Högskolan i Skövde

Work-based learning (WBL) in higher education presents both opportunities and challenges through a flexible curriculum provision (Costley, 2011). This paper explores didactic dilemmas encountered in the evaluation process in engineering education and how adjustments to the WBL model can improve both student learning outcomes and company engagement.

The study consisted of two implementation phases, each testing different approaches to WBL within an engineering programme. The first phase employed a trainee model where students participated in a six-week trainee period, spending one to two days per week at a manufacturing company. All students were assigned the same general task, despite being placed at different companies. To accommodate variation in company needs, the assignment included flexible options, allowing students to focus on what they deemed most relevant. However, this approach led to misalignment between company expectations and student work, which in turn led to difficult assessments of the students’ performance. Some companies believed students should have prioritised different tasks, and some of the students felt the need to undertake two separate projects – one fulfilling university learning objectives and another meeting company expectations.

Based on these findings, modifications were made in the second phase. The trainee period was shortened to one full-time week, and assignments were customised according to the specific needs of each participating company while still aligning with course learning objectives. The assignment design process involved extensive pre-implementation discussions with each company over several months. While this approach demanded greater university resources, it significantly improved both the assessment process as well as the experience for both students and companies; survey results highlighted the benefits of this tailored approach. In the second phase, 90 % of companies expressed willingness to participate in similar future projects (compared to 33 % in the first phase), and 100 % of the participating companies rated the students’ performance as “excellent” or “good”. The successful outcome of this approach was also shared by the students, as the survey results stated that 95.5 % of students would recommend this type of WBL experience to peers.

Conclusively, the results of the study underscore the importance of aligning assessment strategies with both academic learning objectives and industry expectations. While standardised assignments offer efficiency, they may not always meet the diverse needs of industry partners and students. Individualised assignments require greater preparation, but can enhance student learning and company satisfaction. This study provides valuable insights into the didactic dilemmas of assessing student work in WBL settings and offers a framework for refining assessment models to better serve all stakeholders involved.

References

Costley, C. (2011). The SAGE Handbook of Workplace Learning. SAGE Publications Ltd, https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446200940