Development and delivery of a work experience week programme for mechanical engineering

A Gonzalez-Buelga,I Renaud-Assemat,B Selwyn,J Ross,I Lazar

doi:10.1177/0306419020981043

A Gonzalez-Buelga, I Renaud-Assemat + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1177/0306419020981043

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Abstract

This paper focuses on the development, delivery and preliminary impact analysis of an engineering Work Experience Week (WEW) programme for KS4 students in the School of Civil, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering (CAME) at the University of Bristol, UK. Key stage 4, is the legal term for the two years of school education which incorporate GCSEs in England, age 15–16. The programme aims to promote the engineering profession among secondary school pupils. During the WEW, participants worked as engineering researchers: working in teams, they had to tackle a challenging engineering design problem. The experience included hands-on activities and the use of state-of-the-art rapid prototyping and advanced testing equipment. The students were supervised by a group of team leaders, a diverse group of undergraduate and postgraduate engineering students, technical staff, and academics at the School of CAME. The vision of the WEW programme is to transmit the message that everybody can be an engineer, that there are plenty of different routes into engineering that can be taken depending on pupils’ strengths and interests and that there are a vast amount of different engineering careers and challenges to be tackled by the engineers of the future. Feedback from the participants in the scheme has been overwhelmingly positive.

Highlights

There is clear evidence that the demand for graduate engineers exceeds the supply[1] and since engineering is largely invisible in the British education system,[2] there is a need for the engineering sector, including Higher Education providers, to deliver school-level inspiration activities.This lack of interest in engineering and other STEM careers has been a matter of concern for decades, and the numbers have recently recovered, most European countries face a shortage of STEM professionals in engineering.[3]
Gonzalez-Buelga et al The programme presented in this paper is an attempt to bring together the benefits of the traditional work experience in an engineering company and a university summer school, where several secondary school students take part in the programme at the same time.[11]
The first step taken to start developing the core of the Work Experience Week (WEW) programme was to define the intended learning outcomes (ILOs) of the experience for the participants

Summary

Introduction

There is clear evidence that the demand for graduate engineers exceeds the supply[1] and since engineering is largely invisible in the British education system,[2] there is a need for the engineering sector, including Higher Education providers, to deliver school-level inspiration activities. The programme presented in this paper is an attempt to bring together the benefits of the traditional work experience in an engineering company and a university summer school, where several secondary school students take part in the programme at the same time.[11] During our WEW, the participants work as engineering researchers and, as researchers, they learn and explore new techniques, including how to communicate effectively their findings to a diverse audience. They gain a better understanding of a specific job role and benefit from sharing the experience with their peers. The paper finishes with a conclusion section including recommendations for future events

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