Analysing the Impact of Emerging Technology Course on Student Satisfaction by Exposing Freshmen to Dynamic Industry Trends

Technology is an inescapable necessity; it dominates almost every aspect of human existence. Emerging technol ogy hel ps to unl ock new possibilities for connecting things/people. At the same time, technological advancement changes industrial trends and the demand for engineering graduates' expertise. Hence, it becomes necessary for the students to imbibe the skills of continuous learning and understand the emerging trends, right from the inception year of engineering education. Also, with an amendment to the national education policy (NEP), the Indian Government has shown its clear intention to promote a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to technological developments through engineering education. Therefore, to accomplish this, it is critical to bridge the gap between industry and academia. The proposed course in this article is an initiative taken by Chitkara University Punjab to bring industry mentors and first-year students face-to-face and promote holistic learning amongst themselves. A total of 1000 freshman engineering students took part in this course and participated in the post-course survey to express their satisfaction level with the course thus introduced. The Cronbach's Alpha coefficient α = 0.957 shows the high Reliability of data obtained through a survey questionnaire. Students expressed high motivation levels after completion of the course. The survey shows that the course gave the students clarity about the attributes required by the industry, which can help them decide their action points towards their career development. In the future, a hybrid model of teaching-learning can be employed to provide an added advantage of industry mentor interaction with students in live physical space.