Exploring Advanced Pedagogies for Engineering Educators: Active Learning Strategies and ICT-Based Digital Tools

Abstract

Pedagogy denotes the theory and practice of teaching — the methods, strategies, and approaches through which knowledge, skills, and values are transferred between educators and learners. Contemporary classrooms increasingly integrate information and communication technology (ICT) with active-learning strategies to improve student engagement, motivation, and outcome attainment. This paper examines advanced pedagogical approaches, including teacher-centred versus student-centred instruction and high-technology versus low-technology delivery, and evaluates five widely adopted ICT tools and strategies — Kahoot, Gallery Walk, Moodle, Think-Pair-Share, and virtual-classroom platforms such as Zoom and Google Meet — that support collaborative and self-directed learning. A case implementation is reported for the undergraduate course “Big Data Architecture and Tools” (1152CS229), in which these strategies were embedded across a semester and mapped to program outcomes (POs) and student outcomes (SOs) under Washington Accord–aligned accreditation criteria. Course outcome (CO) attainment was assessed using internal assessment records — quizzes, assignments, and a Test/Discussion/Interaction activity — delivered through a Moodle-based platform, supplemented by an end-of-course student feedback survey. Results indicate consistently high attainment: four of five course outcomes reached 90% attainment (attainment level 2.7 of 3), and one reached 86.7% (level 2.6), both exceeding the institutional 70% threshold. CO-PO and CO-SO correlation mapping further confirmed moderate-to-strong alignment with graduate-attribute requirements. The findings suggest that combining active-learning techniques with digital tools can measurably improve course outcome attainment, while highlighting persistent implementation challenges such as time constraints, resource limitations, and the need to balance diverse learner needs.