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International Journal of the Physical Sciences Vol. 5(7), pp. 1132-1146, July 2010
Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/IJPS
ISSN 1992 - 1950 ©2010 Academic Journals
Full Length Research Paper
A study on the opinions of the students attending the
Faculty of Technical Education regarding industrial
internship
enol Okay1* and Ismail ahin2
1Department of Machine Education, Faculty of Technical Education, Pamukkale University, Denizli, Turkey.
2Department of Machine Education, Faculty of Technical Education, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey.
Accepted 3 June, 2010
The purpose of this study is to determine the opinions of the students regarding industrial internship
throughout their university education. The study has been devised as a survey. Sampling has been
done among randomly chosen 254 students studying in the machine drawing and construction program
at the Faculty of Technical Education (FTE) of five universities. The data collected via questionnaires
have been fed into the computer and have been analyzed using a software program called SPSS 15.0
for windows. In the study, to determine the level of discrepancy regarding the opinions of the students
according to their gender and whether they have received a job offer from the employer at the end of
their internship period, independent groups T-test analysis has been used. Moreover, one-way analysis
of variance (ANOVA) has been used to determine whether there are any significant discrepancies
among the satisfaction levels of the students according to the universities they are attending. The
findings obtained in the study have revealed that the opinions of the students regarding their industrial
internship do not show significant discrepancies according to their genders. However, it can be noted
that there is a linear correspondence between the students’ satisfaction levels of their internships and
job offers.
Key words: Industrial internship, student satisfaction level, technical education.
INTRODUCTION
Vocational and technical education is one of the most
important factors throughout the development process of
under-developed and developing countries. In a globa-
lized world where there is fierce competition intensifying
each day, industrial sector undoubtedly plays one of the
most important roles in the sustainability of a nation’s
development. Therefore, being capable of training quail-
fied human force, vocational and technical education is
fore grounded in the development of this sector (Okay et
al., 2010). It must be one of the main goals of the edu-
cational systems of these countries to educate individuals
that can meet the current requirements of economy and
*Corresponding author. E-mail: senolokay@pau.edu.tr. Tel: +90
258 296 3067. Fax: +90 258 296 3263.
technology, that can make innovations and that can
adapt to on going developments. This situation shows
how important vocational and technical education actually
is. When the development processes of developed
countries are examined, it can be seen that they have
greatly invested in qualified human force and that
vocational technical education has served as a locomo-
tive in the development of Industry, commerce and
services. One of the most important factors that can
measure how developed a country is the quality of the
human resources that country holds. In general view,
developed countries are in a state where they have
educated the human resources required for national
development. On the other hand, most of the underde-
veloped countries are in serious trouble in educating the
human capital necessary for their economies (Kepenekçi,
2007). It is mainly educational system’s responsibility to
train and educate the human capital that can contribute to
a nation’s development. While educational system carries
out its responsibilities, it regards its students as
productive citizens and it prepares them for social life,
professional world or further education (Aksoy, 1987,
1996).
Increasing competitive force by adapting to information
society and technological developments and training
labor force with the qualifications required by the labour
market so as to reduce unemployment have steadily
been gaining importance. Industrial corporations present
such qualifications as knowledge and skills in production
and keeping close track of technology as their basic
requirements to be known beforehand (Binici and Arı,
2004). The need for vocational technical education in a
society can be approached in terms of individual, social,
economic, cultural and national aspects. Vocational and
technical education is essential for putting natural
resources into use, for making the human force
productive and dynamic and for the unification of work
and education (Alkan et al., 1994). While developed
countries have been able to educate their human
resources in desired qualities and quantities, most of the
under-developed countries are in serious trouble in
educating the human capital necessary for their
economies (Ünal, 1996; Kurul, 2002).
Vocational and technical education can be defined as
follows: “within the national educational system, along
with industrial, agricultural and services sectors, all the
activities related to planning, researching, developing,
organizing and coordinating any type of vocational and
technical education service together with its manage-
ment, supervision and instruction (Alkan et al., 2001). In
Western countries, vocational education is described as a
process which aims at providing a career through
artisanship or practical activities (Öçal, 2008). Vocational
and technical education system is responsible for
preparing human resources for the production system, as
a result of which human capital that takes on a locomo-
tive role in progress and development has been trained
(Özgüven, 2001).
On the other hand, the goal of vocational technical
education is generally to educate and train workforce to
enable them to become qualified enough to be employed
in industrial, commercial and service sectors and to give
them the basic education they need to transfer to a
department to continue their vocational education at a
university level (Eme, 2007). Yet, a country needs
vocational technical education for several reasons, some
of which are meeting the needs of the labour force
market, improving the rate and quality of production,
reducing unemployment, increasing competitive power in
domestic and foreign markets, using resources more
efficiently and rationally, and supporting the development
of a fast, stable and healthy economy. Vocational techni-
cal education is also necessary for the efficient use of the
natural resources in the country, a productive manpower
Okay and Sahin 1133
and the integration of education and work. This is a need
with social, economic and cultural aspects. (Temel, 1996;
Alkan et al., 2001). The main criterion for assessing
effectiveness and productivity in education is the
common target and unity between industry and schools.
