internship assessment from company supervisor’s viewpoints: a fiveyear experience

School of Engineering | University of MinhoInternship Assessment from Company Supervisor’s viewpoints: a five-year experience

TEEM’15Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality

Internship Assessment from Company Supervisor’s viewpoints: a five-year

experience Isabel M. Brás Pereira, Paulo Silva, M. Teresa Sena Esteves, Margarida M. Ribeiro,

Anabela Guedes, Celina P. Leão, Filomena Soares

Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto | PortugalEscola de Engenharia| Universidade do Minho | Portugal

7 - 9 October 2015, Porto, Portugal




Outline

Introduction

Curricular Internship in Chemical Engineering Graduation (ISEP)

Material and Methodology

Results and Discussion

Final Remarks and Future Work



Introduction Curricular Internship in Chemical Eng. Graduation (ISEP)Material and Methodology Results and DiscussionFinal Remarks

Authors HEI, Country Title Results

Haag, S. et al (2006)

Fulton School of EngineeringArizona, USA

Assessing Engineering Internship Efficacy: Industry's Perception of Student Performance.

• overall satisfaction with engineering internship programs

• students correspond to the industry needs• good professionals working in teams

Omar, M.Z. et al (2008)

Kebangsaar University, Malaysia

Employers’ Evaluation On Attributes Obtained During Industrial Training

• good evaluation from the employers• positive feedback regarding student’s ability to carry

out instructions• negative feedback concerning leadership ability

Martins, M.J. et al (2014)

ISEC, FEUP, Military Academy, Portugal

Collaborative projects involving industry and academia to enhance electrical engineering education

Internship programs allow students:• to be integrated in the industrial environment• to apply the acquired knowledge• to work in a professional team

Alves, A. C. et al (2014)

U.M, Portugal Final year Lean projects: advantages for companies, students and academia

The companies generally benefit in an economic point of view and uncover new challenges and new ideas

Thongleka, S. et al (2013)

King Mongkut’s University of Technology, Australia

Stakeholders’ perspectives of a work-integrated learning program: The Chemical Engineering Practice School

The results highlight the technical competency, English proficiency, and good communication skills of the participant students

Similar studies



To verify (from the companies supervisors’ viewpoints)If students from 1st cycle Chemical Engineering of ISEP have the adequate skills to perform a one semester internship in a company


Main goal of this study

Specific objectives - to identify main difficulties / eases during internship- to assess the importance of the internship for both student and employer





2012/13 2013/14 2014/150

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Total studentsInternships

88%70%

47%

Project/Internship : 1st Cycle Chemical Engineering, last (3rd) yearOptions : engineering project (plant design) or curricular internship

Number of enrolled students and internships

Recent scenario



Internship• 4 to 5 months• 4 days / week• working schedule = to regular employees



4 other coursesmostly evening classes

reports, tests, team works…

Last semester of the study programme

professional commitment

diving in real working life



• Selection of internship working place

- students’ search- CED support (previous partnerships, new contacts, ...)

• Internship theme, plan & general objectives proposal: company

Validation: CED

• Selection of candidates- interview by the “employer”- academic grades- location(...)





• Course outcomes for the student

- development of personal and technical skills in what concerns the work in a real organisation;

- planning work and meeting deadlines;- executing well and in time proposed tasks;- interpreting and discussing results;- applying acquired knowledge;- writing a final report clearly describing the work done and the results obtained.







• Course outcomes for the company

Valuable help in many possible ways- development of specific projects:

o new products research & development;o validation / implementation of new analytical methods;o industrial processes assessment and diagnosis(...)

- collaboration in time consuming activitieso quality management systems developmento information updating

-collaboration in regular activities(...)





• Work supervision and course assessment

Internship follow-up:o tutor in company +

“dedicated” teacher in CED: regular meetings with student; one or more meetings with company tutor

o progress reporto oral intermediate presentation





• Work supervision and course assessment

Final assessmento student’s performance in the company (60%)o written report (25%)o oral presentation and discussion (15%)

10 ECTS in 180 ECTS

QUESTIONNAIRE

Fulfilled by the tutor in the company before the final presentation





• QUESTIONNAIRE

• Complementary information about students’ characterization and companies involved

Five academic years were analysed (2009/10 to 2013/14)





• QUESTIONNAIRE DESCRIPTION

Part 1: identification of student, tutor, company, subject of internship, period and timetable

