Community Experience among Adult Education Students. A case of the Department of Adult Education and Extension Studies.
- December 19, 2020
- Posted by: RSIS Team
- Categories: Education, IJRSI
International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI) | Volume VII, Issue XII, December 2020 | ISSN 2321–2705
Flora Ngoma-Moono, A.L. H Moonga
Department of Adult Education and Extension Studies, University of Zambia, Zambia
ABSTRACT:- The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of community experience among Adult Education students in the department of adult education and extension studies at the University of Zambia. The main objectives of the study were to examine the benefits of community experience attachment to the students. Find out the challenges that students faced while on attachment and to examine the measures that can be taken to improve on the community experience programme.
The participants were fourth year students who had been on community experience during their third year of study. The study used a case study research design. In order to collect data from the respondents a questionnaire was used.
The findings of the research showed students benefited from community experience. Some of the benefits they have gain include gaining valuable work experience, networking with professionals, acquiring practical skills and knowledge and improved communication skills.
One of the recommendations of the study was that the department of adult education and extension studies must assist students to get attachment places.
Key words: Community, Experience, Student, Industrial, Attachment
I. Introduction
Industrial attachments are very important in higher learning institutions like colleges and universities. These attachments are meant to be practical learning for the students who are mostly in class learning the theoretical component of the course. The attachments provide the students with real life situations in the world of work where they can apply what they learn in the classroom. Industrial attachment in some university departments like the department of Adult education and Extension studies at the university of Zambia is known as community experience. These community experience attachments were started so as to given the third-year students a chance to practice the theory the learnt in real life situations. The students are expected to apply to organisations for a place to do their attachment from.
Industrial attachment provides the students with some work experience that prepares them for the work place. Davies (1990) states that, the origins of industrial attachment can be traced back to the Second World War. The main reason for the attachments was to bridge the gap between skills demands by industry and the content of traditional undergraduate courses in the advent of technological advances.
Industrial attachment started to be established in institution of higher learning in the early 1900s in fields like medince, engineering, social work and teaching. Later on, most of the universities and colleges began to incooperate industrial attachment into their curriculums. Industrial attachments in institutions of higher education are gaining popularity and faculties have recognized the potential value of preparing students for careers after graduation.
An Industrial Attachment is a well thought-out, credit-bearing employment experience in a professional work situation for the duration of which the learners relate theory to practice and get hold of knowledge and skills. It necessitates the appliance of academic skills in an organisation linked to the students’ main areas of schoolwork. An Industrial Attachment ought to dare the student to scrutinize the ideals of the organization concerned in the experience and to evaluate the student’s education as it relates to the industry (Directorate of Training, 2007).
Buor (2012) indicated that industrial attachment was a system on-the-job training for white collar and professional careers therefore; students are expected to practice the things they learned in school. It likewise develops the competencies and aptitudes of trainees, reinforce industrial/institution partnership, present a nation-wide mechanism to deal with key skill demand, make available a means for training institutions to act in response to acknowledged areas of national key skill needs (Ayakwa, Adinyira & Osei-Asibery, 2012).