The reason for this is that the main purpose of education
is, besides economic, social and cultural development, to
make individuals happy. In developed countries, it is the
aim of the educational system to bring up a young
population who thinks studies and has artistic sensitivity
and self-confidence (Hızlan, 1997). Mainly, it is the
educational system’s responsibility to train and educate
the human capital that can contribute to a nation’s
development. While educational system carries out its
responsibilities, it regards its students as productive
citizens and it prepares them for social life, professional
world or further education. Especially at middle school
level, it tries to implement programs that are in integrity
with individual and professional development (Kepenekçi,
2007).
Each country’s vocational education, its policies, model
and technique vary according to its people’s
characteristics, technologies applied in that country and
their requirements. It is also important that the vocational
education system be designed according to regional
needs with the aim of training a technician who will be
able to keep up with the rapid changes in the
technological world, who will be well informed about the
latest technologies, who will have the flexibility to adapt to
innovations and branches related to his field and who will
be efficient and productive. Technology, which keeps
rapidly developing in various fields, poses a great
challenge for especially those countries with limited
resources and causes an increase in demand for
manpower that has received higher quality vocational
education (Balcı, 1990).
At present, vocational technical education in Turkey is
being provided at the middle school and university level.
While the purpose at the high school level is to meet the
needs of intermediary staff in vocational high schools and
technical high schools, it is to educate technical and
vocational candidate teachers in technical education
faculties and vocational education faculties at a higher
education level. In addition to this, vocational education
through apprenticeship is also provided for those who
start working after elementary school (ahin et al., 2007).
The ultimate goals of universities should be to contribute
to their students’ education in the best way they can and
to maintain student satisfaction with the education they
provide (Yenen and Gözlü, 2003; Taçı, 1995; Erolu,
2002).
Whether nations can keep up with new technologies
and apply them depends on the trained technical man-
power. In order to increase efficiency in these appli-
cations which are changing and developing day by day,
an effective vocational education should be given to the
present manpower. Compared to developed countries,
1134 Int. J. Phys. Sci.
developing countries are at a disadvantage because they
have a shortage of manpower and resources in terms of
development and application of technologies. In this
case, for technology transfer and applications, developing
countries need to train qualified and knowledgeable man-
power with high quality vocational education (Balcı,
1990).
One of the most important signs of the quality and
effects of human resources is the figures related to
productivity in that country. When statistics related to
productivity are examined, it can be seen that Turkey
does not perform well in this league. For example, while
China has reached a five-fold productivity rate in 20
years, Turkey has been at a standstill. When the
productivity rates are examined for the years between
1975 - 2002, this situation can be seen more clearly.
During this 27 years period, as regards productivity,
Ireland has gone 22 levels up; South Korea has gone 15
levels up whereas Turkey has gone only 1 level up (Table
1) (Saygılı et al., 2006).
Industrial internships are educational activities in which
students participate in every phase of production in
businesses of various scales and put into practice the
skills and knowledge they have learnt at school, leading
to permanently gained knowledge (Çelik, 2005). Intern-
ship generally involves activities that are included in the
academic program and generally carried out in the
related industrial field with the aim of reinforcing students’
theoretical knowledge gained at school by doing applied
work. While they do this work, students get the
opportunity to get acquainted with the research and
development activities of companies, their project work,
their management organization and their production
methods and applications. Internship should be regarded
as an important opportunity for students to become
familiar with different sectors (Parlar et al., 2008). A basic
element of vocational and technical education and a
major sign of the co-operation between university and
industry, internship is a process combining theoretical
and applied education received at school and practical
experience at business enterprises (Aydoan, 2002).
These internships which can be done at various levels
including undergraduate students, which, as a result,
contributes to educating individuals who can use techno-
logy, who can produce and who have gained knowledge
and talent (Korkmaz, 2005). Internships that are done in
the industrial sector benefits students by providing them
with experience in the field they are studying, with the
ability to associate between theoretical knowledge and
Indus-trial applications and with views concerning their
future career choices. Moreover, it benefits employers by
providing them with low-cost technical staff who will be
working in the sector after completing their education,
who have a little experience and who have an idea of the
sector. In general, students can do their internships either
full-time during the summer or part-time during the
academic year. The duration of internship around the
world is 6-12 weeks on average, but there can be longer or
shorter intern-ships, too (Parlar et al., 2008). While giving
the students an opportunity to develop their skills,
internship also helps them learn business relations,
understand business structures and the work being done
and observe the relationships among business activities
with real life examples (Uzay, 2005).
Internship plays an important role in getting to know the
sector and business life as well as suggesting whether
the student will be working in the profession. Based on the
relationship among school, employer/enterprise and
student, internship is a student’s first step into his or her
professional life (Önder, 2005). Internships generally
aims at developing students’ applied skills, giving them
the benefit of technological advances and providing them
with management experience. Moreover, improving
students’ certain individual traits such as communication
skills and decision making abilities are also targeted.
Research goals
The purpose of this study is to determine the opinions of
the students regarding the industrial internships they
have completed. In line with the general aim of the study,
the following problems have also been addressed:
(1) In what ways is an industrial internship beneficial to
students?
(2) Do the opinions of the students regarding industrial
internship vary according to gender?
(3) Do the opinions of the students regarding industrial
internship vary depending on whether they receive a job
offer at the end of their internship period?
(4) Do the opinions of the students regarding industrial
internship vary according to the university they are
attending?
