and refinement before thesurveys were sent out to the recipients. Having the surveys ready sooner would likely lead to ahigher response rate and would provide students the opportunity to reflect on their experiencewhile it is still fresh in their mind. Future surveys should also look to remove questions that showed little to no correlationto the success of the externship. Shorter surveys encourage a faster response rate and preventfrustration from students feeling like they have answered the same question in multiple manners.This would also make room for researchers to add other questions to find other correlations tosuccess of the experiences. Further research should include surveys of the externship sponsors to gain
experience: Factoring in pre-work academic performance,” Journal of Engineering Education,97(2), 207-212.14 Fiori, C. and Pearce, A. (2009). Improving the Internship Experience: Creating a Win-Win for Students, Industryand Faculty. Construction Research Congress 2009: pp. 1398-1408.15 Tener, R.K. (1996). “Industry-University Partnerships for Construction Engineering Education.” Journal ofProfessional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, 122(4), 156-162.16 Fiori, C. and Pearce, A. (2009), op cit.17 Venkatesh, M., Small. R.V., and Marsden, J. (2003). Learning in Community, Reflections on Practice, KluwerAcademic Publishers, Dordrecht: The Netherlands.18 Venkatesh, M., Small. R.V., and Marsden, J. (2003). op cit.19 Venkatesh, M
tongue and this follow-up process enables skills to be transferred and applied in a secondlanguage.The second Web 2.0 technology examined is “e-portfolio”. Again, in conjunction with courses in theirnative language, students are required to create their own online portfolio in English using the portfolioplatform Mahara, complete with their résumé, covering letters, details of projects, other academicachievements and any other miscellaneous data relevant to successfully gaining employment as agraduate engineer. The group structure of the platform allows for both instructor and peer assessment,as well as self reflection for students post submission. This exercise also demonstrates interculturaldifferences within the EU, and also between EU
ways to prepare for obtaining acompetitive first co-op assignment. What experiences can a student engage in before obtainingthat first co-op that will begin to build work self-efficacy? The answer to this question couldalso benefit those at engineering schools with less developed co-op programs.AcknowledgementsThis material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under GrantGSE 0827490. The researchers wish to express their gratitude for the support of this project. Anyopinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those ofthe authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.References1 Raelin, J. A., Bailey, M. B., Hamann, J., Pendleton, L. K
given a homework assignment but have basically created their own homework and then executed on it [because] to some extent, that’s what we do in the work world.From a management perspective, a project-based learning curriculum is an asset to employers:A project-based learning curriculum makes recruitment, training, integration, and advancementof employees easier for employers. Every employer who had been aware that WPI had a project-based learning curriculum or required students to complete at least one project or team-basedactivity identified experience doing project work—in and of itself—as a reason to hire graduates.Their positions were reflected in the statement of one employer who said that completing aproject in the context of a
whenplaced within the context that considers the professor’s specific objectives, the complexity ofthe subject matter, the physical setting of the classroom, and the capabilities of the learners.The challenge is to choose a suitable method at the appropriate time. Understanding the prosand cons of the lecture method is a helpful starting point.Lectures have a number of characteristics that does make them, for the right subject matter,desirable in the classroom (14) .It does, to a great extent, depend on the abilities andexperience of the lecturer. An able and committed lecturer can accomplish the following: 1. Relate the material proficiently and effectively, in a manner that reflects lecturer’s personal conviction and grasp of the subject
involve these things. In reflecting on their classroom experiences, the majority of the students found thecoursework helpful because it enhanced their theoretical knowledge in electrical engineering. Afew talked about how, at the time they took a course, they thought the knowledge taught was Page 15.545.5useless, but also how they eventually found it useful. Problem-solving was one way to ascertainthe value of the knowledge learned in the classroom. As David replied when asked whethersolving well-structured problems helped him with ill-structured problems: “You’re not going tosolve a circuit for the customer or get any of your work done
. Understanding the pros and cons of the lecture method is a helpfulstarting point.Lectures have a number of characteristics that does make them, for the right subject matter,desirable in the classroom (14) .It does, to a great extent, depend on the abilities and experience ofthe lecturer. An able and committed lecturer can accomplish the following: 1. Relate the material proficiently and effectively, in a manner that reflects lecturer’s personal conviction and grasp of the subject matter; 2. Provide students with a thoughtful, scholarly role model to emulate; 3. Supplement the subject matter with current developments not yet published, or interject lecturer’s own views derived from his/her own experience whenever applicable; 4