[WEEF] Virtual Internships development in Engineering Education

Virtual Internships development in Engineering Education – a fruitful cooperation between students, academia and companies Marta Cortesão, Giovanna Campogiani, Patrycja Książek,Yury Smirnov Board of European Students of Technology marta.cortesao@best.eu.org

Abstract—Board of European Students of Technology (BEST) perceives students as one of the major actors in the development of education. Therefore, since 1995, BEST has been assuming an important role in the involvement of students in their education, striving to bring European Engineering Education (EEE) closer to them. This has been done mainly by organizing Events on Education (EoEs). In this paper, several outcomes from different EoEs are exposed, representing European student’s opinions on three main topics related to distance education: students’ analysis of the current state of Engineering Education; expectations of future virtual interns towards companies and academia; and entrepreneurship as a next step for virtual interns. A summary of the implementation of BEST’s outcomes in the establishment of virtual internships in Europe is also presented. BEST has come to realize that virtual internships can influence students perspectives on their professional careers and entrepreneur ambitions, as well as to comprise an important tool for students engagement in company environments.This electronic document is a “live” template and already defines the components of your paper [title, text, heads, etc.] in its style sheet Keywords—board of european students of technology, virtual internships, engineering education, entrepreneurship

I.

INTRODUCTION

Board of European Students of Technology (BEST) [1] strives to develop students by providing complementary education, educational involvement and career support. It’s BEST’s goal to achieve the vision of “Empowered Diversity” in a general context by bringing students, academia and companies together through various services. As a students’ organization, BEST also perceives students as one of the major actors in the development of education. Therefore, since 1995, BEST has been assuming an important role in the involvement of students in their education, striving to bring European Engineering Education (EEE) closer to them.

The topic of distance education has been tackled by higher education institutions (HEIs) around Europe, being defined in [2] as a variety of educational and academic models characterized by the spatial separation of the academic unit (faculty, department, etc.) and some or all of the students.

Distance education has been seen as an opportunity to increase

effectiveness of meeting learning goals [3], to support teaching and collaborative homework tasks [4] or to facilitate the communication between HEIs, students and enterprises [5]. Moreover, in distance education technologies are used in various ways to facilitate presentation of content; interaction with the academia, peers and learning resources; or for practical application, assessment and evaluation [2]. However, students, teachers, company representatives and even software developers have to work together to design distance education experiments [3-4]. In this way BEST has been participating in the development of distance education in Europe, essentially by gathering European students’ input, as future virtual interns and entrepreneurs, on aspects regarding virtual internships (VI).

In this paper, European student’s opinions on three main topics related to distance education are exposed: students’ analysis of the current state of Engineering Education; expectations of future virtual interns towards companies and academia; and entrepreneurship as a next step for virtual interns. A summary of the implementation of BEST’s outcomes in the establishment of virtual internships in Europe is also presented.

II.

METHODS

BEST involvement in distance education has started mainly by the organization of Events on Education (EoEs). EoEs are divided in two types. One is BEST Symposium on Education, where students are given the opportunity to express their ideas on educational matters through discussions with professors and other experts. A Symposium lasts usually 7 days and involves 20-25 students, BEST members, representatives from European educational projects and representatives from universities. The other type of EoEs is BEST Academics and Companies Forum (BACos), which are very similar to a BEST Symposium on Education. However, unlike Symposiums on Education, BACos additionally contain a dynamic collaboration with companies, having the goal to approach the perspectives of the three stakeholders in education (students, companies and universities) through the continuous exchange of opinions and experience [1].

Several EoEs have happened throughout the years, approaching different topics, such as extra-curricular activities [6], accreditation [7], transition from studies to your first job [8], attractiveness in engineering [9], or topics within different Thematic Networks (TNs) scope. This EoE involvement in TNs seeks to develop the European dimension of engineering education and improve its quality. Hence, BEST has played an active role in TN’s such as EUGENE (EUropean and Global ENgineering Education) [10] and TREE (Teaching and Research in Engineering in Europe) [11], in collaboration with EuroPACE [12], gathering students’ points of views on the current state of Engineering Education.

