INTEGRATING LEARNING AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION

摘要

The UK government is promoting a new strategy entitled education at work; high skills, high value.The aim is to increase the value that universities add to the economy in terms of academic qualifications and by training students in business skills, communications and team work to ensure that graduates are prepared for the world of work.Surveys show an ongoing mismatch between employer skills needs and the competencies of graduates.This gap can be removed by providing industrial sandwich placements that ensure that graduates can make the most of first destination employment opportunities whilst effectively contributing to employer business performance.Another valuable resource in the challenge of upgrading industrial performance is the experienced people already in the workplace who are keen to upgrade their education to degree and masters level.Portsmouth has led the way in developing and providing a Partnership Degree Programme that takes account of prior learning and experience in a tried and tested format and offers a mix of taught units and work-based learning projects that enables industry-based people to achieve degree level qualifications related to their work.The paper discusses aspects of these integrated learning and skills development processes and identifies benefits and examples of best practice in engineering education.