We all know and understand that education plays a key role in the continuing growth and diversification of the Sultanate of Oman’s economy and this process requires a focus on targeted human resource development. For this reason, the Oman government has always aimed to ensure that school students transitioning to higher education take programmes in areas deemed relevant to the job market’s needs.
One way to achieve this objective is by offering undergraduate scholarships that enable school leavers to pursue their higher studies in specified areas of specialisation at higher education institutions (HEIs) in and outside of Oman. However, it is not just about choosing a subject area and institution that suits the job market’s needs and a student’s interests, preferences and passions. Students are advised to also first figure out what type of learner they are and choose the suitable programme and institution accordingly.
One has to consider one’s learning abilities or preferred learning styles. Students are advised to ask themselves: Am I a more practical learner who understands and retains knowledge and develops skills better by doing and applying what I learned, including by working as a team? Or am I more research-oriented, ie, more of an academic who learns most effectively when information is presented to me in written words while I like to study independently? Or am I a little bit of everything?
For example, two of my Oman nieces on my husband’s side of the family are both smart and intelligent, but they each benefitted from different learning and teaching methods while pursuing their higher studies. One of them studied relatively more independently at the research-oriented Sultan Qaboos University and a renowned university in Australia, while the other graduated from a European University of Applied Sciences.
There are a few European countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, and Ireland, for example, where they have a so-called binary or two-tier higher education system. Apart from vocational institutions, they offer undergraduate degree programmes universities and universities of applied sciences or institutes of technology. The latter two types of institutions offer four-year Bachelor’s degree programmes during which students mainly focus on the practical application of knowledge and are getting prepared for specific professions, such as ‘electrical engineering’ or ‘marketing management.’ During their course of studies, students usually work with fellow students in a team on specific projects while simulating real-life cases and work placements at actual companies or government entities, which are generally an essential part of the programme.
There is, however, an increasingly blurry line between institutions focusing on applied learning instead and those who take a more academic research-oriented approach. Many HEIs now use problem-based learning (PBL) and teaching methodologies, which are based on a relatively practical approach to learning and their students are expected to solve real-life issues. This way, they take an active, task-orientated and self-directed approach to their own learning and develop practical and creative research skills.
In other words, the effective PBL method shows students the practical application of knowledge in a real-world setting. Mainly when conducted as a teamwork activity, PBL also helps students develop versatile communication, collaboration and perspective-taking skills and encourages student engagement and motivation.
Understanding one’s preferred and personal learning style as a student is deemed essential, as the job market also needs a variety of graduates. Choosing the most suitable learning and teaching approach will allow students to thrive in a way that suits them and their individual skills and capabilities, while all roads usually lead to Rome. Besides, Einstein once said, “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.”
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