Part 2: 19 items | 4 groups assessment scale – from 1 (Very poor) to 6 (excellent)

Part 3: two open questions allowing specific remarks and suggestions to ameliorate chemical engineering graduation | courses syllabus





• QUESTIONNAIRE – Part 2

1st group: Student’s characteristics relevant for professional performance1. attendance 2. punctuality3. responsibility4. motivation and commitment5. sense of initiative6. autonomy7. overall performance






2nd group: Technical competences relevant for professional integration 1. knowledge in basic scientific areas2. knowledge in specific areas of engineering3. ability to apply acquired knowledge4. learning skills during the internship5. ability for organizing his/her own work6. ability to synthesis and presentation of results7. oral communication skills






3rd group: Relationship with peers 1. quality of interpersonal relationships with the company supervisor2. quality of interpersonal relationships with the team

4th group: Global internship assessment 3.internship importance in the student academic course4.internship relevance for the company

5. availability of the company to accept the internships from ISEP in the future




• SAMPLE CHARACTERIZATION

102 students

39 companies






102 students


5 academic years





102 students


Gender





102 students


Age




39 companies ...



1st group: Student’s characteristics relevant for professional integration


Results and discussion• Questionnaire results (Part 2)

Item Mean S.D

1.1 Attendance 5.38 0.96

1.2 Punctuality 5.58 0.79

1.3 Responsibility 5.22 0.77

1.4 Motivation and Commitment 5.07 0.82

1.5 Sense of initiative 4.64 0.94

1.6 Autonomy 4.73 0.87

1.7 Overall performance 4.94 0.82



2nd group: Student’s technical competences relevant for professional integration



Item Mean S.D

2.1 Knowledge in basic scientific areas 4.36 0.79

2.2 Knowledge in specific areas of engineering 4.35 0.73

2.3 Ability to apply acquired knowledge 4.58 0.85

2.4 Learning skills during the internship 4.93 0.77

2.5 Ability to organize his/her own work 4.80 0.85

2.6 Ability to synthesis and presentation of results 4.60 0.84

2.7 Oral communication skills 4.64 0.89



3rd group: Student’s relationships with company peers



Item Mean S.D

3.1 Quality of interpersonal relationships with the company supervisor

5.34 0.72

3.2 Quality of interpersonal relationships with the company supervisor

5.30 0.78



4th group: Global internship assessment



Item Mean S.D

3.1 Internship importance in the student academic course 5.21 0.69

3.2 Internship relevance for the company 4.97 0.77

4.3 Availability of the company to accept the internships from ISEP in the future

5.30 0.76




Results and discussion

• Students’ grades analysis

Grades from companies’ supervisors






Final grades in the course Project/Internship






Students final grades of First cycle graduation




Final remarks and future work

• Objective: evaluate students performance in their 1st professional

experience, from the companies’ supervisors view points

•Study covering five academic years

• Students of the 3rd (last) year of 1st cycle in Chemical Engineering

102 students + 39 companies





• Employers give a very good classification to the global performance of

those internship students (mean value of 4.93) and state that this

experience is very useful for their formation (5.21); they show great

availability (5.30) to receive more internship students from ISEP.

• Students also get high scores in learning skills during the internship

(mean value of 4.93), punctuality (5.58), attendance (5.38), and

relationship with peers (5.30) but are not so well classified when

knowledge on specific areas of engineering is considered (4.35).





• The study also shows that about 14% of the considered students were

invited to stay in the company after the internship and that there is a

sustained tendency of the students to choose the curricular internship as

the graduation final work.

• The results of the questionnaires show almost no differences with

statistical significance along the five years.





• As a final conclusion it may be said that students have the adequate skills

to perform a one-semester internship in a company.





• This study is to be continued

• Similar questionnaires are already prepared to collect students

perceptions about their internships




Thank you

Isabel M. Brás Pereira, Paulo Silva, M. Teresa Sena Esteves, Margarida M. Ribeiro, Anabela Guedes, Celina P. Leão, Filomena Soares

Corresponding Author: [email protected]

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors thank the Research Centre CIETI (Centro de Inovação em Engenharia e Tecnologia Industrial) and FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia in the scope of the project OE/EEI/UI0319/2013 for all the support provided.

7 - 9 October 2015, Porto, Portugal

internship assessment from company supervisor’s viewpoints: a fiveyear experience

Education