METHOD
In this study, data collected via a survey have been made use of in
order to follow a descriptive method. The subjects of the study
consist of 254 senior students attending the machine drawing and
construction program in the 2008-2009 academic year at the
Faculty of Technical Education at Afyon Kocatepe University, Gazi
University, Düzce University, Süleyman Demirel University and
Karabük University. All of these students have completed their
industrial internships. Although all these education programs, where
the survey was conducted, provide the same education as regards
the content, the programs at Karabük University, Mersin University
FTE in Tarsus, Marmara University, Süleyman Demirel University
and Düzce University are called Design and Construction Education
whereas the ones at Afyon Kocatepe University and Gazi University
are called Machine Drawing and Construction Education (SSPC,
2009), the name under which this study also analyzes the
department.
The data collected through the questionnaires have been
analyzed using SPSS 15.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, Illinois). In order
to evaluate the findings obtained from the responses, frequency,
mean and standard deviation have been made use of. In the study,
to determine the level of discrepancy of students’ opinions
according to their genders and whether they have received a job
Table 1. Development of productivity level of countries (USA
= 100).
1975 2002
Order Order Country Changes in ranking
1 10 Swiss -
2 1 Luxembourg +
3 4 USA -
4 7 Nederland -
8 13 Canada -
11 9 France +
9 12 Australia -
20 23 Greece -
22 28 Argentina -
24 2 Ireland +
25 31 Mexico -
38 46 Jamaica -
40 25 South Korea +
41 40 Turkey +
43 32 Malaysia +
45 44 Egypt +
48 48 India 0
49 45 China +
offer from the employer at the end of the internship period,
independent groups t-test analysis has been used. Moreover, to
determine whether there are any discrepancies among the
satisfaction levels of the students according to the university they
are attending, one- way analysis of variance (ANOVA) has been
carried out. In order to determine which possible discrepancies
occur among which groups, Tukey-HSD Test has been used. The
significance level has been taken as p < 0.05 to test the
discrepancy levels among groups. A five-degree preference scale
has been used in responses to the items on the data collection
material. The range of the responses has been designed as follows:
1 (strongly disagree, 1.00-1.80), 2 (disagree, 1.81-2.60), 3
(undecided, 2.61-3.40), 4 (agree, 3.41 - 4.20) and 5 (strongly agree,
4.21 - 5.00) (Tekin, 1993).
Reliability tests and validity tests
The data in this survey have been collected by a measuring scale
developed by the researchers. To this end, first, the researchers
have looked into some literature related to the issue and inter-
viewed students attending the department of machine construction
and drawing. The study has been carried out on a voluntary basis.
The preliminary application of the scale has been carried out on
148 students. In the reliability study carried out, the Cronbach’s
Alpha coefficient has been calculated as 0.80 and the total item
correlations have been found to range between 0.31 and 0.57.
According to this, it can be stated that the measurements obtained
from the scale in the preliminary application have yielded quite
reliable results. (0.80<1.00 the scale is highly reliable)
(Özdamar, 2002). Factor analysis has been carried out to check the
validity of the scale. As a result of rotation, the 21-item scale used
in the students’ satisfaction levels of internship has been reduced to
a scale consisting of 5 main items. The factor loadings and Eigen
values as regards these factorial dimensions have been
Okay and Sahin 1135
represented in the Tables. The Eigen value shows the ratio of the
between-groups sum of squares to that of the within-groups sum of
squares.
The matrix obtained has been analyzed with the method of
principle component analysis. Each item in the matrices formed
during factor analysis is the factor loading indicating the correlation
between each variable and each factor. By eliminating those
variables with very low correlation a lower factorial dimension and a
more detailed variance explanation have been obtained. Those
values 0.4 and below have not been included in the table. The
analysis made through factor analysis should also be evaluated by
Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin (KMO) test. In KMO test, values 0.5 and above
suggest that the sample is inadequate for measurement and that
the analysis can be applied on the factors. Similarly, Bartlett test
also needs to yield a score lower than 0.05. Table 2 displays the
mean, standard deviation and factor loadings of the five factorial
dimensions.
Factor 1; Factor loadings range from 0.759 (item 15) to 0.629
(item 18). When the rotation values are examined, it can be seen
that they account for the 18.659% of the total variance, which
shows that the best data cluster is in Factor 1 with an intrinsic value
of 3.918. Taking into consideration the contents of the items in the
sub category, this factor can be named as “The benefits of
industrial internship”.
Factor 2; Factor loadings range from 0.709 (item 11) to 0.548
(item 12). When the rotation values are examined, it can be seen
that they account for the 11.344% of the total variance. Its intrinsic
value is 2.382. Taking into consideration the contents of the items
in the sub category, this factor can be named as “The advantages
of industrial internship”.
Factor 3; Factor loadings range from 0.679 (item 3) to 0.498
(item 2). When the rotation values are examined, it can be seen
that they account for the 10.199% of the total variance. Its intrinsic
value is 2.142. Taking into consideration the contents of the items
in the sub category, this factor can be named as “The conditions of
the place of internship”.
Factor 4; Factor loadings range from 0.799 (item 7) to 0.420
(item 1). When the rotation values are examined, it can be seen
that they account for the 8.713% of the total variance. Its intrinsic
value is 1.830. Taking into consideration the contents of the items
in the sub category, this factor can be named as “The procedures
for industrial internship”.
