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The EQUIPE publication, "Making industrial placements work for you", states the following good reasons to assess and accredit industrial placements :
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Good reasons for assessing and accrediting industrial placements ref. EQUIPE project(Educational Quality in Placements in Engineering)
- it encourages students to develop - it allows feedback to be given so that students can improve - it motivates students to learn from their experience in industry - students are encouraged to reflect on their work and how it relates to academic studies - student's achievements can gain formal recognition - it helps students and employers to discuss and to agree on realistic goals for the placement |
The assessment of social systems in relation to user expectations should not be confused with physical measurement, where problems are reduced to the way you use the tools (give me a thermometer and I will give you the temperature).
In the present case, assessment remains a more or less subjective issue, which has to be related to specific observers.
2.1 - The participants in the assessment
· Identification of the observers
A first step in the setting-up of an evaluation process is to identify the observers, who will be the cornerstones of the whole process.
Evaluation is often seen - with good reason - as a kind of objective measurement. Although a well managed evaluation should always give reliable results, evaluation is always relative to a "set" or to a "class" of observers, each with their own expectations.
In the present case three (indeed 3+1) observers may be identified
· The corporate entity which provides the physical and human environment for the placement
· The academic institution itself, which retains ultimate responsibility, and which needs evaluation to improve its own management
· The students, who know that placements are a crucial phase in their education
To which one could add financing bodies or national authorities having the responsibility to check on the efficient use of public resources.
· The specific position of each observer
To express it in a simple way, each observer may be considered as a user1 of the placements, having his own expectations and methods of judgment.
The setting up of an evaluation scheme has to follow different phases
- identification of main expectations (so-called main axis for the system of reference)
- identification of criteria, which will be used to measure the level of achievement
- procedural instructions for the use of the criteria, and the preparation of the final report
- a corrective process to adjust the basic system of reference and criteria according to first results (if necessary).
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Expectations may vary, but they often overlap
· Various types of indicators (or criteria)
There are different types of indicators (also termed criteria), among them at least two categories.
· Indicators of conformity
In some cases the question is to ensure conformity to a fixed value, or the reality of a procedure. Example:
- Was a letter sent to the company to confirm the date of the trainee's arrival?
- Did the selection of candidates proceed according to the firm's expectations?
· Indicators of performance
In other cases the indicators measure a level of achievement, a higher level being notionally better.
· Indicators of description
Such indicators may be used simply as a description, or may be interpreted in a second phase. They may refer to a closed set of values, to a scale or to an open description.
· Quality and evaluation
It will appear in the follow-up of the process that evaluation resembles a quality management process quite closely. It should be stressed that part of the evaluation process will be run to provide information
- to make any necessary adjustments (steering the process)
- to ensure a higher level of satisfaction among users (upgrade policy if necessary)
For this reason efforts spent to set up an evaluation procedure may be considered as a specific area of quality policy.
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The word quality has various meanings for the academic world, which may lead to some misunderstandings: - at a first level quality is understood as a vague idea to do better in reference to an absolute scale of achievements - at a second level quality is linked to a level of satisfaction of a user (or of a customer) - at a third level quality is associated with the wish to gain external recognition of internal efforts These three dimensions are not fully compatible. There is, for example, a trend in the academic world to translate quality into a pure search for excellence regardless of the expectations of the various users. There is also a temptation to put an emphasis on signs of quality (external recognition) and to forget the ultimate aim to satisfy the user. In all cases assessment tools are needed to obtain more than mere impressions. |
· A fourth potential participant in the assessment : an external body
To face the challenge of quality in education (ensuring and improving quality) the different European countries are implementing quality evaluation systems, often developed by newly created evaluation agencies or accrediting bodies. This movement is likely to expand in the near future and will also concern the field of university-industry cooperation.
