Enhancing Skills Transfer for First-year Engineering Students in Higher Education.

Engineering students in their first years attending universities in South Africa are faced with different challenges one of which is understanding the topic that will equip them with appropriate skills. These students transition from being high school students to university students and as a result experience behavioral changes, performances, and learning rates. One of the important components of the process is the transfer of skills, and this should be done both theoretically and practically to train an engineer. Fresh students usually struggle to apply what they learn in classrooms to real-life situations when joining the college as engineers. This paper seeks to discuss skills transfer and how skills transfer can be improved for first-year Students in engineering as the methodology adopted for this research work shall be qualitative research whereby an extensive review of the literature and secondary sources relating to skills transfer in engineering education shall be conducted. There is a critical review of more than 30 journal articles and industry research papers, academic newsletters, and studies to assess the current state and efficiency of transfer of skills approaches. The main idea is that by using active learning approaches. problem-based scenarios. mentorship activities, and external corporate partnerships universities can provide students with the skills necessary for the modern engineering profession. Faculty is also under consideration in the paper, followed by a consideration of curriculum design and an examination of the application of technology in bridging the gap between skills gained in class and skills as applied in practice. With these approaches, first-year engineering students can effectively learn and enhance their motor and cognitive skills, thus empowering them academically and professionally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]