Dr Sha Jihan

Innovative Learning

He restructured and innovated the delivery of the EN3600 Group Project module which used to be a paper based exercise. Introducing a more practical, hands on approach it generated active involvement from both staff and students.

The group challenge was the design, build and test of land yachts by students working in teams. To conduct this module it required a high level of coordination which saw Sha direct a team of ten academic staff, six technical staff and two administrative staff to support a cohort of 100 stage three students. Once built, the land yachts were taken to Aberdeen beach where students raced them to test their product. This race has gained local publicity and the land yachts are always an exhibit of interest to potential applicants on open days.

This innovative project has proven to be fundamentally superior to the type of activities carried out in the past in terms of the students’ overall experience, engagement and enjoyment. Students repeatedly commend this as one of the best interactive modules of the course.

Improving Employability

Sha has developed a four day residential course for around 100 final year engineering students. The course, which sees participation from several industry partners, aims to transition students from student life to the work of employment and entrepreneurship. Unique to the School of Engineering, the course content includes interview skills by careers and HR consultants, team working exercises, simulation of assessment centre activities and networking with RGU engineering alumni and industry. The course also helps to raise awareness of the current employment challenges in industry and guide students to better prepare for their job application and participation in the selection and interview process. Student feedback on the course is extremely positive and this is reflected in participation numbers as the course is often oversubscribed.

There’s more…

Sha is the course leader for undergraduate evening courses in mechanical engineering and electronic and electrical engineering. This programme offers higher education opportunities in the evening for mature learners who are mostly in full-time employment. He also led the course re-approval documentation of the BSc Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering courses.

The decisions Sha has made in shaping the operation of the evening courses such as giving individual attention to every student’s progress, have improved the overall student experience, satisfaction and success rates. Notably, the success rates for the two evening courses have surpassed the university benchmark.

Furthermore, he truly believes in collaboration and works with the Head of School and senior representatives from NESCol to further links between the institutions.