Coupled BSc. and Associate Diploma Programs: the Experience of the College of Engineering, University of Bahrain

Abstract

In order to fulfill the job market’s requirements in the Kingdom of Bahrain for both engineers and technicians, the college of engineering at the University of Bahrain has been offering both BSc and Associate Diploma programs. The method of distributing the students between these two routes has been lately modified. Up to the academic year 1999/2000, a single track system was followed, in which all the new students admitted initially to the associate diploma program, and only the graduates from this program who achieved a GPA of 2.5 or more were allowed to join the BSc program. Starting from the second semester of the academic year 1999/2000 a new “two track system� has been adopted, in which all of the new students are admitted to the BSc program. After completing one academic year, the students who do not achieve a satisfactory performance are transferred to the associate diploma program. Satisfactory performance was strictly defined as: successfully completing 27 credit hours, passing two mathematics courses (Calculus I and II) and passing two other science courses. The objective of this paper is to present the experience of the college of engineering at the University of Bahrain with respect to these two systems. The paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of theses two systems with respect to the length of the programs, the rates of dismissals and meeting the job market requirements.