A Study of Task Based Teaching Methodology and its Impact on Employability Skills of Learners

Abstract

Along with good academic record, the corporate world also looks for ‘Employability Skills’ in a job aspirant. Despite the fact that the universities are churning out lakhs of graduates every year yet the feedback from the Industry regarding the ‘Employability Skills’ of these job aspirants is quite discouraging.The reason being that all technical and management colleges are characterized by diversity. Students come from different geographical and varied academic backgrounds and hence there is no uniformity in the skill sets that they possess when they take admission in these professional courses. Institutes need to develop the Employability skills of the students in order to make them job ready. | Employability skills also referred as Soft Skills or Transferable Skills are not job specific but they are skills that serve across all jobs in the industry. Communication skills, both oral and written, presentation skills, team work, time management skills, leadership skills, problem solving, critical thinking, analytical ability are some of the important employability skills. The institutions can play a significant role in developing these skills by effectively incorporating them into regular teaching. | This paper aims to identify the important employability skills required by graduates, specifically in India, to be successful at their work place. It also tries to find out how a shift in teaching pedagogy from the lecture method to task based method would help students enhance these employability skills. A study of a pilot group of 50 students was undertaken to find out if the ‘Task based approach’ of teaching would develop the required skills and in turn, help the students perform better in their work environments. Measures have also been suggested to Institutes, curriculum designers and faculty members for successful implementation of task based teaching pedagogy in enhancing the Employability skills of the students. |