Factor 5; Factor loadings range from 0.768 (item 19) to 0.562
(item 21). When the rotation values are examined, it can be seen
that they account for the 8.022% of the total variance. Its intrinsic
value is 1.685. Taking into consideration the contents of the items
in the sub category, this factor can be named as “Industrial
internship education”.
The Eigen values before removing factors and after rotation have
been shown in Table 3. Five factors have been found to show
Eigen values that are greater than 1. While the first factor explains
the 31% of the variance, rotation equalizes the relative significance
of the factors (the contribution of factor 1 has reduced the variance
from 31 to 18%) Five factors account for more than half of the total
variance (56.935%).
As can be seen in Table 4, the result of the Bartlett test,
conducted in order to determine whether the amount of sampling is
sufficient, was 0.878. This result shows that the data can be used in
factor analysis (1.00 < 0.90 perfect, 0.90 < 0.80 good, 0.80 < 0.70
satisfactory, 0.70 < 0.60 weak, 0.60 < bad) (Yurdagül, 2010).
The Bartlett test original correlation matrix is identical to the
identity matrix (all correlation coefficients are zero) and it tests the
null hypothesis. It is important that this test come out significant.
Otherwise, a reverse condition would imply that there is no relation-
ship among the variables (Tonta, 2008). As a matter fact, as can be
observed in Table 4, this value has been calculated as zero (0.000)
and therefore the result has been accepted as significant.
Factorial structure of entrepreneurial ability test is given in
1136 Int. J. Phys. Sci.
Table 2. Factor analysis regarding the variables.
Factors X S 1 2 3 4 5
Fac1
VAR00015 3.7717 1.0152 0.759
VAR00016 3.8386 0.9828 0.755
VAR00014 3.7087 1.0067 0.742
VAR00017 3.6063 1.0149 0.647
VAR00013 3.8110 0.9553 0.637
VAR00018 3.5866 0.9608 0.629
Fac2
VAR00011 3.6496 0.9857 0.709
VAR00009 3.5551 1.1329 0.699
VAR00010 3.7323 1.0094 0.662
VAR00012 3.6024 1.0346 0.548
Fac3
VAR00003 3.7047 1.0722 0.679
VAR00005 3.6142 1.0635 0.677
VAR00006 3.5039 1.0282 0.628
VAR00002 3.4803 1.0878 0.498
Fac4
VAR00007 3.1378 1.1284 0.799
VAR00008 2.5354 1.2014 0.786
VAR00004 2.5827 1.2316 0.520
VAR00001 2.5827 1.3770 0.420
Fac5
VAR00019 3.3386 1.1743 0.768
VAR00020 3.4724 1.1304 0.564
VAR00021 3.3898 1.1183 0.562
Table 3. Variance explanation for the results of the factor analysis.
Initial eigen values Extraction sums of squared loadings Rotation sums of squared loadings
Component
Total % of Variance
Cumulative %
Total % of Variance
Cumulative % Total % of Variance
Cumulative %
1 6.598 31.420 31.420 6.598 31.420 31.420 3.918 18.659 18.659
2 1.784 8.494 39.913 1.784 8.494 39.913 2.382 11.344 30.002
3 1.353 6.445 46.358 1.353 6.445 46.358 2.142 10.199 40.201
4 1.158 5.515 51.873 1.158 5.515 51.873 1.830 8.713 48.913
5 1.063 5.062 56.935 1.063 5.062 56.935 1.685 8.022 56.935
6 0.971 4.623 61.558
7 0.920 4.382 65.940
8 0.860 4.097 70.038
9 0.770 3.667 73.705
10 0.718 3.417 77.121
11 0.596 2.837 79.958
12 0.581 2.769 82.727
13 0.572 2.723 85.451
Okay and Sahin 1137
Table 3. Contd.
14 0.525 2.501 87.951
15 0.457 2.176 90.128
16 0.453 2.156 92.283
17 0.375 1.788 94.071
18 0.372 1.773 95.844
19 0.329 1.568 97.411
20 0.293 1.397 98.808
21 0.250 1.192 100.000
Table 4. KMO and Bartlett’s test regarding the factor analysis.
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin proficiency testing samples
0.878
Bartlett's test of sphericity Approx. Chi-square
1816.512
df 210
Sig. 0.000
Figure 1, shows the model. As shown in Figure 1, item factor
loadings of 0.42 (item 01) and 0.79 (item 07) varies between.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Demographic profiles of respondents
The demographic profiles of the subjects can be seen in
Table 5. Of the students who participated in the survey,
26% are from Gazi University, 20.1% are from Afyon
Kocatepe University, 22.8% are from Karabük University,
18.9% are from Düzce University and 12.2% are from
Süleyman Demirel University 65.7% of the students who
took part in the study were male and 34.3% were female
44.5% of the students were regular high school
graduates, 24.4% were vocational high school graduates,
18.1% were Anatolian technical high school graduates
and 13% were technical high school graduates. It has
been discovered that nearly half (44.5%) of the students
attending machine drawing and construction education
program, where the survey was carried out, started this
program directly without any prior vocational education.
After completing their internships, 39.4% of the students
received job offers from the businesses where they did
their internships. It is remarkable to see students with
little work experience to show such good performance
and receive good job offers.
