Industrial Training in Education. Towards an International Approach
in Engineering Curricula
Urbano Domínguez 1, Jesús Magdaleno 2
1
University of Valladolid, Spain
udg@uva.es
2
magdal@uva.es
Abstract
Students’ placements for practical industrial training in
companies play a fundamental role in the education of XXI
century engineers acting on a global and competitive
environment. Within this context, under the term “industries”
it should be understood not only societies but also public
bodies, co-operatives, NGO’s and other organisations.
Industrial training stages can provide the students with a real
and direct knowledge on their future work and also constitute
the best means to put into practice the knowledge acquired at
the University, which will be applied to specific projects and
programs at the company they are in. In those activities the
students are trained in tasks such as the integration in working
teams, fulfilment of specific objectives within predetermined
deadlines, assumption of personal responsibilities, contact
with business administration, etc., topics which are not usually
covered by academic education.
The way these placements are tackled is very different from
one university to another: For some of them, they are a
compulsory requirement for graduation, whereas for others do
not even appear as an optional subject in engineering
curricula. Even for those considering this topic as essential,
the way in which training activities are considered and the
operating scenarios show deep differences from country to
country.
This work, after analysing the main characteristics of practical
stages in engineering education and considering the
advantages they imply for all the involved groups –
companies, universities and students-, will try to define a
common base for them in the education of a really global
Engineer. This base will also contribute to build up the
European Higher Education Space along the guidelines
defined by the Bologna Declaration and ease students´
mobility.
In this respect the specific multinational/
multicultural component is an added value to the educational
process.
The analysis points out both the feasibility of implementing
industrial placement activities following common criteria
agreed within the European Union and the need for defining
normative and evaluation procedures analogue to those
existing for the rest of the subjects in engineering curricula.
Finally, the necessity of an institutional effort on the European
Union´ s side is also remarked. This effort should be
accompanied by a flow of financial resources required to
solve present difficulties and shorten periods for full
implementation of the changes required.
Keywords: Practical industrial training,
engineering curricula, internationalization.
innovative
1 Introduction
In the context of this paper, practical industrial training
activities are defined as periods in engineering education
outside the University geographical space oriented towards
providing the students with knowledge, abilities and aptitudes
not easily obtained at class- rooms and carried out while they
provide some services to the industries implied in the
educational process.
"Practical" and "industrial" terms must be understood here in
a broad sense. By practical activities is meant those
educational tasks, which can be carried out without requiring
more theoretical knowledge over that already gained by the
student at the moment the practical stage is initiated. On the
other hand, industrial refers here to any organised human
group implied on the production of goods or supplying
services. In this sense, the term industry includes public or
private manufacturing or services firms but also public
administrations, co- operatives, trade unions, ONG´s,
foundations and other collectives.
Industrial training play a fundamental role in the education of
XXI century engineers acting on a global and competitive
environment. Many authors involved in engineering education
have been working on this issue for many years; some recent
contributions can be seen for instance at [1], [8], and [10- 12]
Industrial training stages can provide the students with a real
and direct knowledge on their future work and also constitute
the best means to put into practice the knowledge acquired at
the University, which will be applied to specific projects and
programmes at the company they are in. In those internships
the students are trained in tasks such as the integration in
working teams, fulfilment of specific objectives within
predetermined
deadlines,
assumption
of
personal
responsibilities, contact with business administration, etc.,
topics which are not usually covered by academic education.
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162
2 Some features of industrial training
Among the main characteristics of practical industrial training
in higher education can be remarked the following ones:
•
It is a part of the student educational process and it must
be assessed with reference to its contents, methodology
and results.
•
It must be fully integrated in the curricula.
•
It must report benefits to all those involved: universities,
industries and students.
•
It implies subjects and activities not easily carried out at
the University centres.
needs and they can tune curricula to improve the quality
of the education provided to the students.
To get the best for the student in industrial training activities
they should be planned at the right stage in the educational
process leading to the Engineering Degree. On the other hand,
the formative aims associated to them have to be related with
the rest of processes taking place within the University walls.
To have this system working properly at improving the quality
of Engineering education is necessary to incorporate an
academic tutor with specific duties.
