La Trobe University
 

These subjects provide a student with the opportunity to apply the theoretical knowledge learnt in other subjects in the course and to gain practical experience in the IT professions. The subjects also focus on improving a student's problem solving skills and communication abilities.

Aims of the subjects:

To allow the student to:

• Experience work within the information technology industry and receive credit for it towards their course.
• Gain experience in documenting the work performed (even if this is not required by the employer)
• Improve problem solving skills and communication abilities
• Learn to reflect on the learning outcomes of their experiences.

Class Requirements:

Full time employment of an information technology nature with an approved industry year employer. The student must submit an Industry Year Proposal to be accepted into the subjects.

Assessment:

Grades only are given for this subject, that is one of an A, B, C, D or N.  In most subjects studied at University the lecturer determines the content and the methods required for the students to learn that content. However, in Industry Experience it is anticipated that much of the knowledge the student is required to gain in order to perform his/her tasks will be determined by the student in collaboration with his/her employer. So it is the student's responsibility to inform his/her academic supervisor, not only about what learning is required, but also about how the student goes about aquiring that knowledge.

Assessment criteria for each Industry Experience subject are:

• Reflective Diary, submitted on a weekly basis and including answers to follow-up questions raised by the supervisor (45%)
• A written report  (~2000 words) (45%)
• A presentation at the end of semester (10%)

Industry Experience Proposal:

It is mainly from this proposal that the supervisor determines if the nature of the employment and the employer are 'approved'. The proposal should be about 2-3 pages and contain:

• The name of the employer, a contact person and a description of the business
• Details on the work it is anticipated the student will be involved with. Although there is no need to go into great detail here, it is important to show the supervisor the nature of the work is not trivial and relates to the information technology industry.
• Methods available for regular communication with the supervisor, ie. email, telephone or snail mail
• A signed statement from the employer stating that they are willing to help and support the student with their study requirements during the year.
• A signed statement from the student stating they have read and understood their study obligations as outlined on this web page.

Reflective Diary:

On a weekly basis students should e-mail to the Industry Experience supervisor (Lorraine Staehr) the following:

• A summary of the progress made during the week. Do not disclose details of any project which is sensitive to the industry. Rather, talk about the nature of the tasks rather than specific details.
• Detail of any problems that have occurred and how they were resolved. As well as technical issues, problems communication with others, time management, etc., should be considered.
• Learning outcomes - what you have learnt during the week. In particular how did you overcome the problems you faced? This should lead to considering how you might have tackled the problems of the week differently if you were given another chance. Also how might you recognise a problem in the future to which your new problem solving skills might be applicable?
• Plans for the following week.

It is preferred the diary is written and submitted each Friday afternoon. It should only take about an hour to write and your employer could support you in your studies by factoring this hour into your workload. Many students keep a record of their progress and thoughts during the week as a basis for their diary writing on Fridays.

The Industry Experience supervisor will often generate follow-up questions from the reflective diary entries. These questions will get you to consider, in more depth, issues of importnce to being a competent IT professional. You are expected to respond to these questions by email.

Examples of reflective diary entries are available - example 1, example 2

Requirements for a Reflective Diary are the same as those for Industry-Based Learning students, so you may like to look at Email and Reflective Diary Good Practice.

Remember, in order to obtain a correct grade for the subject, the emphasis is on the student to keep the supervisor informed of activities undertaken and learning during the year, and the reflective diary is the major form of comminication between the student and supervisor.

Written Reports:

A written report is required at the end of each semester, that is one report per subject enrolled in. This report should include descriptions what you have done for the year, copies of programs, screens and reports created, an overview of what concepts and tools you have learnt and your feelings about your industry experience.

Presentations:

Presentations are to be given at the end of each semester. The structure of the presentation is left up to you but should briefly cover the content of your written report. Length is twenty minutes plus question time.