Evaluation of the findings regarding industrial
internship
In this section, opinions of the participants concerning the
industrial internships they have completed have been
presented. When the findings in Table 6 are examined in
terms of the benefits of industrial internship, it can be
observed that the students have marked “agree” and
“strongly agree” for the following two items: “Probation
provided opportunities related to my field has to use
modern tools and techniques” (72%), and “Probation
provided more information on current topics ”(69.7%).
The evaluation concerning the benefits of internship as a
whole is “I agree” (
Χ
=3.71). All of the statements have
been marked as “I agree” by the students. It can be
stated that industrial internship enables students to put
into practice the theoretical knowledge they have learned
at school and to use and get acquainted with new
instruments and equipment. Furthermore, it can be said
that it provides an opportunity for the students to bring
their knowledge about current issues up to date.
When the findings in Table 7 are examined in terms of
the advantages of industrial internship, it can be
observed that the students have marked “agree” and
“strongly agree” for the following three items: “The
internship helped me realize professional and ethical
responsibilities” (65.7%), and “The internship improved
my oral communication skills”(61.4%). “The internship
helped me realize the necessity of a life-long education”
(61%). The evaluation concerning the ad-vantages of
internship as a whole is “I agree” (
Χ
=3.63). All of the
statements have been marked as “I agree” by the
students. Along with theoretical education, applied
studies are also provided at FTE’s. In the project work
carried out at school, applied work can be done at a small
scale in accordance with the facilities available. In the
light of the information obtained from Table 7 it can be
concluded that industrial internship is beneficial for
students to adapt to real business world.
When the findings in Table 8 are examined in terms of
the conditions of the workplace, it can be observed that
the students have marked “agree” and “strongly agree”
for the following two items: “At the workplace where I did
my internship, the number of the employees working in
my field was sufficient” (66.5%) and “At the workplace
where I did my internship, the employees working in my
field were proficient” (59.5%). However, the students
have marked “disagree” and “strongly disagree” for the
following two items: “The training I received during intern-
ship was in parallel with the according to the relative
weight of internship subjects” and “There is no
incompatibility between the requirements mentioned in the
1138 Int. J. Phys. Sci.
Var16
Var14
Var17
Var13
Var18
The benefits of indust
rial
internship
Var03
Var05
Var06
Var02
Var19
Var20
Var12
Var09
Var10
Var11
Var087
Var04
Var01
The advantages of industrial
internship
The conditions of the place of
internship
Industrial internship
Education
The procedures for i
ndustrial
internship
0.75
0
.
74
0.64
0
.
63
0.67
0.67
0.62
0.49
0.70
0.69
0.66
0.54
0.62
0.78
0.52
0.42
0.76
0.56
Var15
0.75
Var07
0.79
Var21
0.56
Figure 1. Factor analysis results.
Table 5. Demographic findings regarding the participants.
Variables Frequency Percentage
Gazi University 66 26.0
Kocatepe University 51 20.1
Süleyman Demirel University 31 12.2
Karabük University 58 22.8
Universities
Düzce University 48 18.9
Total 254 100.0
Male 167 65.7
Gender Female 87 34.3
Total 254 100.0
High School 113 44.5
Technical High School 33 13.0
Graduated High School
Vocational High School 62 24.4
Okay and Sahin 1139
Anadolu Technical High School 46 18.1
Total 254 100.0
Yes 100 39.4
Post-internship job offers
No 154 60.6
Total 254 100.0
Table 6. The distribution of the students’ opinions as regards the benefits of industrial internship.
Strongly
disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly
agree
The benefits of Industrial
Internships f (%) f (%) f (%) f (%) f (%)
Total
X
S
Probation provided more
information on current topics. 11 4.3 17 6.7 49 19.3 119 46.9 58 22.8 254 100 3.77 1.01
Probation provided opportunities
related to my field has to use
modern tools and techniques. 9 3.5 15 5.9 47 18.5 120 47.2 63 24.8 254 100 3.83 .98
Probation provided directions to
my ideas business life in future. 9 3.5 24 9.4 50 19.7 150 47.2 51 20.1 254 100 3.70 1.00
Probation provided the
opportunity to see areas that I was
missing 11 4.3 26 10.2 56 22 120 47.2 41 16.1 254 100 3.60 1.01
Probation contributed transform
from my theoretical knowledge to
practical. 8 3.1 12 4.7 60 23.6 114 44.9 60 23.6 254 100 3.81 .95
Probation acquired to ability using
and planning time efficiently. 9 3.5 25 9.8 62 24.4 124 48.8 34 13.4 254 100 3.58 .96
Total 3.71 0.98
Table 7. The distribution of the students’ opinions as regards the advantages of industrial internship.
Strongly
disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly
agree The benefits of Industrial Internships
f (%) f (%) f (%) f (%) f (%)
Total
X
S
Internship helped to perceive necessity of
lifelong learning programmes. 11 4.3 26 10.2 62 24.4 109 42.9 46 18.1 254 100 3.60 1.03
Internship acquired oral communication
ability. 7 2.8 25 9.8 66 26 108 42.5 48 18.9 254 100 3.64 .98
Internship acquired to ability of disciplinary
team work. 19 7.5 23 9.1 61 24 100 39.4 51 20.1 254 100 3.55 1.13
Internship provided awareness about
vocational of responsibility and ethical. 11 4.3 15 5.9 61 24 111 43.7 56 22 254 100 3.73 1.00
Total 3.63 1.03
internship handbook and the workplace itself (18.1%). All
of the statements have been marked as “I agree” by the
students (
Χ
=3.57). It can be sated that the conditions of
the workplace where students have done their industrial
internships have generally met their expectations. Yet,
about 20% of the students have expressed that they
cannot receive training in accordance with the subjects.