Lecturers tutoring or in other sense implied on industrial
training activities can also benefit from them in several forms
[9]:
If these are the common features to be requested to industrial
training many of the activities receiving that name today are
not such since they do not fulfil one or several of the
requirements. Very often they do not take into account the
first and the second points. Sometimes the only part receiving
a clear benefit is the industry while it is harder to find out the
returns to the university or even to the student, who is
supposed to be the main actor in the process.
•
Programming and tutoring those activities put them in
touch with professional life.
•
When relating lectures to industrial training they feel
moved to modify pedagogical methods. In this respect
active learning, where personal implication and
experimentation are essentials, is clearly favoured in front
of traditional methods.
These kind of malfunctioning can be found especially where
the University pays attention mainly to the administrative part
of the process without taking into account its educational
nature and when the academic tutor does not play in it any
significant role.
•
They receive an stimulus for updating contents of lectures
when trying to get them closer to the requirements asked
for the students implied in industrial training.
•
From a personal point of view they change their
relationship with students by having a closer contact as
required by a learning- teaching process with more
specific demands from the students´ side.
3 Industrial training and quality in education
Industrial training can have a very positive influence on the
quality of engineering education when properly carried out
and adequately supervised as it has been pointed out by
Zabalza[14]
Practical industrial training activities allow:
•
Approaching students to real industrial life, providing
them with knowledge on group dynamics, management
stiles, and business culture.
•
They provide to students with experience on how to act in
working communities and gaining on social skills,
necessary for their future work as Engineers.
•
Relate student´ s academic knowledge to practical
problems. In that way they learn how to apply theoretical
education to real problem solving. On the other hand,
and specially in Engineering education the students can
find in industries practical resources and machines in
operation which could not be easily found at many
Universities.
•
They also connect industries to universities by providing
new links, common activities and common
responsibilities in the educational process. Through these
contacts Universities get a better insight of industry´ s
Since industrial training has a positive influence on the
educational process some kind of value should be attached to
the activity when assessing the quality. The Spanish Ministry
of Education considers an index of quality in higher education
measured by relating credits implied on industrial training
with the that activity with the total number of credits allocated
to any activity of a practical nature [15].
On the other hand, contacts between University and industry
through industrial training activities are also recommended in
some integrated proposals of engineering education (see for
instance [1]).
4 The situation of industrial training in Spain
A review of Engineering education in Spain has been carried
out elsewhere [3] and an analysis of the situation of industrial
training in this country can be seen at [5].
Higher education in Spain is carried out at Universities,
structured in Faculties, Higher Schools and University
Schools. The number of Higher Education students in Spain
has increased from about 170,000 students in 1960 to a
million and a half in year 2000. Relatively speaking, Spain is
the second European country in number of students for every
100,000 inhabitants, after Finland.
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In Spain there are around 65 Universities, and about 20% of
them are privately owned some by Church organisations.
Universities are autonomous institutions, and higher education
matters are under the regional governments´ rule although
there is a common framework defined by the central
government.
A Decree issued in by the central government in 1987 [18], on
Common regulations for University Degrees valid all over the
Spanish territory, defined a new framework for Higher
Education. In the old system almost all the subjects were
compulsory and the study programmes were substantially
equal for all the Faculties/ Schools issuing the same Degree at
different Universities. Under the new regulations some
flexibility in the curricula was introduced once the common
core, the so called trunk subjects covering around 50 to 60 %
of the credits, was guaranteed. The credit corresponds to 10
lecture hours or equivalent practical/ laboratory load.
Each University is allowed to organise the rest of the study
programme and a part of it is to be defined by the student as
optional. The Universities should submit new curricula or
modifications of the existing ones to the Council of
Universities for approval.
Higher education is structured in three cycles, each one with
a minimum number of credits. Study programmes may be
short- cycle degree courses (3 years, covering a minimum of
180 credits) leading to the award of a Diploma or a Technical
Engineering Degree, and long- cycle degree courses (usually 5
years with a minimum of 300 credits) leading to the award of
a degree of Licenciate, Architect or Engineer. Doctorate or
third-cycle studies require 36 credits over a period of 2 years
before carrying out the thesis.