2.2 - The expectations of the various participants
· Five basic concerns for academic institutions
Academic institutions have five main concerns with regard to placements
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1)to ensure an efficient organization of the process |
- in the process of matching supply and demand - in the logistical aspects (insurance, accommodation, etc.) |
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2) to check the "quality" of the placement and its coherence with educational policy |
- match with educational objectives - reality of tutoring and follow-up within the company - reality of tutoring within the academic institution |
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3)to assess the student |
- to give a mark, which will go into the academic file and contribute to the granting of a degree - to collect elements on student's attitude and efficiency, which will be useful for him before the jump into professional life |
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4)to take advantage of the placement to establish a fruitful relationship with the corporate world |
- to establish links with corporate partners based on trust - to share tutoring of an engineering student in a crucial phase of his education - to get feedback from the professional world on the academic institution's training programmes and methods - to develop long-term and wider collaboration with the corporate partners (cooperative programme, research, technology transfer) |
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5) developing an international dimension in the case of placements abroad |
- by answering students' mobility expectations - by extending a network of international partnerships |
· Six major concerns for corporate firms
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1) Efficient organization |
- the transmission of proposals - the selection of candidates - the organization of the stay both in practical terms and on issues concerning education |
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2) An acceptable cost-benefit ratio |
- the trainee being considered as an economically attractive member of the work-force (low cost-high efficiency). · - the trainee being considered as a valuable resource to explore aspects that permanent staff does not have time to work on (not part of day-to-day priorities) - indirectly, by considering the impact on recruitment and on the image of the firm within the academic world |
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3) To ensure a positive outcome to the placement |
Achievement of educational and professional objectives of the placement
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4) To prepare for potential recruitment ( by testing expertise, potential, personal abilities, capacity to join the team)+ |
- of the trainee himself, with the advantage of making a judgment in a real situation - of other graduates, through relationships of trust with the engineering institution. |
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5) To foster a positive image of the company in the academic world |
Mainly for recruitments reasons, companies now wish to maintain a good relationship with academic institutions. |
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6) To develop an international dimension by receiving foreign trainees |
- for international recruitment purposes - for future commercial exchanges - for image purposes |
· Five major concerns for the students
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1)to meet expectations of academic institution |
- to achieve good placement results and get their degree |
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2)to be relieved of main practical problems |
- guidance to establish contacts with firms - information on the rules of the game (placement rules, how to present a report) - good material conditions |
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3)to have the opportunity to gain actual professional experience |
- to confirm or increase their employability - to test their own professional skills and affinities |
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4)to get a better knowledge of themselves (by being associated with the evaluation process) |
- to orient their future career |
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5) to include an international dimension in their curriculum through a placement abroad |
- to increase their employability - to prepare for international mobility opportunities |
2.3 - Collateral advantages
· Networking
Industrial placements may become an opportunity to build up an industrial network or even a mixed academic-corporate network, such as in the European programmes
· Communication and image
Placements are an activity which develops outside the institution, and which offers firms a opportunity to see at first hand what a graduate of a given university can do. For this reason the placement policy and its outcome are integral to communication policy.
· Policy of quality
Placements increasingly appear as the climax of the educational process. The quality of the placement policy is a cornerstone in the overall quality of the institution.
· Identification of obstacles, strategy
Placements provide first-hand information on the match between young graduates and jobs opportunities. Academic institutions may analyze this information and make the necessary adjustments to their strategy
· A global view of the assessment process
Of course, the interests and expectations of the different participants are linked. Meeting one’s own expectations also means conforming to the other participants’ expectations. Each one is simultaneously the observer and the observed.
- A successful placement for a student will depend on his education institution, the firm that receives him and his own capacities and motivation.
3.1 - An opportunity to build a partnership
The organization of a placement represents a unique occasion for academic institutions, corporate entities and students to be associated in a activity aimed at the education of young graduates.
The efficiency of the process nevertheless requires actual cooperation, so that the academic institution, the company and the student feel they are involved in a real partnership, even if the main responsibility to manage the process - and this partnership - lies with the academic institution. Given these basic principles, a placement requires careful
- organization
- monitoring
- assessment
and the will to make policy adjustments if necessary
It has to be stressed that success depends on creating a climate of confidence.
3.2 - The degree of formalization required
The above-mentioned cooperation may be managed quite informally, or written down in an explicit framework.
An explicit framework may work better, ensuring correct information is provided to all concerned. It can take the form of Charters or agreements, making as clear as possible
- the aims of the process
- basic facts
- rules to be observed
- assessment procedures
- the status of information produced
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It seems better to formulate assessment procedures in a set of agreements or charters.
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3.3 - Setting up charters to make rules explicit
Assessment should be managed by the three partners, but students will take a more passive role.
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The process meets three main objectives
· Good management is based on a serious internal assessment
This principle can also be expressed as the importance of reporting
It will be based on a check list referring to procedural documents.
· The overall quality of the process relies more on an external assessment, including a view on the perceptions of other participants
· Special attention should be paid to the assessment of the trainee, who should be taught basic elements of self-assessment.
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These assessments will be used · To check the appropriateness and efficiency of procedures · to check the perception of other partners - students - corporation or institutions · To redefine policy · to redefine strategy |
