THE ROLE OF PRACTICUM AS A SUBJECT IN COLLEGE


 


      Practicum is a practical training application of the course in the actual work settings in the specialized study that a college student may need to be included in their curriculum to learn and understand the actual study of their course. They are going to represent themselves as the trainee in a certain organization or company so that they can learn various approaches in their studies in an in depth practices, this is mostly required by most Universities to further train and exercise the students in a non typical conditions and settings about practicing their course.


      Actual participation, cooperation and performance of such students is highly required this can be the basis of their ratings after the training. Students can gain actual experience and techniques from the practicum and from the company they are involved in. Depending of the given task or as required by their courses, students may be offered by the company a limited on the job specification or a wider variation of tasks in a given period of time. There are some companies who give allowance for their performance and for those students who have made an exceptional contribution during their training may be hired or absorbed as an employee by the company after they graduate.


      Practicum is called work placement in UK while medical students call it internship but it is the same with practicum in actual performance, they may only be differ in their courses, students are offered part time to continue their studies. Practicum is important for students; they are being offered hands on opportunity to grow. They may gain various experiences that are not taught in school and most importantly their manner will be developed in various areas and this is its focal point, to learn as much as they can in an actual situation so that they can handle situations that they may never encounter in their class study. Depending on the chosen company that the students have chosen they are presented with task like clerical, operational and medical practices.


      Personal growth and development is another basic factor that is included in practicum. There are various factors that are needed by students to perform before they are given evaluation. Usually they are given evaluation by their immediate supervisor or the manager of the company. Students are evaluated in their discipline of how they talk or respond and their manner and consistency to deal with co-employees or customers of the company, in a medical course it is how they deal with their patients.


      Students are also evaluated in their output for example in an accounting firm if they are task by their supervisors to input the whole data in their computer system for their five days task and they have finished the job in only four working days the output has been finished in a clear manner without errors they will be given a good evaluation performance they may also be included in their future selection. Students who does most of violation including absenteeism, demeanor, insubordination and other distracting behavior will have a critical evaluation and they maybe a disgrace to their University.


      Higher learning and socialization is another focus in the practicum it is actually included in the curriculum to value the real learning opportunity that they can gain from the practicum. Students should be exposed in various institutions to learn to handle problems and create real solutions that they have learned in school and be able to apply it in a practical manner. Students who are exposed in a practicum that handles customer services like department stores or grocery like courses in marketing and advertising will further increase in their socialization and communications skills. They may also be exposed in handling tough customers and their negotiation skills will also be exhibited during the training. Engineers and architects are fortunate if they can handle the actual project production and development or construction which is hardly learned but only theoretically in school but they can see the actual differences how it’s done, same goes for medical intern who learns to handle the patients conditions while taking good care of them.


      Almost all students on whatever courses will need to learn to handle pressure in an actual working environment to gain responsibility and knowledge and this is equally important in handling challenges that will prepare them in their future and actual work if they decided to be employed on the job. The number of hours spend in practicum may not be enough for students to really learn the actual work training but the experience they have gained should be enough to prepare them. Is it actually the quality and not the quantity of training that is important and basically through this, the experience they can gain in their practicum can be life changing and worthwhile.     



Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com


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