Practical assignments are an effective way to bring companies, universities and students together while bringing concrete benefits. A practical assignment carried out for a company can solve challenges of different scale, while enabling students to gain valuable experience of work related to their own field. It should be noted that the exercises are primarily related to studies and therefore cannot be compared to consultancy work carried out by a professional.
Practical assignments are learning tasks included in courses. They help students practise applying the topics they learn about in courses to practice. Small and clearly determined tasks, such as various analyses and surveys, and smaller tasks involving development and generating ideas on which you can easily provide instructions to students, are particularly well-suited as practical assignments. Thanks to the scope of the industrial engineering and management studies, the topics of the assignments can represent a wide variety of themes, as long as the topic is essentially related to the teaching content of the course. In addition to practical assignments, companies can offer smaller exercises and problem-solving tasks for courses or organise a small-scale workshop in which the students get to solve a concrete case assignment.
Nearly every industrial engineering and management course involves the students carrying out a practical assignment alone or in a group. The assignment typically forms a certain percentage of the course credits and grade. The practice process often includes a seminar at the end of the course in which the students present their conclusions and assess each other’s work. We wish that the company is present at seminar events so that the students can also receive feedback on their work from the company. The teachers in charge of the courses are happy to discuss the topics and implementation of the assignments with the company. In the best-case scenario, students looking at the topic with fresh eyes can find new solutions for the models that the organisation has grown familiar with.
Benefits of practical assignments for a company
- Work awaiting to be done will be completed with the help of a student or a group of students.
- The practical assignments and tasks are free of charge for the company.
- Students can find new solutions to replace old practices.
- Commissioning practical tasks and assignments enables companies to get to know potential future employees.
What should the company take into consideration?
- The scope of the work varies depending on the course. The normal workload is approximately 50-100 hours per student. As practical assignments are often carried out as group work, the work input is repeated from the perspective of the company.
- The practical work or assignment is always scheduled according to teaching timetables.
- The teachers in charge of the courses are happy to receive suggestions for practical assignments topics from companies. The teacher of the course always makes the decision on the suitability and scope of the topic.
- The practical assignments and tasks are always free of charge for companies.
Courses that include practical assignments
At LUT University, key study contents of industrial engineering and management include supply chain management, cost management, data analytics, digital services, and innovation and technology management. Below are examples of courses and topics that provide an opportunity for a practical assignment or other smaller tasks in cooperation with companies. Thanks to the scope of the studies in industrial engineering and management, the company can provide a topic for the tasks or assignments on a variety of themes. Companies can freely contact the persons responsible for the courses and suggest a topic for the assignments or discuss various topic alternatives.
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