One of the projects that students work on at the Roskilde Technical School (scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the UK flag for the English version of the site) is to design basic vehicles. There is an example vehicle which is the starting point, and the students work in teams to develop their own version. This includes metal work and welding to construct the frame of the vehicle, adding in brakes and steering, building axles and reusing some elements such as seats.
Unfortunately I did not have my camera for this part of the tour. To see the students working so cheerfully and enthusiastically together was great. One of the female students explained that there are teachers available to help, but that her group was able to solve most of the problems between them, and they really felt like they were doing something practical. The integration between the different skills needed for the project were evaluated holistically through observation and discussion at the group level. Assessment takes place through the duration of a course, and frequently there is also a 'journeyman' test at the completion of the training contract. In this for example an electrical apprentice will need to develop a project eg in process control and then be able to demonstrate and answer questions about it to a panel of assessors which includes representatives of local industry and trade unions. Linkages to local industry through formal processes seem to be very strong.
In all three countries represented at the visit, there is desire from both the colleges and the government policies for more flexibility and integration between theory and practice. Discussion areas and computers are moving into practical workshops, with the computers mainly being used as a resource for research more than the location of formal learning activities. Flexibility in the types of projects that the students undertake is also increasing - Technical design students are now asked to design a pump, and can tackle it in any way that will meet the specifications, whereas in the past, students would all draw then create the same pump.
Posted by Kirsty at December 3, 2004 06:31 AM