Related to the topic of distance education BEST has organized Symposium Ljubjiana in 2010 [13] and Symposium Riga in 2011 [14] which were held together with EU-VIP (Enterprise-University Virtual Placements) [15] Thematic Network (TN), under the Lifelong Learning programme funded by the European Commission. Our collaboration in distance education continued with PROVIP (Promoting Virtual mobility in Placements) TN [16], having organized BACo Timisoara in 2013 [17] which main topics were “virtual internships and entrepreneurship”. This year BACo Gdansk [18] was organized in July as a continuation of PROVIP TN, but also counting with the colaboration of VMCOLAB (Virtual Mobility Collaboratory) TN [19], and approaching once more the topics of Virtual Mobility and Entrepreneurship. This event aimed to contribute to the innovation and internationalization of European higher education by exploiting the full potential of virtual mobility and entrepreneurship and broadening the access to international learning experiences for all European students.

III.

STUDENTS’ ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT STATE OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION

Higher education attainment is a subject of great importance in Europe, helping to support competitiveness and develop smart growth, being the target of Europe 2020 [20].

BEST used several EoEs to get to know the students’ point of view on engineering education.

As a result, in 2005 students concluded that a diploma was not enough for employability, and that recognition of some extra-curricular activities is necessary as both practice and experience are needed besides formal education. The recognition of these activities would be used to provide documentation for future employers, and to increase student’s motivation as well as their options to customize the University experience [6].

Accordingly, in 2006 students have also agreed that in engineering education grades are not always indicative of the level of knowledge or ability to act as an engineer but also that what students learn in universities is not enough to be an engineer. In this way, participants stated that soft skills are indispensable for the profile of every engineer and that they vary accordingly to students’ personality. Moreover, it was concluded that companies should get more involved in university programs as they could provide activities to fill the gap between universities’ and companies’ needs [7]. In 2010 students have also considered that internships provide students

with the chance to turn the freshly acquired theoretical knowledge into practical experience, thus shortening the intellectual gap between the university life and the working life. Throughout the event, participants have also highlighted the importance of internships and mentorship to shape one’s curriculum to future employer’s needs as well [8] With this we concluded that students see internships as a key tool to improve European Education, as they not only give students a valuable insight into the corporate and industrial working-methods to, but also contribute to adapt the students’ mindset to something closer to their future needs. Mentorship, on the other hand, is the other helpful tool pointed out by students, through which knowledge management is guaranteed and future engineers can take the most advantage of their graduation years [8].

IV.

FUTURE VIRTUAL INTERNS EXPECTATIONS TOWARDS COMPANIES AND ACADEMIA

Having realized the importance of Internships on European students’ first step in university-company transition [14] BEST has collected, since 2011, the direct input of almost 100 students from different European countries in EoEs on the virtual internship project development, and will continue to collect more in the future. Such events brought together established companies or startup representatives, professors and students, thus clarifying expectations from all the stakeholders through the continuous exchange of opinions and experience.

All EoEs present a common structure and follow some core methodologies to make sure the input received is constructive: inform, facilitate and disseminate are the main phases.

Participants receive targeted informative material and lectures, to create a common knowledge background. All the sessions are prepared and facilitated by BEST members that have been trained to do so, using established and innovative tools of facilitation. Through reports and conference articles, the results of the events are then spread to the relevant institutions and actors. EoE Timisoara 2013 [17] and EoE Gdansk [18] worked to gather students’ input on their expectations towards companies and academia when attending a virtual internship.

The outcomes mainly represent a set of students’ recommendations as well as students’ preferences towards the implementation of the VIs in Europe.

