Relevance of academic internship to the quality in Construction Management education

Abstract

Aalborg University, Denmark, has for a decade run an M.Sc. course in Construction Management in the Building Industry in compliance with the university's general mode of study: Problem Based Learning, project organisation and group work. Recently the programme was reviewed based on questionnaires completed by graduates and their superiors, and guided interviews. The review included the third semester's optional internship. The internship is designed to combine practical and academic learning within the semester theme: Innovation.Acomprehensive report documents the learning. This paper describes the findings and recommendations of the review for this internship. The overall conclusion is that the internship creates added value for the students, and thus either optional or compulsory internships should be incorporated in future programmes. The industry advances a positive stance towards internships. Some of the weaknesses of internships are pointed out, e.g. the preparedness of the companies and the academic level of the students' internship report. © 2011 TEMPUS Publications.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Internship problem based learning Construction management education Co-operation Project orientation

Index Keywords

Students Learning projects Internship Project management Problem based learning Construction management Construction management education Denmark Projects orientations building industry Aalborg University Co-operation

Author Affiliations

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Nordjylland, Denmark

Funding & Acknowledgements

No funding information

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Relevance of academic internship to the quality in Construction Management education

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