LEAVING THE IVORY TOWER - PBL, INTERNSHIPS AND EMPLOYABILITY FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES STUDENTS

In recent years, there has been an increased interest in how to maximise the potential of internships and develop the skills needed for the workplace through the use of problem-based learning (Musa et al.; Johari & Bradshaw, 2008; Treleaven & Voola, 2008). This has coincided with an increasing focus by the Danish government and Universities, such as Aalborg University, on what students are able to do as a result of their university education and how best to prepare them for a job in their field of studies. Such questions have put pressure on universities to reevaluate their programmes and has placed the issue of how students learn in higher education at center stage.

The aim of this project is to understand the interactions between learners, real tasks and supervisors in PBL learning internships and projects at DIR and ES and evaluate how these study programmes are equipping its students with the necessary skills to get a job in the fields of Development and International Relations.

Therefore, the project sets out to address three key challenges which both DIR/ES students and the Department of Culture and Global Studies face:

how to help students get a job which is directly linked to their intended profession;

how to assist students to identify the employability skills they are learning through PBL and link them to professional goals;

how to use the internship project as an opportunity to enhance students’ employability and skills as well as it being an academic project.