SOL,Charles1 & MOSON, Peter2
1 CNAM, 292 rue St Martin F-75003 Paris, France, sol@cnam.fr
2 Technical University of Budapest, H-1521, Budapest, Hungary, moson@tutor.nok.bme.hu
Abstract: Alternation is a pedagogical mode which offers good opportunities to strengthen Enterprise-University links. In this paper we present the two aspects of alternation: the strengthening of the cooperation between university teachers and industrial partners; the new trends of engineering education when we use alternation: the carrying out of the alternation, the evaluation, the help to apprentices, the creation of new streams.
Our experience is built on two organizations : a French institution CNAM/Ingenieurs 2000 (since 1991) and its Hungarian adaptation carried out at the TU of Budapest (since 1996). We present both alternative training centers.
We prove that our methodology can be developed in Central and Eastern Europe as in Western Europe taking account the economic priorities. This training structure can be exported to other countries to prepare various kinds of ”vocational” degrees : technician, master, engineer.
Keywords: alternation, evaluation, employment, partnership.
The alternation is a pedagogical mode which combines two places , academic place and working place. Alternating people can acquire knowledge and know-how at these two places. The alternation is practiced under several status : student (or scholarship) status, apprentice status and employee status. The two first status are for initial training and the last is for continued training mainly.
The alternation is a very efficient way for strengthening the links between enterprises and university.
We present in this paper two examples of alternation and initial training, one under apprentice status (French case) and another under mixed status -student and employee- (Hungarian case).
At the end of the eighties the French authorities encouraged the training for high level degree by the way of apprenticeship. The French apprenticeship legislation is old: its includes regulation, financial resources. The apprentice signs a work contract: the apprenticeship contract; its duration is between one and three years. The last case is for applicants to engineer degree after a first cycle of high level professional education (technician degree obtained in IUT –Institut Universitaire de Technologie). By this contract between a company and its apprentice, the company commits itself to divide each year in two parts. One is called academic sequence and the other the professional sequence. The apprenticeship contract must be ended by an accredited degree; apprentices are remunerated on the basis of a percentage of the guaranteed minimum wage (from 50% to 78% according to the age and the year of the training).
The company entrusts the responsibilities of the training to an accredited office. This office, the CFA (Apprentice Training Center) provides the academic training and guarantees the good pedagogic execution of the overall training. It receives funds from regional organizations and from industrial associations.
For the academic sequence, the CFA (called CFA Ingenieurs 2000) has chosen a higher education institution: the CNAM (National Conservatory of Arts and Trades). The CNAM is a peculiar university mainly devoted to training of students at work. The priority of the CNAM is the relations with companies in education and research areas. The CNAM has a national network of 80 learning centers.
CNAM/Ingenieurs 2000 have 200 companies as partner and 450 apprentices working everywhere in France, 5 % working in European countries. Education premises are in Paris area. There are three streams: Mechanical and production system; Electronic and computer sciences; Electrical engineering.
More information can be found on the internet homepage: http://ingenieurs2000.asso.fr.
The idea of the alternating education of engineers in Hungary was formulated in the mid nineties by I. Horváth president director general of one of the largest Hungarian enterprise (Dunaferr). The know-how of the training (described above) was offered by the French institutions CNAM/INGENIEURS 2000. The experimental project was carried out at the Technical University of Budapest (financed by the consortium members and partly supported by EU Phare program and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
The basic characteristics of new form are: long cycle (6 months academic, 6 months industrial periods) alternating training at the professional part of engineering education (7-10. Semesters); the curriculum is determined by the needs of economy and developed together by university and enterprise staff; there is a special emphasis on management, foreign and native communication; the work of students is helped and evaluated by double (university-enterprise) tutorship. The learners preserve their student status, they sign a contract with enterprises and receive additional scholarship.
Four professional modules (architecture, environment, process engineering, steel structures), three human modules have been developed.
The training was began at TUB in September 1996, the total number of students involved is about 50, most of them are at Dunaferr. The legal and methodological background has been carried out, actions for the long term financing (use of professional training tax, tax reduction to enterprises) are under investigation. TUB has created a unit for the identification of industrial demands, preparation of basic documentation, training of participants and organization of training (these activities are supported by a TEMPUS university management project).
The extension is planned to other enterprises, to other higher education institutions. More information can be found on the internet homepage: http://tutor.nok.bme.hu/sandwich/general/title.htm.
