s education and is a must for every engineering student to exercise from the beginning itself.
- Application of concepts in the Real-world - A scientist develops concepts and theories, but an engineer is the one who applies them in the real world! Project-based learning will help you actually apply what you learn in class and figure out innovative solutions to the day-to-day problems that you see around.
- Most-efficient method of learning - What’s better than application-based learning? Working on projects from the fundamental stages is definitely going to give you a firm grip on these domains. It will help you retain the knowledge for a very long time because you have worked on it, have come across challenges while working and have figured out solutions too!
- Boosts your Confidence - Consider, at the end of the first year, you have already worked on a couple of mini-projects in inter-disciplinary domains. You already have developed some initial knowledge on many concepts and have applied them practically as well. Also, you might have collaboratively worked with your peers in teams during these projects. After experiencing all these, imagine the amount of confidence you would have in the next upcoming years of engineering!
- Improves Problem-solving skills - Engineering projects never succeed at one go. You will have to encounter a lot of challenges to complete even a small device you wanna build, with just one single function! But, the biggest advantage is that you will constantly keep improving your problem-solving skills, which is going to help you throughout your life!
What’s fun in just learning, without actually applying? Because, I believe that’s what engineering is all about!
