A040 Student placement

The impact of industrial placement on students’ learning experiences

Brief:

The purpose of this article is to discuss the impact of industrial placements on engineering students’ learning. A project was undertaken by the authors to investigate the perceived benefits of planned workplace learning. The subjects were full-time engineering degree students from a university in Hong Kong who had completed an industrial placement programme from 2002 to 2003. The number of students studied was eight. A quantitative approach was utilized in this study. A statistical analysis of students’ academic performance was carried out in order to test the conjecture that industrial placement can enhance the technical knowledge of students. A control group of participants, who had similar academic performances in the second year, was established before the final examination in order to test whether or not there was a significant difference in the academic results between the placement and non-placement groups after their placement. The findings suggest that most students perceived to have made gains in their professional skills and broadened their visions in the field of the building industry. The implications of the findings for theory and practice are also discussed in the article.

Further information:

Chan MY, Mui KW, Wong LT, 2005. The impact of industrial placement on students’ learning experiences, UNESCO, World Transactions on Engineering and Technology Education 4(1) 11-14.