Education and Leadership in Glocalization : What does “think globally, act locally” mean for education around the world?
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understanding” and “learning to work with others”. The students learned about the teamwork concept via
an activity-based camp. The activity evaluation results obtained from the students showed that the
preparation camp play a significant role in their essential skills improvement.
Keywords:Essential skills, Preparation process, Work-integrated learning
1. Introduction
One of missions of King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi KMUTT is to develop and
promote educational and learning systems in which students are capable of life-long learning, the best
academicallyand have virtue, morality and work ethics. According to the mission, Work-integrated
Learning WiL is one of disciplines that develops students to be work-ready and well-rounded
graduates. As stated by Cooper et al. 2010, WiL is the intersection and engagement of theoretical and
practice learning. It is the process of bringing together formal learning and productive work, or theory and
practice. WiL program in KMUTTwas firstly introduced at the graduate level of Chemical
Engineering department in 1997 and subsequently founded in other disciplines, such as food
engineering, starch engineering and technology, bioinformatics, and biotechnology Ku et al., 2005.
In 2013, a special model of WiL, WiL-KMUTT, for the undergraduate level was firstly implemented. Key
factors in the WiL-KMUTT model are the problem- based learning at a practice site together with a
facilitation system for students learning. Since students are one of main parts in WiL, preparation
process is crucial before entering the workplace. Students have to know what and how they have to do
in the workplace and should be ready to learn under a “real-world” problem Martin Hughes, 2009.This
study focused on the preparation process of the WiL- KMUTT model and students’ perceptions on
effectiveness of the preparation activities.
2. Student preparation inWiL-KMUTT program
To prepare students in the WiL-KMUTT program to be ready for entering the practice site,
preparation for learning was a key step in the WiL program. There are 2 main sessions in the preparation
process, delivering of WiL concept and useful information to students and providing skills needed
for learning in the workplace. The process started with giving an overview picture of learning in WiL
program, learning benefits and experiences that students would get during the program. In
addition,students were explained about workplace literacy including basic information of the workplace,
practical standards and ethical issues.
The other session was focused on the preparing some essential skills prior to working in the practice
site. Seven work-based attributes i.e. data management, problem solving, working attitude,
working discipline, planning, communication, and teamwork were expected for students in the WiL
program. Two skills, communication and teamwork, were primarily trained for students in the preparation
process. One-day workshop and activity-based camp were set for coaching a communication skill, mainly
focused on a technical presentation, and team working skill, respectively.
2.1 Delivering of WiL concept and workplace literacy
The first part was an orientation session from university executives. Messages of the university
policy, expectation and motivation of learning in WiL program, activities, tasks, and responsibilities in the
practice site were delivered to students. Additionally, to provide information of workplace issues to student,
a HR personal of the practice site had been invited to give an overview of the company,including
organization background, working culture, policy, code of conducts, and practical standards. Ethical and
moral issues in the organization point of view were also discussed with students.
Understanding and perception of students N=21 on WiL concept and workplace literacy were
evaluated before and after the session. Five-point rating scales were used in a survey 5 = excellent, 4 =
good, 3 = average, 2 = below average, 1 = poor. 2.2 Presentation workshop
One-day workshop,consisting of a lecture-based and presentation practice, was carried out to give
aconcept of how to deliver a technical message to non-technical audiences effectively.Contents in the
lecture part are the composition of the presentation,media preparation, andtechniques in
presentation. Speaker spent 45 minutes in each topic. At the end of the lecture, students were grouped into 5
people and each of them had to prepare 5 minutes presentation on a topic of their interest using the
knowledge learned from the lectures.Others in the team assessed and commented upon the topics learned
in the lectures.
During the presentation practice, students were evaluated their presentation skill by lecturers and get
feedback to improve their skill. Four-point rating scales were used in this evaluation 4 = excellent, 3 =
good, 2 = average, 1 = poor. After the workshop, students N=14 evaluated effectiveness of the
activity about content, knowledge and benefits getting from the workshop.Five-point rating scales were used
in a survey 5 = excellent, 4 = good, 3 = average, 2 = below average, 1 = poor.
2.3How to work with others? - A team working camp
Camp activity has been held for 4 days and 3 nights at the university campus. The purpose of this
camp is to build familiarity among students and develop teamwork skill. Three activity-based modules
Education and Leadership in Glocalization : What does “think globally, act locally” mean for education around the world?
21-24
2014
206
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