A non-placement authentic simulated work integrated learning project for final year students

Authors

Keywords:

WIL, employability, journal

Abstract

Work experience is generally considered to be the best way to develop employability, but currently there are too few work placements to meet demand of engineering graduates. Non-placement authentic work integrated learning (WIL) is an alternative but there is very little research to show if learning outcomes are equivalent to real work experience. This paper describes an innovative approach to WIL for final year chemical engineering students. The perceptions of students who have undertaken a work placement are compared with those who participated in an on-campus authentic simulated work placement. The WIL module used a real project from a local STEM company, with rich complex resources. Students were co-supervised by the author and an engineer from the company on the project. The WIL module participants also participated in a variety of bespoke workshops targeted at critical skills. Initially the WIL students rated themselves significantly lower on a work readiness, but the deficit was overcome after completing the WIL module. This paper suggests that an authentic simulated WIL project is as effective as work experience in increasing students’ confidence in their work readiness. Further, it discusses the impact on perceptions of work readiness of work experience students who reflected on work issues during their placement.

Author Biography

Margaret C. Jollands, RMIT University

Associate Professor Jollands is Director of the Science Health and Engineering Education Research (SHEER) Centre in the College of Science Engineering and Health and a senior academic in the School of Engineering at RMIT University. She has extensive teaching and research experience. Prior to joining RMIT in 1996, she worked for Dow Chemical in Germany for 5 years as a materials engineer. She recenlt led a multi-institution multi-disciplinary Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) commissioned project on Developing graduate employability through partnerships with industry and professional associations. Her research interests include the work readiness of graduates, project based learning, and how students learn about sustainability. She has a strong track record of publications in teaching and learning. She has a national reputation in the field of research in engineering education, winning the prestigious Australian Council of Engineering Deans National Award for Engineering Education Excellence in 2011.

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Published

2017-08-21