Moreover, 20% of the students have mentioned that the
conditions their schools require from the workplace and
those of the actual workplace do not match.
1140 Int. J. Phys. Sci.
Table 8. The distribution of the students’ opinions as regards the conditions of the workplace.
Strongly
disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly
agree
Conditions of the industry
Internships place f (%) f (%) f (%) f (%) f (%)
Total
X
S
There too many people that were
related to field in internships area 9 3.5 32 12.6 44 17.3 109 42.9 60 23.6 254 100 3.70 1.07
Proficiency level of employees in an
probation in my vocational field was
good 10 3.9 29 11.4 64 25.2 97 38.2 54 21.3 254 100 3.61 1.06
According to the weight of probation
training in topics I trained. 9 3.5 37 14.6 63 24.8 107 42.1 38 15 254 100 3.50 1.02
Probation guide with the desired
qualification is no mismatch
between their training 15 5.9 31 12.2 67 26.4 99 39 42 16.5 254 100 3.48 1.08
Total 3.57 1.05
Table 9. The distribution of the students’ opinions as regards the procedures of the internship.
Strongly
Disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly
Agree Procedures of industrial internship
f (%) f (%) f (%) f (%) f (%)
Total
X
S
Internship file is more detailed 21 8.3 51 20.1 86 33.9 64 25.2 32 12.6 254 100 3.13 1.12
internships workplace manager had difficulty
filling the internship file 60 23.6 74 29.1 59 23.2 46 18.1 15 5.9 254 100 2.53 1.20
Internships workplace I have difficulty in
receiving information in my field 59 23.2 72 28.3 57 22.4 48 18.9 18 7.1 254 100 2.58 1.23
I have difficulty in finding an internship
workplace 71 28 72 23.3 33 13 48 18.9 30 11.8 254 100 2.58 1.37
Total 2.70 1.23
When the findings in Table 9 are examined in terms of
the procedures of the internship, it can be observed that
the students have marked “disagree” and “strongly
disagree” for the following three items: “The manager had
a difficult time filling in the internship papers in the folder”
(52.7%) ,“I had difficulty obtaining information related to
my field at the workplace” (51.5%) and “I had difficulty
finding a workplace to do my internship” (51.3%). The
evaluation concerning the procedures of internship as a
whole is “undecided” (
Χ
= 2.70). While the students seem
to have undecided regarding the details of the internship
folder (
Χ
= 3.13), they seem to disagree with the other
three statements (
Χ
= 2.53,
Χ
= 2.58,
Χ
=2.58). It can be
concluded that the students do not experience to
encounter many problems in terms of the procedures of
internship.
When the findings in Table 10 are examined in terms of
the procedures of the internship, it can be observed that
the students have marked “agree” and “strongly agree”
for the following two items: “The employees at the
workplace showed interested in my training” (56.3%) and
“The internship has covered subjects parallel to the ones
at school” (52%). On the other hand, approximately one-
fifth of the students have marked the statements
“disagree” or “strongly disagree” The evaluation
concerning the procedures of internship as a whole is “I
agree”.
Findings as to whether students’ opinions regarding
the sub dimensions of the industrial internship scale
differ according to their gender
Table 11 displays the findings as to whether students’
opinions regarding the sub dimensions of the industrial
internship scale differ according to their gender.
As can be seen in Table 11, according to gender, no
significant discrepancies have been found among the
opinions of the students regarding industrial internship
[t(252)= -1.131; p>
>>
>.05], [t(252)= -1.290; p>
>>
>.05], [t(252)= -
1.805; p>
>>
>.05], [t(252)= 0.517; p>
>>
>.05], [t(252)= -1.352;
p>
>>
>.05]. In other words, it can be said that both male and
female students share similar or same opinions related to
Okay and Sahin 1141
Table 10. The distribution of the students’ opinions as regards internship training.
Strongly
disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly
agree Industrial internship training
f (%) f (%) f (%) f (%) f (%)
Total
X
S
Time course of the internship was enough 21 8.3 43 16.9 59 23.2 91 35.8 40 15.7 254 100 3.33 1.17
Employees have been worked in my
probation area interested in training with
an education enough. 19 7.5 29 11.4 63 24.8 99 39 44 17.3 254 100 3.47 1.13
I got a probation in parallel with education
issues have been covered. 19 7.5 33 13 70 27.6 94 37 38 15 254 100 3.38 1.11
Total 3.39 1.13
Table 11. T-test results regarding the sub dimensions of the industrial internship scale according to differences
in gender.
Items Gender N
X
S t Sig.