In BACo Timisoara 2013 [17] the focus has been put on clarifying duration and workload for interns, involvement of universities in communication between company and student, delivering responsibilities to interns, promotion and information. As the virtualization of services is a global trend, and as the event tackles a European wide audience, the events focused mainly on the analysis of international internships, but also national ones have been briefly discussed. The students’ recommendations and feedback were based on existing projects analyzed duration and workload, involvement of universities in the communication between company and student, delivering responsibilities to interns, promotion of VIs and milestones follow-up to ensure success of the project.

Students would be driven to VIs because of the time flexibility they enable, thus they recommend duration of 6 to 12 months, with workload and deadlines which will suit students' obligations. Interns should have an opportunity to choose a task which will preferably be part of bigger project, in order to contribute to the company’s development. Participants to the events also discussed how the lack of physical sharing of spaces would influence motivation of the intern, and how a proper structuring of the tasks and continuous mentoring from company or university personnel could avoid this. They suggested regular reports for successful communication among the stakeholders and gave feedback to various VIs platforms’ design.

As individualism and proactivity become more central in virtual internships, students’ think that university’s role should change, shifting the focus from direct support to promotion of VIs to students, follow-up on milestones and ensure success of the project. On the other side, academic world could be interested in the tool of VIs to use it to attract students to work within the university. To ensure promotion, the academia should use all the range of available media, modern and traditional ones, but also by personal contacts, as professor’s experience would still be fundamental in guiding student’s choices.

Students of BACo Gdansk this year have agreed on several important tasks which represent the company-intern-university interaction in a virtual internship. To facilitate, the internship was deconstructed in 4 general stages: i) A first contact; ii) A second contact; iii) After the first task is completed; iv) Before the completion of the virtual internship. i) The first contact with the company hosting the virtual intern should include: Get an overview of the company, the working processes; Define what would the contribution of the intern be. Define integration plan, such as milestones and communication. This would include getting to know old projects of the company. Define and get to know the working tools, communication tools and computer programs to be installed. Define working hours, schedule and availability.

There should be a mentor. Guarantee knowledge transfer where more experienced members or previous virtual interns would be mentors. This would happen in all stages of a VI. Get to know the mentors and who the intern can ask for help. Get to know the stages of the VI and overall guidelines. Paper work - signing the contract, access rights, log -in account. Get to know expectations from both sides. ii) A second contact should include: Definition of a first work-related task as well as deadlines for work presentation.

Students agreed that the first task would be done with a mentor and that it would have an appropriate level of challenge, meaning it shouldn’t be too easy neither too difficult. Students also agree that the employer should evaluate the level and know skills of the intern. Summarizing, the ideal first task would have: low level of risk for company and responsibility, but it still needs to be challenging.

iii) After first task is completed: Participants agreed that after the first task is completed, companies and university should feedback the interns’ work. Review working methods and see if it is appropriate. Also the training and support is important, given the example of a training session and the support of a mentor while doing a first task. Students also agreed that the tools to be used should be reviewed as well as the format of showing results. Another important thing would be the review of the expectations set in the first task. iv) Before the end of the virtual internship: Students agreed that a proper evaluation is needed, thus the company and university should give feedback and review the work, pointing improvement points of the intern. Also it is important to check if expectations were fulfilled. Company and University should provide information about the deadlines for important documents. Students also pointed out that the final evaluation could include charts of the evolution of the project throughout time, with remarks and improvement points, as it may also be a feedback to the company on the mentorship process. Indicate some opportunities for virtual interns to improve their skills as well as help to plan future collaborations and jobs. Students also agreed on having some form of recognition of the work done by the virtual intern as well as recommendations letters, as well as to receive a notice on whether and how the project will be continued. Students also expect company and university to give some tips for the future of the virtual intern.

