Expected Learning Outcomes by Industry for Laboratories at Universities

Together Marcus Soll (NORDAKADEMIE) and Konrad Boettcher (TU Dortmund University) were able to win the “Best Paper Award” of the IEEE German Education Conference with their paper “Expected Learning Outcomes by Industry for Laboratories at Universities”. In the paper, the authors analysed the desired learning outcomes for teaching laboratories of industry representatives through expert interviews.
Besides confirming some already known learning outcomes, it was clear that it is important for the industry representatives that students get to know the industry environment they will later work in. As a prerequisite, laboratories must contain modern equipment. While learning the industry environment, it is especially important that students get an overview over the larger context, knowing both the whole production cycle as well as adjacent knowledge domains. In addition, students should train a working mindset containing skills like the ability to work independently, communication skills or a willingness to learn.
The research was part of the project Flexibel kombinierbare Cross-Reality Labore in der Hochschullehre: zukunftsfähige Kompetenzentwicklung für ein Lernen und Arbeiten 4.0 (CrossLab), which is funded by the Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre, Germany.