Obviously, the management of alternation is a method to associate the teachers and the companies.
On both sides, we give a great importance to the follow up and the evaluation of apprentices on the overall training. We have an internal organization which manages the alternation, CFA Ingénieurs 2000 in France, Alternating Education Office of TUB in Hungary . This management includes the tutorial activities, the evaluation and also a personal help to each apprentice.
Each apprentice has two tutors: an engineer tutor designated by the company to undertake a mission of preparation, training and evaluation of professional session; a teacher tutor designated by the school to undertake a mission of apprentice’s help and of management of tutoral team (two tutors an one apprentice). The teacher tutor visits at least twice the apprentice’s company in the professional sequence.
Among the different activities of the tutors team, let us focus on the carrying out of the alternation, on the evaluation and on the help to the apprentices.
Today, alternation is fashionable. We must distinguish the positive alternation. It is a training where the ”ground” experiments (professional session) are changed by talks with teachers. These talks are a way for the teachers to accumulate the know-how of the apprentice and to bring additional experiments and additional knowledge during the academic session. The dialogue between students and teachers is very difficult, because scarcely the teachers know to listen to the apprentice with the idea to integrate ”ground experiments” in a pedagogical process.
The choice of the duration of alternation periods between academic and professional sequences is very important also. The wishes of enterprises and universities can be different. We have several modes: one month/one month, two months/two months… The CNAM/Ingenieurs 2000 and TU Budapest have chosen a long alternation: Each year is divided in two sequences of six months. This choice is original and it permits to develop coherent activities in the school and in the company mainly for an engineer degree. Nevertheless, some companies (often little companies) think that the academic session is too long, their apprentice -their employee is out of the plant for a too long time.
Obviously, the modes of evaluation are heterogeneous: weight of marks in the academic sequence and weight of the behavior in the professional sequence. The risks of over-evaluation of the first and under-evaluation of the second are high. The ignorance of the engineer tutor's participation in the evaluation process and his hesitations to go against educational habits can present problems. So it is necessary to have a good regulation to minimize this risk.
The professional training periods must be included in the regulation of the curriculum with a sufficient weight. This is not easy to go against the traditional regulation of universities. So it is better to have an accreditation of the (engineer) degree specific to alternation.
In the evaluation committee (jury) must be an equal representation of both partners. But we have often the case of a good professional sequence and a bad academic sequence. This situation does not necessarily lead to a failure (repetition of the year or expulsion). We must truly examine with an equilibrate methodology the two sessions and it is possible with a good participation of the tutorial team.
Let us return again to an apprentice who has problems with the academic sequence. When a company signs a contract with an apprentice, it hopes his success and also his employment as an engineer. Then in the spirit of partnership the CFA or the training organization has a contract of progress with the apprentice’s company. So it is compulsory to have a policy of help to the apprentice. This help can be collective but very often it is necessary to have individual help. Let us mention that if the support is academic, it does not encroach on professional sequence.
This support is expensive; it is unusual in public higher education. Nevertheless, we observe that 50% of apprentices solve difficulties in two years. It is a good reason for the satisfaction of our partners.
An increasing part of jobs in the future cannot be anticipate. They are the results of various initiatives, development of new products and new services. The quality of links and exchange systems between employers and training institution are important to multiply the possibilities of employment.
The alternation is an easy way to create these links and exchanges.
Let us consider an example. The jobs in the service area are increasing and very often there are new jobs with a new competence field. It is necessary to create new curriculum, new training forms. It is not easy for a traditional university to adapt itself quickly to these new needs.
A few examples for new competence are: the maintenance, the quality, the technology of environment, the logistics, the transportation, the technology of air conditioning. All this types of competence can lead to a technician degree but also to an engineer degree. The professional period of the alternation is a very good way to bring know-how to the young apprentices. The alternation permits also to increase the cooperation between university professors and industrial partners (skilled workers, human resources management) for defining the new streams associated to the new jobs.
The successful Hungarian adaptation of the Western-European (French) methodology has proved the possibility of alternating education training of engineers in Central and Eastern Europe. In the industrial reconstruction process (following the privatization) of these countries there will be probably a large demand in engineers with special new competence. A quick and efficient answer to these needs can be the proposed educational form (under the assumptions of a favorable legislative environment). The institutions of the authors of this paper are ready to share their experience obtained during the last 5 years. The worldwide globalization of the economy requires this kind of cooperation as well.