Male 167 3.68 0.81
The benefits of industrial internship Female 87 3.79 0.63 -1.131 0.259
Male 167 3.58 0.84
To bring in industrial internship Female 87 3.72 0.76 -1.290 0.198
Male 167 3.51 0.75
Conditions in industry Internship workplace Female 87 3.68 0.66 -1.805 0.072
Male 167 2.72 0.81
Procedures of industry internship Female 87 2.67 0.85 .517 0.606
Male 167 3.34 0.84
Industrial internship training Female 87 3.49 0.79 -1.352 0.178
*The mean difference is significant at the .05 level.
their industrial internship. Therefore, it can be concluded
that there is no variable that can make a difference in
their opinions regarding industrial internship.
Table 12 displays the findings regarding the sub
dimensions of the industrial internship scale according to
whether students have received job offers at the end of
the program. When the findings are examined, in the
evaluations of the statements “Benefits of the industrial
internship” [t(252) = 3.473; p <
<<
< 0.05], “Advantages of the
industrial internship” [t(252) = 3.031; p <
<<
< 0.05] and
“Conditions of the workplace” [t(252) = 2.304; p <
<<
< 0.05]
and “Industrial internship training” [t(252) = 2.694; p <
<<
<
0.05] significant discrepancies have been found between
those who have been offered jobs and those who have
not at the end of the internship program whereas no such
discrepancies have been discovered in the item
“Industrial internship procedures” [t(252) = 0.147; p >
>>
>
0.05]. In all the significant differences that emerged, it is
seen that those students who received job offers from the
companies where they performed their internships
displayed higher levels of contentment compared to
those who did not. It seems the fact that the students
successfully adapted to their internship programs, that
they took the program seriously and that they were
enthusiastic about gaining more experience in their job
has led to their benefiting considerably from the intern-
ship program. As a result, those students whose
disciplined attitudes were appreciated by the employers
got job offers from them. It can be concluded that there is
a linear relationship between the contentment level of the
students with the internship program and their receiving
job offers.
Findings as to whether students’ opinions about the
sub dimensions of the internship scale differ
according to the university they are attending
Table 13 displays the findings as to whether students’
1142 Int. J. Phys. Sci.
Table 12. T-test results regarding the sub dimensions of the industrial internship scale according to whether
students have received job offers.
Items Gender N
X
S t Sig.
Male 100 3.92 0.67
The benefits of industrial internship Female 154 3.59 0.77 3.473 0.001*
Male 100 3.83 0.81
To bring in industrial internship Female 154 3.51 0.80 3.031 0.003*
Male 100 3.70 0.74
Conditions in industry Internship workplace Female 154 3.49 0.70 2.304 0.022*
Male 100 2.61 0.78
Procedures of industry internship Female 154 2.77 0.85 1.454 0.147
Male 100 3.57 0.76
Industrial internship training Female 154 3.29 0.85 2.694 0.008*
*The mean difference is significant at the
Table 13. Findings regarding the differences in students’ opinions about the sub dimensions of the internship scale according to the
university they are attending.
Dimensions University N
Χ
S F Sig.
Gazi University 66 3.70 0.79
Kocatepe University 51 3.79 0.70
Süleyman Demirel
University 31 3.89 0.64
Karabük University 58 3.52 0.67
Düzce University 48 3.79 0.90
The benefits of industrial internship
Total 254 3.72 0.75
1.618 0.170
Gazi University 66 3.65 0.87
Kocatepe University 51 3.65 0.90
Süleyman Demirel
University 31 3.61 0.79
Karabük University 58 3.55 0.68
Düzce University 48 3.69 0.85
To bring in industrial internship
Total 254 3.63 0.82
0.215 0.930
Gazi University 66 3.51 0.64
Kocatepe University 51 3.66 0.77
Süleyman Demirel
University 31 3.57 0.60
Karabük University 58 3.53 0.69
Düzce University 48 3.61 0.89
Conditions in industry internship
workplace
Total 254 3.57 0.72
0.378 0.824
Gazi University 66 2.78 0.92
Kocatepe University 51 2.60 0.80
Procedures of industry internship Süleyman Demirel
University 31 2.94 0.66
1.116 0.349
Okay and Sahin 1143
Table 13. Contd.
Karabük University 58 2.64 0.82
Düzce University 48 2.64 0.80
Total 254 2.70 0.82
Gazi University 66 3.32 0.86
Kocatepe University 51 3.50 0.97
Süleyman Demirel University 31 3.48 0.82
Karabük University 58 3.37 0.68
Düzce University 48 3.35 0.81
Industrial internship training
Total 254 3.40 0.83
0.463 0.763
The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.
opinions about the sub dimensions of the internship scale
differ according to the university they are attending. Table
13 displays the findings regarding the differences in
students’ opinions about the sub dimensions of the
internship scale according to the school they are
attending. When the findings are examined, no significant
discrepancies have been found in any of the factor in
terms of the university variable [F(4,249)= 1.618; p >
>>
>
0.05], [F(4,249)= 0.215; p >
>>
> 0.05], [F(4,249) = 0.378; p >
>>
>
0.05], [F(4,249)= 1.116; p >
>>
> 0.05], [F(4,249)= 0.463; p >
>>
>
0.05]. In all the universities, similar means have been
revealed in the evaluations of the students who have
completed their internship programs. Thus, it can be
concluded that the university being attended is not a
variable which would create a significant difference in the
evaluation of the internship program.
