Practical Elements in Danish Engineering Programmes,Including the European Project Semester

In Denmark, all engineering programmes in HE have practical elements; for instance, at Bachelor's level, an internship is an integrated part of the programme. Furthermore, Denmark has a long-established tradition of problem-based and project-organized learning, and a large part of students' projects, including their final projects, is done in cooperation with industry. This interaction with industry is important because students learn about the culture of the companies with which they are involved and they usually find it very motivating to discover that the companies can benefit from their work. Given the difference between theoretical teaching at a university and practical work done in a company, internships help students to combine practice and theory. Many large projects involve teams and this offers students good learning opportunities and enables them to improve their interpersonal skills. In addition, students learn to learn, an increasingly important requirement since knowledge can rapidly become outdated. Engineers must now be able to work in an international context and to address this need a ‘European Project Semester’ (EPS) was introduced in 1995. EPS is based on experience from problem-based learning in an international context, with exchange students working in international teams. The focus is on international teamwork and intercultural communication and students not only acquire technical skills but also improve their communication skills and their international competences.