Engineering education is organised as a parallel two first
cycles system: Engineer (nominally 5 years) and Technical
Engineer (usually lasting 3 years). Mean duration of studies
up to graduation is about 40% higher the quoted values and
there is a quite high drop- out rate. Entry requirements are the
same for both long and short Degrees, but Technical
Engineering studies have quota reserved for students coming
from Professional Education different from "Bachillerato".
Graduated Technical Engineers could enter at the 4th of
Engineer in the same field of Engineer curricula in limited
percentages granting places only to those with the best marks.
Industrial training is not compulsory in Engineering Degrees
in Spain, and it is not included in the list of the so called trunk
subjects which conform the common core required to them to
be accepted all over Spain. In general, industrial training is
carried out on a voluntary basis with regard to all the sectors
implied, students, lecturers, universities and industries, since
no compensation are provided to them with a general
character (see [4], [7] and [9]).
In most of Spanish Universities, industrial training is
recognised to students only as a free option subject, a figure
mainly intended to allow them looking for a complementary
education on fields different from those giving sense and
name to the Engineering Degree. In this way only a limited
number of credits usually less than six (equivalent to 60
lecture hours) can be allocated to industrial training and the
compensation obtained by the student decreases when the
length of the practical period increases.
Some universities prefer referring the period of stage at
industries to the final project period so that the student has a
broader view of his field of study by the time the industrial
training starts. However, this approach has the disadvantage
that no feed- back is incorporated to his education; i.e. the
industrial training is a final activity at the end of the
educational process and no outcomes from this activity can be
used to benefit in further activities at the University. In spite
of that, or perhaps because of it, industries usually prefer
taking students for placements in situations as near as possible
to their graduation so they can be made responsible for some
specific tasks which could provide some returns to the
industry.
Another experience related to industrial training has begun to
operate a couple of years ago in some Universities of Castile
and Leon by which staff from industries are involved in
formal engineering education. That staff holds contracts at the
University as Associated Lecturers on a part- time basis
devoting six hours per week to educational activities carried
out mainly at the industry although also may involve some
activities at the University premises. They are mainly
responsible on practical or project- related tasks addressed to
small groups of students.
This programme is a very positive experience that foments the
relation with the companies, their collaboration in the
educational objectives definition and the assessment the skills
acquired according to needs of the employers.
Industrial training do not receive in Spain any economic
compensation from public budgets with the exception of the
above referred experience and the so called alternative
practices covering industrial placement of only a small
number of students usually during summer holidays over 4 to
6 weeks. In these practices industries, universities and
students receive some money during the period the stage of
students at industries takes place.
Depending on the specific nature of the industrial training and
also on the interest of the Universities, some of this practical
training can provide some compensation from the industry to
the students. This is quite common when the student has to be
at the industry all the day over a period of several months.
5 Industrial training in the European Union
The situation on this field is very different from country to
country over Europe. According to a review carried out by the
Socrates Thematic Network Higher Engineering Education in
Europe (H3E) [13], in about half the countries reviewed a
period of compulsory practical training is required to obtain
an Engineering Degree either in short or in long cycle studies.
This period is independent of other practical periods
requested to Graduates by Engineering Councils and
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Associations before granting them membership. In general
compulsory industrial training activities are more common in
Northern and Central European countries that in the South
[13] and [16].
Also when industrial training is compulsory the contents and
nature of the practical stage may be very different. In some
cases that period may cover a full semester and there are
countries providing public economic support to the student
while at the industry. Also some Universities provide places
to their students for industrial training while in others these
should look by themselves where to carry out the practical
period.
As for the assessment of these activities there are not clear
rules similar to those used to evaluate other subjects taught
directly by Universities. Very often a kind of pass mark is
granted without a quantitative evaluation graded according to
the results obtained by each student. If industrial training is to
be extended and generalised in the European Union the
assessment system should be carefully designed to guarantee
that proper results are achieved by the student in the training
period.
A discussion on the issue of assessment by using external as
well as internal references, which can be applied to industrial
training can be seen at [6]. Some of the points there outlined
can be taken as a first step for defining an assessment system
useful for industrial training.
