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An Exercise to Improve Career Understanding of Commencing Engineering and Technology Students

The literature suggests that many commencing engineering students do not have an accurate understanding of the nature of professional practice in their chosen career. Many of the methods for exposing students to professional practice are impractical for large classes of commencing students. An assessment activity involving students collecting job advertisements for professional engineering positions and analysing them for required skills and knowledge was trialed and evaluated. It was found that a significant majority (86.2%) of students reported at least some change in their understanding of professional engineering practice. No significant difference was observed in these response rates between the three demographic categories (gender, study mode and course of study) of respondents. Student written comments about how their understanding of professional engineering practice had changed indicated that they benefited from, and valued exposure to, aspects of professional engineering practice early in their undergraduate studies.