New organizational and assessment frameworks for company internship programs

摘要

Old company internship programs in the pre-Bologna degrees dealt mainly with helping the students find a suitable company to stay for a time interval outside the academic periods. No assessments were implemented to evaluate the acquired competences and no especial procedures were required since these internships were not included in the student academic curricula. The new requirements for company internships in emerging European Higher Education Area make it necessary to lay down new organizational frameworks and stablish clear and efficient assessment procedures. This paper describes the initiatives carried out within the Engineering Degrees of the Public University of Navarre. The Degree in Engineering in Industrial Technologies is shown as a good example of the program. Results achieved so far are very satisfactory for both the companies participating in the program and the students taking part in the internships.