The author analyzes the four course structures common in the UKand Australia, and argues that courses which extend the normal academiccourse time by up to one year and have strongly integrated industrialperiods are likely to be most cost-effective in improving theprofessional orientation of engineering graduates. The development ofsuch industry-linked programs in the United Kingdom and at theUniversity of New South Wales is discussed. Some aspects of professionalorientation can also be included successfully in the early stages ofengineering courses. The author discusses the implementation and initialevaluation of such an introductory subject in the electrical engineeringcourse at the University of New South Wales. The subject designrecognizes that most undergraduates enter courses directly from highschool with good motivation towards their studies, but relatively littleunderstanding of the nature and purpose of engineering. The subject'slectures introduce key areas of electrical and electronic engineering byrelating their physical principles to everyday artifacts, such as theelectricity power supply, telecommunications, and electronic audiosystems. The roles and responsibilities of engineers in the economy arealso discussed. The students develop their communicationskills-information gathering, report writing and oralpresentation-through small group tutorials
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