Description

I am a Bachelor of Education (Mathematics/ Physics), Master of Education and Ph.D in Education holder. I am a senior lecturer in the school of education with a bias in leadership, management and pedagogy. I do teach both undergraduate and postgraduate students. The courses that I teach include research methods, quantitative techniques and courses in leadership and management. For the faculty in the various schools in the universities, I have participated in facilitation on pedagogy especially for those who do not have education training in their basic degree.

Motivation for Joining the Workshop

• To learn on the model of German universities of applied sciences and how the same can be adopted in Kenyan Universities
• To mentor colleagues into the concept of universities of applied sciences and the requirements for the faculty of such universities
• To influence on the formulation of polices in the concept of universities of applied sciences within the existing framework of universities in Kenya

Lessons learnt from the Workshop

• That universities of applied sciences have developed their curricular with a focus on solving actual problems within the industry
• That there is more focus on applied research during students internship in order to address existing problems in the industry
• That for one to become a professor in the University of Applied sciences in Germany, he/ she must have a practical industry work experience of not less than five year
• That there is some pedagogical training for new faculty in the universities of applied sciences
• That language used during students thesis/project presentation is demystified to make it understandable to all the stakeholders
• Internships are not just meant to expose the learners to the industry but also to solve industry related problems through theses/projects
• There is industry financial  support on joint projects with universities which are meant to address industry related problems

Implementation of the Model of Universities of Applied Sciences in Kenya

Implementation of The Model of East African Universities of Applied Sciences

1) Reports has been written to the university management on the model of Applied Sciences, both reports have been adapted

2) There was a plan to present the reports to the Deans committee, this was rescheduled to May

3) Emphasis on demystification of presentation of students thesis/masters projects to make them more understandable to all

4) There are efforts to revisit the MoUs already signed by the university with a number of organizations to actualize them

5) Online evaluation of the lecturers by the students has been implemented

6) In the ongoing review of curricular of various departments, efforts have been made to create more realistic students‘ internship programmes and involvement of industry players has been done

7) The university has implemented internal research grants for teaching staff and innovation grant for students

Challenges faced during the Implementation

1) There is limited financial resources, for any good idea that involves any financial transactions, the university needs lots of persuasion

2) There is some lecturers with preset mindsets who may not be very easy to convince about the concept of universities of applied sciences

3) The workload for many lecturers in Kenya is so much such that it may not be very easy to monitor the implementation of the concept

4) Kenya industrial sector is at the infancy stage hence in some cases, one may not get adequate industry partners.

5) Many of the university staff lack industry experience only strong in theories

Probable Solutions to the Challenges