Jacaranda Flame Consulting: Changes in Engineering Students’ Language during Structured Placements

Abstract

Engineering degree programs have traditionally considered industry placements as being a valuable educational tool. Whilst placements can be transformative for many students, for others they can be less valued and appear like little more than a period of unskilled and unsupervised labour with little guidance and outcomes that are much less than might be desirable or possible. Lessons can potentially be learnt from other disciplines where placements are more heavily structured and supervised, often in a controlled learning environment. These observations led to the development of the Jacaranda Flame Consulting program at the University of Sydney, where students undertake a 6-12-week placement within a supervised industry-like consulting environment. This engineering program also provided an opportunity to capture detailed reflections from participants on their experiences. We report on an analysis of these reflections and what they tell us about the student learnings, particularly in terms of their growth through the program.