Looking to abilities such as leadership, team working,
communication, etc. so called soft or personal skills play
every day a more important role in shaping engineering
curricula when related to their outcomes.
The document on Engineering Core Curricula now under
discussion within the Socrates Thematic Network Enhancing
Engineering Education in Europe (E4) [2], enumerates the
personal requirements for Bachelor Engineering Degrees.
According to it he graduates should be able to:
•
communicate information, ideas, problems, and solutions
to both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
•
adapt himself to a changing technology and new
techniques as part of a life long learning process.
•
function efficiently in project groups and teamwork.
•
understand the interaction process between people
working in teams, and be able to adapt himself to the
requirements of his working environment.
•
display an understanding of the influence of engineering
activity on all life and the environment, and demonstrate
a high moral and ethical approach to engineering tasks.
•
apply his learning ability to undertake appropriate further
training of a professional or academic nature
•
evaluate arguments critically, assumptions, abstract
concepts and data, in order to make judgements and to
contribute to the solution of complex issues in a creative
process
•
show an appreciation of the uncertainty, ambiguity and
limitations of knowledge
Another document on output standards produced by The
Engineering Professor´ s Council of Great Britain [17], also
lists several of the social skills among the most- valued
attributes of engineering graduates according to the opinion of
the employers.
This kind of abilities can be more easily acquired by industrial
training rather than by formal University education even in the
cases when it incorporates innovations such as project- based
learning.
Benefits of industrial training can be increased by adding an
intercultural component as it is the case of internships carried
out in foreign countries. A good example of this is the
Leonardo programme for EU students about or just after
graduating who follow a period of training at different jobs
and in the case of engineering students is carried out mainly at
factories. However, this programme only benefits to a rather
small number of students, far less than in the case of the
Socrates programme, which has been proved decisive in the
configuration of the European Higher Education Space.
6 Towards compulsory industrial training as a
pre- requisite to Engineering Degrees
This section relates to Curricula in which industrial training is
not required for getting a Degree in Engineering. There are
three different situations to be considered, although they are
not consequent steps to be followed when introducing
industrial training in curricula.
a) Industrial training with no academic recognition.
It is the answer to an old conception of industrial training
activities which relate them to improving the employment
opportunities for the student although without having a
significant contribution to the educational process. To
overcome the problem industrial training should first be
academically acknowledged and then the case will be one of
the b) or c) following.
b) Industrial training as an optional subject.
As stated above, in Spanish curricula this training can be
considered either as an optional subject incorporated to the
Degree or as a free option subject chosen by the student. In
these cases the Universities/ Centres already have contacts
with a significant number of industries and a system of
management of these activities is already established.
Then the main difficulty for introduce industrial training as a
compulsory subject will probably be to increase the number of
industries implied so that a training place can be offered to
any student before graduation. For that to be achieved the
Universities must offer additional incentives to industries
which will become interested in acting in the process.
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Personal direct contacts with industries through lecturers
implied can be efficient in this change and then the number of
active lecturers has to be increased in this move. Also, some
kind of financial or tax incentives established by governments
in favour of industries co- operating in industrial training as
stated below in this section.
of any other academic activity. To evaluate this effort the
following items should be considered:
Once the number of places offered in training is high enough
so to satisfy the existing demand by students and a proper
tutoring system has been established for assessing the activity,
the industrial training can be incorporated as a compulsory
subject, moving then to case c).
c) Industrial training as a pre- requisite for an Engineering
Degree.
This may be the last stage of a process started at a) or it may
be the first step for introducing industrial training activities in
the curricula.
These activities should have a number of ECTS credits related
to their importance in Engineering education along the lines
quoted above and related to the time planned to be carried
out. According to these requirements, it is considered that a
minimum of 15 ECTS credits should be allocated to industrial
training in every Engineering curricula.
6.1
Incentives for
industrial training
introducing
or
extending
For a good running of these activities, some incentives should
be established for any of the implied agents: industries,
lecturers and students.
Industries.
If there are not enough offers from industry of places for
students, as is the common case in Spain, establishing
adequate stimulus for the former should be a priority.
According to the philosophy and operative principles of
industries the incentives should be mainly of a type financial
or fiscal. Tax rebates may be as efficient in promoting
industrial trainingships for students as direct money supplied
to industries from public funds.
