Industrial work placement in Higher Education: a study of civil engineering student engagement

Stuart Tennant, Mike Murray, Bob Gilmour, Linda Brown

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)
121 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

For civil engineering undergraduates, the opportunity to spend a period of time in formal industrial work placement provides an invaluable learning experience. This paper reviews student engagement with short-term industrial placement and provides analysis of questionnaires (n=174) returned by undergraduates studying civil engineering at four Higher Education Institutes (HEI’s) in the West of Scotland. The data captures industrial placement statistics, employability skill-sets and presents brief testimonies from students. Whilst the journey to becoming a professional civil engineer is undoubtedly enhanced by short-term placement clear opportunities exist for HEI’s to affect and change existing pedagogical discourse. Commentary is likely to resonate beyond civil engineering and serve as a timely reminder of the need to re-invigorate academia / industry curriculum partnerships.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-11
Number of pages11
JournalIndustry and Higher Education
Volume32
Issue number2
Early online date19 Mar 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2018

Keywords

  • Industrial Placement
  • Engineering Education
  • Civil Engineering

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