Description

This platform has two versions: (1) internet-based and (2) mobile-based. Users are able receive notifications through their Andriod device. Group discussion, forum, chat room and blog are included on the platform where students can also upload and share their photos and/ or videos.

Evaluation/ Comments

Two pilot tests were conducted in April-May 2011 and June-August 2011 and a focus group meeting with the SHTM WIE Teams was held in November 2011.

In the first pilot test, a group of 17 undergraduate students were chosen to use the first version of the newly-developed electronic platform. Both faculty members and industrial supervisors were invited to participate in the pilot test of this platform. 7 mentors, including the project team members, acted as academic mentors while 7 industrial supervisors acted as supervisors. After the pilot test, comments were collected from individual students and industrial supervisors.

Data show that students ranked “easy to use” as the top priority of the characteristics of an electronic platform. On the other hand, industrial supervisors demanded the need of a flexible system in generating evaluation report and they showed concerns about issues on the logistics, namely, the possibilities of having an electronic company stamp; and of authorizing someone to be responsible for submitting the final evaluation report. Academic mentors showed concerns about the user-friendliness of the platform and they suggested it to be able to give a holistic picture of the progress of all students under their mentorship so that they could keep track of their performances.

In the second pilot test, another group of 98 undergraduate students were invited to participate in this pilot test on the second version of the platform. After the pilot test, mentors met with the project team members to discuss about how to modify the platform to enhance the effectiveness of the supervision of the mentors. In general, most features of the platform were found to be satisfactory. The mobile phone notification feature was suggested to add so that the mentors could be alerted spontaneously via their mobile devices. As for the students, their main concern was communication. In light of this, the platform system was then modified to include the students who worked in the same company to facilitate better communication and provide mutual support. Industrial supervisors found the second version interesting and interactive. Some of them preferred hard copies of the evaluation reports for documentation; therefore, a new feature was added to the final version of the platform to allow them to submit electronic files and print out a hard copy of the evaluation reports.

Two focus group meetings with the SHTM WIE Teams were held to evaluate the revised electronic platform. The meetings went well and the teams suggested a training manual be prepared for the WIE administrator to closely monitor over 500 students during the internship period. Issues like how to modify the evaluation form, how to identify unusual cases, and how to prevent file loss due to unexpected computer shutdown and the like were discussed thoroughly.

All of these comments and suggestions were taken on board and the platform was modified with new features or items developed and added.