On the other hand, in public administrations or in some cooperatives the technical assistance provided by the student on
training could be better valued than any kind of economic
return.
Lecturers.
Probably this is the aspect requiring a stronger action to
improve industrial training activities when trying to overcome
situations in which the academic tutor plays a role purely
nominal and passive. In these cases there is not a proper
follow up and assessment of the educational side of the
process and the results tend to be very poor.
Once adequate procedures have been established for actively
implicating lecturers on industrial training the time and effort
devoted by them should be acknowledged on the same basis
•
Time devoted to contact industries and external tutors.
•
Time used in the following up of the students tutored,
including going to the site where they are placed.
•
Time required for proper check and assessment of
students´ progress and final results.
Students.
The main incentive for students will be to have a proper
recognition in the curricula of the time spent in industrial
training.
Extending this period longer than the minimum required in the
curricula could be valued by some additional credits although
without cutting possibilities if they exist for incorporating
non- engineering subjects in the educational process.
However the main return for the students will be the
educational turnover from industrial training they receive if it
is properly managed. So the Universities should watch
specially the educational aspects of the process to verify that
students are really under training and are not used instead as
cheap hand labour.
7 A common ground for industrial training in
the European Union
If there is a common understanding within the European
Union on the benefits provided to Engineering education by
industrial training, and if they are already incorporated or are
on the way to be incorporated to the curricula, some
discussion should take place to harmonise the process along
the guidelines of the European Space of Higher Education.
We are currently in the process of reshaping Higher Education
Curricula to put them on line with the Bologna Declaration.
While the debate on contents and competences is going on
and a core of requirements to Engineering degrees is
beginning to emerge, a common position on industrial
training in Europe can be put forward to be implemented in
the new curricula.
If there is not an agreement on how to do this, a debate on the
issue should take place as soon as possible and this
Conference may be an initial forum for it. The contents,
procedures, assessment methods and the length of the
practical stage should be agreed to provide industrial training
with a clear recognition all over Europe.
Institutional assistance from the European Union should be
provided to ease the process of introducing industrial training
as a common requirement to all European Engineering
Degrees. This help could come in several different ways:
•
Extending the Leonardo programme so to cover a higher
number of students that at present and introducing some
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assessment of result with information provided by all the
sectors implied.
•
•
Providing financial assistance to multinational industrial
training experiences and programmes aimed at unifying
criteria and methods.
Promoting open forums to industries, lecturers and
students´ s association for discussing on industrial
training on minimum common basis in European
engineering curricula.
The length of the stages should be enough to fulfil the
educational aims fixed. Perhaps a minimum of 15/ 20 ECTs
credits, equivalent to 2 or 3 months of full time industrial
training could be set in an initial move towards generalising it
in Engineering curricula.
The assessment system to be established ought to take into
account two principal points:
•
Active role of the academic tutor as responsible for the
feedback of results into the educational system.
•
Continuous contact between academic and industrial
tutors during the period of the stage of students.
As for the assessment procedures each University has to care
for them in order to evaluating industrial training of students
with similar guarantees to those existing for the rest of
academic subjects.
Finally, the activities offered by industries to students and the
way in which industrial training is really carried out should be
carefully watched not only bay academic tutors but also by an
appropriate body at the universities to guarantee a real
educational benefit to the students involved.
8 Conclusion
Defining an international common basis for industrial training
will clearly improve employability of graduates in a global job
market.
This paper calls for a debate among industries, universities
and students for establishing a minimum period of industrial
training as a pre- requisite for Engineering Degrees and
defining common guidelines on contents, procedures,
assessment methods.
Finally, the necessity of an institutional effort on the European
Union´ s side is also remarked. This effort should be
accompanied by a flow of financial resources required to
solve present difficulties and shorten periods for full
implementation of the changes required.
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U. Domínguez
Professor in Mechanical Engineering. His field
of work is machine design and renewable
energies and he is also interested in
internationalization of engineering education.
J. Magdaleno
Industrial Engineer. Lecturer at the
Polytechnic School of the University of
Valladolid from 1989 where he is Deputy
Assistant Director since 2000.
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