V.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AS A NEXT STEP FOR VIRTUAL INTERNS

Entrepreneurship is getting popular among students willing to introduce their innovative ideas in real life. Initiatives like that are usually supported by both Universities and financial institutions in the European Union, as they can be valuable at global marketplace. Unfortunately, the risk of failure is much higher than in case of stationary job in already existing companies. That demands from young entrepreneur a wide spectrum of abilities. As the topic is of great interest not only for established companies but also for startups, the discussion on virtual internship has been linked to entrepreneurship, analyzing whether the skills required for or developed through a virtual internship would match the ones needed to be a successful entrepreneur.

In Symposium Riga 2011 students agreed that virtual internships would consist in one of the most important approaches to delivering employability skills as virtual interns would develop skills in virtual communication, and organizational skills like project management and time management, since they have to be able to work independently [14].

Within BACo Timisoara 2013, interesting connections were found between VIs and Entrepreneurship [17]. For instance, the autonomy given to the virtual intern, who would help him/her efficiently to develop skills connected with time management, thus making it easier to overcome the workload

of an entrepreneur. Secondly, virtual internships give students the opportunity to develop many different skills while working in teams, but using virtual methods which are highly required in being successful entrepreneur. Last but not least, throughout virtual internships students are becoming acquainted with various markets what enables them to find the place which can be filled with innovative ideas allowing new entrepreneurships to prosper. Overall Internships provide with the opportunity to develop some soft skills such as communication skills, networking, and time management, needed to work as an entrepreneur. Interestingly, in BACo Gdansk, students came, once again, to the conclusion that in a virtual internship, the virtual intern has to be proactive and independent, as well as to develop time management skills, which students found crucial to become an entrepreneur.

VI.

IMPLEMENTATION OF BEST’S OUTCOMES IN THE

ESTABLISHMENT OF VIRTUAL INTERNSHIPS IN EUROPE

The organization of EoEs in collaboration of different TNs under the scope of the European Commission has provided BEST with the rare opportunity to integrate European students’ opinions in the process of Virtual Internships establishment in EEE. As shown above, BEST has come to realize that virtual internships can influence students’ perspectives on their professional careers, entrepreneur ambitions, as well as to comprise an important tool for students’ engagement in company environments. In this context, several documents were published by EuroPACE [12], as a result of EU-VIP TN, that show how EoE outcomes can have an impact on the establishment of virtual internships in Europe. These documents include guides for stakeholders to integrate virtual mobility activities in international internships [21], bestpractice manuals on blended mobility [22-23] and best-practice manuals on European Cooperation in Education through Virtual Mobility [24].

Besides that, EoE outcomes representing students’ points of view on educational matters are usually transmitted to European institutions through presentations in Conferences, by members of the Educational Committee of BEST. For instance, outcomes of the two symposiums on education in collaboration with EU-VIP (2010 in Ljubljana and 2011 in Riga), which aimed to assess students’ expectations on virtual internships, were presented in the 40th SEFI Annual Conference [25] of outcomes from EoE Timisoara regarding PROVIP’s work on virtual mobility were presented in the INTED 2014 conference, in Valencia [26-27].

Certainly, not all the features of virtual internships and entrepreneurs can yet be assembled; both kinds of work are still in the initial design state and aren’t fully developed yet.

Nevertheless, projects like EU-VIP, PROVIP or VMCOLAB, through the work of their partners, have prepared the first ground for the future establishment of innovative positions.

On the medium-term, distance education has the potential to be successfully developed, using NGOs and market researches to define the stakeholder’s needs. So far BEST has been involved not only in areas that concern distance education but also in several other education related topics [28], and is ready to help shaping the future of education.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT BEST would like to thank all the members involved in the organization of EoEs as well as all the partners, professors and thematic network representatives.

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VII. CONCLUSION Thanks to the Internet, higher education has changed drastically over the last years. With technology being able to connect students, companies and universities, the parties are able to share knowledge from various locations. Therefore, online internships have risen as an important tool to shape future professional careers. The face of the future engineer is changing now and requires a certain background which may be shaped by the usage of distance learning in addition to traditional learning methods.

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