The Difficulties in and Possible Ways Towards the Industry Partnership in ICT Education

1. The Difficulties in and Possible Ways Towards the Industry Partnership in ICT Education Yin Baolin School of Computer Science and Engineering Beihang University

2. In Theory • the basis of the cooperation • as the producer and consumer of the graduates • both sides hope the quality can be improved • the advantages and resources of the two sides are mutually complementary • the university needs knowledge, etc. from the industry • the industry needs high quality workforces • the partnership should be conducted smoothly and successfully • the university may get resources and help • the industry may establish reputation and attraction

3. In Practice • things are not so easy • especially at the undergraduate level • quite a lot of attempts did not last long, and ended up without many productive results • many difficulties exist when conducting the cooperation • some difficulties are intrinsic

4. The Main Difficulty • both sides hope the cooperation will be helpful to their main targets more directly • the universities hope to provide high quality graduates • the companies hope to provide competitive products and services • different understandings and expectations

5. The Expectations • the university side • hope their students to get more industrial knowledge and experience • hope their students to join real production and research projects • hope the opportunity will be provided to all their students, including the less competitive ones • hope the cooperation fit the frame and schedule • don't want to become a training school of companies • especially high ranking universities

6. The Expectations • the company side • prefer to provide opportunities to top ranking students • distinguish high quality graduates via internship • job offers • prefer stable and predictable workforces • e.g., internship with relevant long period • short term visitors may not be welcome • not be willing or able to provide resources for the less capable students

7. Other Difficulties • resources • working space, equipment, supervisors, etc. • the required resources may not be met • schedule coordination • timetables of the universities and the companies may not be easily synchronized • universities have their own traditions, resources and choices

8. Preconditions • mutual understanding of the counterpart • requirements • limitation and restriction • cooperation should be mutually beneficial • not necessarily be directly related to the partners' main targets • need to be continuable and maintainable

9. Starting with Easy Things • the easy things • the resources provided by the industry should be limited • the coordination can be conducted easily • some suggestions on industry partnership • joining discussions on the syllabus • providing information for teaching • providing special lectures by engineers and managers

10. Discussion on the Syllabus • the industry may provide information • the advances and technical trend in the industry • suggestions on updating contents of the courses • knowledge and techniques that are needed to put in • the out-of-date materials that are no longer needed • better be organized by the academic and industrial organizations, e.g. CIC, CCF, etc.

11. Providing Information for Teaching • knowledge on applying theory in practice • essential industrial experiences and skills • supplementary to the theoretical teaching • sample documents in industrial practice • e.g. software engineering documents as reading materials • can be organized and conducted peer-to-peer by the partners • group meetings, document exchange, communications and discussions at personal level, etc.

12. Providing Special Lectures • lecturing on the processes, techniques and advances in industry • specialized on one or two points • the contents can be flexible and short • e.g. lecturer's personal viewpoints and experiences • may fit the teaching frame • welcome by students • the contents needs to be designed in advance

13. Many Thanks!