In the current economic climate increasing pressure is put on universities to provide opportunities

for students to develop skills necessary for their future employment. Courses which offer a

placement in industry are becoming more appealing to students. We investigate the impact of

undertaking an industry placement on engineering students’ motivation for learning and

competence development.

Research demonstrates that industry experience increases students’ interest and makes them

more aware of how theoretical course knowledge is applied to practical situations. This increases

their interest in the subject because they are more aware of its relevance to their future work. In

this study we looked at students’ experiences from their work placements and the competences

they developed. On the basis on this knowledge we investigated the opportunities to introduce

new elements in course delivery to increase the motivation of non-placement students and

compared the competences developed by the students who undertook placements and those who

did not.

The study was carried out at the University West, Sweden in 2010-2012 among the mechanical

engineering undergraduates. The students were asked to complete a questionnaire. The students

who went on placements had to answer an extended set of questions about their placement

experience and competence development. The non-placement students answered questions about

competence development only.

The collected data showed that the placement students gave very positive feedback about their

practice and the analysis demonstrated that this practical experience supports and inspires their

further study. The students’ evaluation has encouraged tutors to introduce new practice-based

problems in relevant courses, conduct mixed group tutorials and share placement students’

experience with all of their peers. We believe that these new practices will improve motivation

among non-placement students and enhance their learning process. We also anticipate that

placement and non-placement students will have developed different sets of competences, which

will inform our teaching practices. This study will be important for other tutors who have students

on courses with an industry experience option who are interested in using the placement

students’ experiences and competence development to enhance motivation in the class as a

whole.