Students’ perception of industrial internship programme

Abstract

Purpose -An important aspect of an academic curriculum in higher learning institutions for technical disciplines is the industrial internship programme for students. The purpose of this paper is to investigate students' perception of the effectiveness of an industrial internship programme offered by a private technological university in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach -Utilising a case study approach, the data for this study were collected though a survey questionnaire. The questionnaire gauged students' perception of their eight-month internship programme. Findings -The students rated the industrial internship programme favorably. Generally, students viewed the learning through practical experience during the internship positively. In addition, factors related to the organisers' operational and administrative efforts and the role played by the host company were also identified as important in determining the success of the industrial internship programme. Originality/value -Industrial internship programmes in respective universities vary according to various needs. By sharing the findings in this case study, other institutions with similar or different industrial internship programmes can benefit from the information discussed in this paper.

Estágio Supervisionado E Aprendizagem: Contribuicão Do Estágio Do Graduando De Administracão Para a Formacão Profissional

“…Segundo (Renganathan, Karim, & Li, 2012) dando aos alunos de graduação a oportunidade de vivenciar o trabalho em um ambiente real vai oferecer uma oportunidade para aplicar os conhecimentos teóricos adquiridos nos anos anteriores como universitários para, autênticos locais de trabalho (Hughes, 1998). Isto irá complementar o programa de graduação em que, onde por meio da indústria será fornecida uma experiência prática de aprendizagem.…”

“…Algumas destas competências, tais como trabalhar em equipe, apresentar oralmente e habilidades para resolver problemas pode aumentar a empregabilidade (Mason, Williams, & Cranmer, 2006). Assim, através da colocação de estágio, os alunos têm a oportunidade de desenvolver essas habilidades muito necessárias para além das qualificações acadêmicas nas universidades (Renganathan et al, 2012).…”

Outcome-Based Internship in Malaysia’s Public Higher Education Institutions

“…Therefore, the sole reason of graduate unemploybility in Malaysia is the graduate quality that does not commensurate with the demand of the industry. The above statistics have prompted the Malaysia's government to take multi-prong strategy to addres this urgent issue and one of them is to place more emphasis on the quality (outcome-based/ effectiveness) of the university undergraduates' internship (Renganathan, Abdul Karim & Chong, 2012). Can an outcome-based internship that involve undergraduates, their university supervisor and the industry mentor (tripartite stakeholders) come together to address the urgents issue of graduate unemployability?…”

Internship programmes – bridge between school and professional life

“…The quality of an internship is defined by the practical learning experience, the supervisor's capacity to advise and coordinate the interns' activity or the host organisations' practices and policies (Honan and Talmadge, 1979;Beard and Morton, 1999;Garcia and Puig, 2011). A study conducted in Malaysia about the students' perception of industrial internship programme suggests that students also rated favourably the pre-placement activities and assistance coordinated by a special created department, the Students' Industrial Internship Unit (Renganathan et al, 2012). Such a department can enhance the quality of the programme and facilitate the placement of interns.…”