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Educating the Engineer of 2020: Adapting Engineering Education to the New Century
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11338.html

A Brief Summary of
Cooperative Education:

History, Philosophy, and Current Status

Thomas M. Akins
Georgia Institute of Technology

In a recent survey conducted by MonsterTRAK of college gradu-
ates in 2004, 74 percent thought relevant work experience was the most
important factor in securing employment, and 52 percent of employers
agreed. However, 41 percent of the students had gotten no relevant ex-
perience during their undergraduate careers. For those students, finding
a job and deciding on a career choice can be much more difficult than
for those who have experience. Cooperative education, a time-tested
method of enhancing learning, gives students such experience and en-
ables them to achieve much more than their counterparts who are edu-
cated in the traditional way.

DEFINITION/PHILOSOPHY

Cooperative education primarily involves sequential training in
both theory and practice; theoretical and practical training are coordi-
nated in a progressive educational program. For both school and stu-
dent, studies become “applied subjects” because theory (studies) is real-
ized through practical application (work). With feedback from
employers on student performance, cooperative education is also a great
vehicle for outcome-based assessment of the undergraduate curriculum.
From the employer’s point of view, the two most important elements in
cooperative education are (1) the selection of workers and (2) an en-
lightened interest on the part of students in the work.

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