Analytical Hierarchy Process Applied to Pedagogical Method Selection Problems

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to apply multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) methods, namely, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for selecting the best pedagogical method able to develop the soft skills required by the job market with respect to the preference level assigned by employers to each soft skill. The evaluated pedagogical strategies are experiential pedagogy (EP), project-based learning (PjBL), problem-based learning (PBL), serious games (SG), Harvard case method (HCM), and lecture course (LC). Ten criteria (soft skills) were identified from a previous quantitative content analysis of engineering job ads in Morocco in order to identify the extent to which soft skills are required by employers. These skills include communication, efficiency, adaptability, decision-making, innovation, problem resolution, team working, project management, professional responsibility, and using technology in engineering practice. After pairwise comparisons between all the evaluated alternatives with respect to each criterion, results show that experiential pedagogy is the optimal solution to develop the soft skills demanded by the job market.