Pilot Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) Industry Placement Program
| Victoria University May 26, 2009 |
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| Vignette title and details | Pilot Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) Industry Placement Program | |
| Discipline | Chemistry | |
| Employment sector | Chemical Industry | |
| Student numbers | Pilot program involved 15 students. When introduced into the BSc (Chemistry) 15-25 students may be involved each year. | |
| Optional/compulsory | Optional. As the project was a pilot program and it was not part of the chemistry course it was optional for students. No credit was offered to these students but students saw the opportunity of getting real workplace experience as the prime advantage. The industry placement program will be introduced into the BSc (Chemistry) as a 3rd year compulsory unit worth 12 credit points. | |
| Assessment | Assessment is comprised of written tasks completed on Blackboard (online tool) and an oral presentation made by the relevant student. The industry partner also provides a student appraisal. | |
| Payment | Some industry partners were keen to pay students | |
| Number of staff involved | Project Manager and Project Officer to develop, run and evaluate Pilot Program | |
| Weblink | ||
| Key Words | Chemistry; Industrial Chemistry; Science; Undergraduate; Learning in the Workplace and Community, Chemical Industry Work Experience. | |
Overview
In 2008, a pilot Industry Placement Program was developed and offered to students that had completed year 2 of the BSc (Medical, Forensic & Analytical Chemistry) course. The pilot program ran over the 2008/2009 holiday period and students had the opportunity to spend a minimum of 20 days working in the chemical industry under supervision.
The program is aimed at familiarising students with industry-specific practices and providing them with an understanding of general employment expectations in the chemicals industry. In this way, the program fosters the development of work ready graduates. The pilot program was a huge success, as measured by positive feedback from students, industry and university, and the Chemical Industry. Placement program will form the basis of a Learning in the Workplace and Community Industry Placement Program to be embedded in the Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) course in 2009.
Structure of program
The pilot program can be completed as either a full-time placement for a minimum of 20 days during students mid year break or end of year break, or alternately, it can be completed part-time over the course of a semester.
As part of their assessment, during the placement students are required to obtain information and make observations about the workplace and prepare 300-500 word reflective reports to be submitted online via Blackboard. The reports must address various topics including:
- introduction to the workplace;
- the work environment and communication;
- quality systems; and
- reflecting on what you have learnt.
Students are also required to read and respond to the reports of at least two other students that have completed placements and posted reports on Blackboard.
Following completion of the placement, students must also make an oral presentation of 15 to 20 minutes in length and discuss their experiences and details of the placement.
In addition to these web-based and oral assessment tasks, students are also assessed in a report produced by the relevant supervising staff member at the industry partner at which the student completed his or her placement. This assessment report ranks the student on his or her communication skills, presentation, accountability, technical knowledge, analytical skills, problem solving and initiative. The report also allows the assessor to comments on areas in which the student may improve. Both the students Victoria University supervisor and the student also provide comments on the report.
Special features
Industry partners were generally very satisfied with the concept of the program when it was first introduced to them in 2008. In particular, employers highlighted the benefits of the lack of direct expenditure required to employ student participants in the program. Further, employers were pleased with the role of the initiative in developing more graduates that were work ready, and were thus generally happy to play a supervisory role in respect of the student over the course of the one month placement.
Future work
The Industry Placement Program is only one of many other LiWC strategies that are currently being developed for the BSc (Chemistry) program where the aim is to produce a broader industry-focused chemistry course that is modern and innovative and attractive to prospective students. In addition to the placement program, this course will include:
- course work completed in simulated industry environments;
- school placements;
- problem based learning projects;
- industry projects completed on campus; and
- guest lecturers from industry, industry workshops and field trips.
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