TY - JOUR
T1 - Work readiness of final-year civil engineering students at Victoria University : a survey
AU - O’Brien, K.
AU - Venkatesan, S.
AU - Fragomeni, S.
AU - Moore, A.
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Little is known about how well prepared final-year engineering students perceive themselves to be to enter the workforce. A written survey was conducted in final-year civil engineering students at Victoria University, Australia, focusing on nine dimensions of engineering practice. Part 1 of the survey asked students to choose from six possible responses on how well they believe their course prepared them in relation to 52 statements (1 = very inadequately, 6 = very adequately). Mean preparedness scores were generated for each dimension. Part 2 of the survey included six open-ended questions; responses were analysed using NVivo8 software. Results indicated that mean preparedness scores ranged from 4.1 to 4.7. Key positive aspects of the civil engineering course included problem-based learning (PBL) and work-integrated learning (WIL) experiences. Although the survey relates to one course and the sample size relatively small, the results have implications for other engineering education institutions, particularly those with focus on WIL and PBL approaches, providing a framework for understanding students’ perception of preparedness for the workforce.
AB - Little is known about how well prepared final-year engineering students perceive themselves to be to enter the workforce. A written survey was conducted in final-year civil engineering students at Victoria University, Australia, focusing on nine dimensions of engineering practice. Part 1 of the survey asked students to choose from six possible responses on how well they believe their course prepared them in relation to 52 statements (1 = very inadequately, 6 = very adequately). Mean preparedness scores were generated for each dimension. Part 2 of the survey included six open-ended questions; responses were analysed using NVivo8 software. Results indicated that mean preparedness scores ranged from 4.1 to 4.7. Key positive aspects of the civil engineering course included problem-based learning (PBL) and work-integrated learning (WIL) experiences. Although the survey relates to one course and the sample size relatively small, the results have implications for other engineering education institutions, particularly those with focus on WIL and PBL approaches, providing a framework for understanding students’ perception of preparedness for the workforce.
KW - work readiness
KW - civil engineering
KW - education_higher
KW - problem, based learning
KW - engineers
KW - in, service training
UR - http://handle.westernsydney.edu.au:8081/1959.7/uws:42929
UR - http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.7158/22054952.2012.11464072
U2 - 10.7158/22054952.2012.11464072
DO - 10.7158/22054952.2012.11464072
M3 - Article
SN - 1324-5821
VL - 18
SP - 35
EP - 48
JO - Australasian Journal of Engineering Education
JF - Australasian Journal of Engineering Education
IS - 1
ER -