validation of placements of student industrial placements

example of the DIS (Diploma in Industrial Studies, granted by the University of Loughborough)

validation through external accreditation : examples are also to be found in the United Kingdom

Whereas most European Universities follow the first method of validation within the degree, a variety of approaches is found in the United Kingdom. Below we reproduce a table from the EQUIPE publication "Making industrial placements work for you", summarizing the practices for assessing and accrediting industrial placements in engineering in the United Kingdom.

Table 1: Summary of practices for assessing and accrediting industrial placements in engineering in the United Kingdom (source : EQUIPE publication "Making Industrial Placements work for you"

Assessment and Accreditation	Placement is assessed and accredited externally using City & Guilds Licentiateship which emphasises skills development.	Placement is assessed, receiving recognition via the degree certificate. Potential contribution to IPD/ matching section.	Placement is assessed and recognised by a separate award given by the University. Placement year accredited by IMechE as Initial Professional Development (IPD)	Placement is assessed and has potential to contribution to academic matching section / Initial Professional Training.	Placement is enhanced by additional academic study via distance learning and attracts academic credit.
Example from UK Institution	University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, Dept of Chemical and Process Engineering.	University of Bath, Aston University.	Loughborough University’s Diploma in Industrial Studies (DIS), Dept of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering.	Loughborough University DIS operated in the Department of Chemical Engineering.	UMIST Manchester Department of Chemical Engineering.

· European external accreditation

This method is illustrated by the recent Europass Formation system of the European Commission to accredit alternative training programmes including a placement period in a foreign European country.

Europass Formation is not a diploma but an additional European quality label : to be eligible, the corresponding student placements have to meet some quality criteria :

3.4 - Example of validation of student industrial placements at Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'Etat, Lyon

This evaluation scheme is related to a three-month minimum industrial placement (called "stage de mise en situation professionnelle") one year before the final engineering degree . This placement may be carried out through two options :

The validation of this placement for the final degree is based on 4 main points :

Table 2: Evaluation criteria of the "stage de mise en situation professionnelle" at ENTPE Lyon

Assessment	Evaluation Criteria	Weight
Relevance and quality of the productive activity	positioning compared to expectations technical quality of work provided awareness of cost and deadline constraints technical knowledge acquired during the placement	25 %
Quality of observation and analysis	definition of the problem analytical rigour : method, proposals, conclusions positioning with regard to the organisation	25 %
Acquisition of professional skills	autonomy, taking of responsibilities method, organisation, efficiency	20 %
Quality of the written report	clarity of written expression ability to synthesize professional quality of document presentation	15 %
Quality of the oral presentation	Description of the placement context clarity of the presentation and ability to synthesize utilization of audio-visual material attitude to questions; attentive listening	15 %

4) Industrial placement quality assessment surveys

Follow-up surveys are very important to improve the quality of placements. We present below (with more details in the Appendix) some models or examples of industrial placement quality assessments collected by the MESIPA partnership :

An example of an industrial placement follow-up survey by the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (Spain) (detailed in the Case Studies Appendix)

Aims: Evaluation of the correct adjustment of the placement to meet initial training objectives, the involvement of the firm, recruitment opportunities and the further development of industrial placement programmes.

Method: questionnaires sent or presented during the placement (related to the final project work)

a) Example of survey addressed to students regarding their industrial placement :

Table 3: Questionnaire to students developing their final project work in a Company
by the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia

Assess in a scale from 0 to 10, your commitment to the following activities in the Company :
- Planned work	..........
- Work under supervision
- Work on your own initiative (innovation)
Assess in a scale from 0 to 10, the following items :
- General appreciation of project work carried out in the Company
- Level of involvement in the Company from a human point of view
- Level of involvement in the Company from a technical point of view
- Level of development of acquired knowledge during the placement
- Level of achievement of initial objectives
- The design of the project when adjusted to reality
- Appreciation of the industrial tutor with regard to the project work
- Assessment of the follow-up of the project by the University
- Interest in a future career in this Company
- Global appreciation of your stay in this Company
At the end of your final project work, will you be hired by the Company?	YES / NO
At the end of your final project work, will you be hired by another company which has professional links with the placement Company ?	YES / NO
Did you need additional training in other fields different from your specialization for your final project work? If yes, which fields ?	YES / NO

b) Example of survey addressed to the industrial tutors

Table 4: Questionnaire to industrial tutors concerning the placement students
sent by Universidad Politecnica de Valencia

Appreciate in a scale from 0 to 10 the following items :
- Level of theoretical knowledge of the student
- Level of involvement of the student in the Company
- Adaptation of the student to the professional environment
- Interest shown by the student in the practical work
- Level of achievement of initial objectives
- Level of your commitment to the student
- Global appreciation of the student's stay

Do you plan to recruit the student in your Company ?	YES/ NO
Do you plan to recruit new students for a placement ?	YES/ NO
Describe briefly your appreciation of the industrial placement programme .........................................................................................................................................
According to your experience with placement students, which educational aspects should be emphasized ?

An example of assessment of the impact of industrial placements abroad for the Picardie Region (Fr.) by the Association 2APIE Amiens (detailed in the Case Studies Appendix)

Aims: evaluation of the expectations of the different participants (students, universities, companies) with regard to industrial placements abroad, in the light of the results of their placement experiences.

Method: questionnaires, each sent out at 4 different times - at the beginning and at the end of the placement, one year later and two years later

The evaluation criteria were defined jointly by university, companies and student representatives.

Below we reproduce an example of this evaluation regarding the impact of placements abroad on the acquisition of skills, from the point of view of students and companies, at the beginning and at the end of the placement :

% of students and companies expressing the opinion "satisfactory or very satisfactory" on the impact of an international placement on the acquisition of the following skills, at the beginning and at the end of the placement	Beginning of the placement		End of the placement
	Students	Companies	Students	Companies
Adaptability to new situations	73%	66%	100%	93 %
Anticipating difficulties	60%	73 %	80%	87%
Linguistic skills	60%	67%	100%	86%
Basic skills	66%	66%	100%	87%
Technical skills related to the profession	47%	73%	93%	93%
Ability to propose new solutions	55%	80%	80%	100%

^[1] It has to be pointed out that periods in industry cannot be considered as placements when no common follow-up is organized.

1 Various surveys have confirmed this point (e.g. impact on employability for former trainees in the FACE international placement programme).

1 Educational institutions being concerned with striving for excellence

·However, too utilitarian an attitude may be counter-productive

+This attitude is nowadays becoming so widespread that some companies are now considering the placement period as a first employment period with a real contract

Validating student industrial placements

7) The validation issue

4) Industrial placement quality assessment surveys