2000-09-14
Chemical Engineering and Metallurgy : A case study of placement evaluation.
There are two requirements that should be fulfilled by
a student following a civilingenjör degree programme (4.5 years):
1. He/she should spend at least 12 weeks in industry doing blue-collar work, preferably on the shop floor. This used to be 17 weeks, but the minimum time has recently been reduced in most universities.
2.
He/she should
write a final thesis. His thesis is assumed to correspond to 20 weeks of
full-time work. It is not formally required that this final year project be
conducted in industry, but this is almost always the case.
3.
In addition to
these standard requirements, students following certain curricula at
Luleå University of Technology have to do an industrial placement period
of at least 6 months.
For the programme leading to the title of högskoleingenjör (2- 4.5 years) an industrial placement of the
forst type of 6-12 weeks is compulsory in most curricula.
Description of the six months long industrial placement at the Chemical Engineering and Metallurgy.
The six month long industrial placement in the
Chemical Engineering curriculum in Luleå is unique for this school. No
other Swedish university or institute of technology requires that sort of long
duration internship for an engineering degree. This long term industrial
placement takes place in the autumn of the fourth year of the student’s
study programme.
The main objective is to give the student the
possibility to use the problem solving skills obtained at the university. That
means that the student should encounter problems and tasks within totally new
working areas, analyse the problems as well as solving them in a constructive
way. In other words: the tasks have to be in line with the level of the studies
and be connected to the student’s study programme.
This objective is mentioned in the letter from the
university to the enterprise in question.
The planning of the placement starts the preceding
year by the study counsellor or director of studies and the student. The
university proposes a list of current enterprises with which the university has
been in contact. This list is the result of a wide network of enterprises
established by the Department of
Chemical Engineering and Metallurgy during several years, since the start of
the programme in 1995. The students also have access to a list of all the
students and their hosts, so that they take contact with their precursors.
The students themselves then apply for their
placement, as for a job. They enclose a CV and a description of themselves, of
their interests and of their educational profile. They enclose a document from
the Department, describing what the Department wishes the student to do and the
purpose of the placement Students
are told to enclose their study programme syllabus.
Critical success factors in the partnership between
employers and university.
Two critical success factors are mentioned by the Department of Chemical Engineering and Metallurgy. One is the length of the placement: The employer has to prepare thoroughly the six months period, which is less important for a short term placement. The other success factor is that the placement takes place late in the curriculum, which makes it possible for the student to perform fairly advanced tasks. Another factor of success is that an older student can express what they want in a job situation more clearly, which both the employee and the student benefit from.
The student is covered by his or her normal insurance,
settled by the Students Unions.
The university never checks up with the employee the
behaviour of an individual student during the placement period. Only after
having finished the placement, the employer writes a certificate of employment
and the student is obliged to write a report. The university relies on the fact
that the student himself/herself and the employee make every possible effort to
make the placement a success.
In order to get the proposed placement beforehand
approved by the study counsellor or director of studies the student has to:
-
write a short
description of the planned industrial placement
-
state the length
of the placement
-
give the name of
the contact person at the enterprise
The above mentioned rules are supposed to ensure a
good standard of the placement and a relevant level for the student.
After their placement period the students have to
-
provide the
university with a certificate
showing the length of the placement as well as the main tasks.
-
write a report
of 1-2 pages describing the placement period.
-
do an oral
presentation of the placement in the second period of their forth study year.
-
attend the oral
presentations of the other students.
The main advantage of this kind of industrial
placement is that the students get motivated to their final studies. Their
studies are put in a context. Sometimes, however, especially at the beginning
of their period or in very small enterprises it happens that the company does
not take full advantage of the skill and knowlwdge of the students.
Normally the placements take place in Swedish
enterprises. About 2-3 students ( out of 20 students in Chemical Engineering)
every year get a placement abroad, Germany and Australia being the most popular
countries.