Development of Engineering Students’ Skills to Meet Industry 4.0 Demands: Guidelines for Designing New University Curricula

Nowadays, it is an institutionalized view that universities and higher education centers can improve their teaching and learning approaches through the curriculum. Recent studies have shown that many universities are adapting curricula and educational approaches to Industry 4.0. The current study aimed to identify the digital skills required to be included in engineering students’ curriculum and provide mechanisms to adapt engineering students’ competencies to Industry 4.0. This study utilized Sandelowski and Barroso’s (2006) six-step meta-synthesis. By searching reliable databases, 61 studies were selected, analyzed, and coded. The findings revealed that the skills required by engineering students in the curriculum included the following: 1. technological and digital skills, 2. engineering skills, and 3. basic skills. Furthermore, the analysis of data resulted in the identification of 21 mechanisms. Five of these mechanisms are as follows: 1. curriculum design following the requirements of Industry 4.0, 2. the use and practical application of digital technologies in the curricula of higher education institutions, 3. developing a convergent curriculum based on new technologies and fundamental changes in the structure of education, course content, and teaching, 4. lab-based and practical education in engineering education curricula, and 5. education of engineerring students based on a technological platform to develop digital skills in them to meet the demands of Industry 4.0. Finally, some operational guidelines are provided on how to update university curricula.