Conclusion
The following results have been obtained through the
survey conducted among those FTE students who have
completed their internships: During their internship
programs students have had the opportunity to make use
of new technology and modern equipment related to their
fields. In this way, they have been able to notice their
professional shortcomings in terms of theory and
practice. Theoretical knowledge gained in school has
been put into practice during internship, making up for the
lack of practice at school. One of the main reasons for
the high rates of young unemployed people is that young
people are declined by businesses due to their lack of
experience. On the other hand, in developed countries an
effective application system provides young people with
better chances of finding jobs (ILO, 2009).
Industrial internship has enabled them to have more
concrete ideas about the work life they will be entering
after university. In line with this, there has been an
increase in students’ awareness of using their time more
efficiently. One of the important attitudes adopted during
internship is life-long learning. It is also believed that
students have developed their senses of understanding
ethical responsibilities. It can be said that students have
gained a lot of experience in their skills regarding working
as a team, which will contribute to them a lot when they
start working. It should also be noted that students have
considerably improved their communication skills.
As a whole, it has been discovered that students hold
positive opinions as regards the conditions of the work
places they did their internships at. They have stated that
the number of the employees at the workplace was
sufficient and that they were also proficient in their fields.
However, approximately one-fifth of the students have
noted that the training they received was not in line with
the subjects they were studying and that the conditions in
the work places did not meet the required standards.
According to Töre (2007), some institutions in the private
and public sector regard having students do internship as
a “burden” and so they become reluctant. Aydagül (2006)
also mentions the fact that interns do not receive the
importance they deserve at these places.
Nearly half of the students find the internship files too
detailed. On the other hand, three-fourths of the students
do not seem to encounter any problems regarding finding
a workplace to do their internship and being provided with
enough knowledge about their fields. Kudatgobilik (2007)
states that school administrations are inadequate at
showing enough effort to facilitate student contact with
businesses.
Students have stated that, in general, the duration of
the internship program was sufficient that the employees
at the workplaces where they did their internship showed
interest in their training. In his study, Ata (2007) points to
the fact that the duration of the internship program is
actually insufficient to meet the amount of experience
needed in real business life. On the other hand, students
think that the internship program covers the subjects that
are being taught at school. However, about one-fifth of
the students do not hold a positive opinion on this issue.
Binici and Arı (2004) have pointed out that internship
practice still has not been put on a legal basis, lowering
the quality of the students’ internship performance.
1144 Int. J. Phys. Sci.
Based on the gender variable, there is no significant
discrepancy in students’ opinions regarding industrial
internship. It can be said that gender is not a variable
which causes significant discrepancies among students’
opinions regarding industrial internship. It has been
discovered that those students who received job offers
from the companies where they performed their intern-
ships displayed higher levels of contentment compared to
those who did not. It seems the fact that the students
successfully adapted to their internship programs, that
they took the program seriously, and that they were
enthusiastic about gaining more experience in their job
has led to their benefiting considerably from the
internship program. As a result, those students whose
disciplined attitudes were appreciated by the employers
got job offers from them. It can be concluded that there is
a linear relationship between the contentment level of the
students with the internship program and their receiving
job offers. In all the universities, similar means have been
revealed in the evaluations of the students who have
completed their internship programs. Thus, it can be
concluded that the university being attended is not a
variable which would create a significant difference in the
evaluation of the internship program.
As a result of the findings obtained in the study
conducted among those FTE machine drawing and
construction students who have completed their
internship programs, the following suggestions can be
made:
(1) The department (internship committee) needs to play
a more active role in helping students find a workplace to
do their internship
(2) With the help of the internship committee the
efficiency of workplaces can be assessed and those that
fulfill the required conditions can be given priority.
(3) Workplaces where students will be doing their
internships can be assessed by taking into consideration
the number of the staff, their qualifications and their
interest level in students’ training.
(4) The internship file can be revised and simplified.
(5) Throughout their internship students can be
supervised by the internship committee. The inspection of
the workplaces does not have to be at a time when
students are working. Moreover, managers can be
contacted through e-mails or telephone. However, in
order for this to be done, the workplace needs to have
become institutionalized. Guiding students towards
institutionalized firms would enable supervision to be
more effective.
(6) In order for students to be able to receive job offers
from the businesses where they do their internships, by
taking into consideration the opinions of the these
businesses, some revisions should be made as regards
the qualities the students should possess.
(7) Theoretical knowledge given at school and applied
work done at the workplace should be design in such a
way so as to eliminate the lack of basic skills seen in
students. To this end, for the future, it is essential to take
enhancement of skills and abilities as a basis in the
syllabus, to provide the opportunity for the students to
receive high-quality education, to create cooperation
between schools and businesses and to apply methods
that would help students adopt the life-long learning
philosophy.
(8) Paying students throughout their internships would
create positive effects on students.
(9) It has been found out that the effectiveness of the
internship increases with the increasing number of
trained technical personnel at the workplace.
(10) The managers should be contacted and notified not
to assign to students any work unrelated to their fields
and not to have them do useless work.
(11) Students can frequently be checked upon so that
they will take the internship more seriously. Supervision
should not be limited to only this. It can be made more
effective by interviewing students at the end of their
internship period while they are submitting their folders.
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Appendix
Factor 1: The benefits of industrial internship
1. Probation provided more information on current topics.
2. Probation provided opportunities related to my field
has to use modern tools and techniques.
3. Probation provided directions to my ideas business life
in future.
4. Probation provided the opportunity to see areas that I
was missing
5. Probation contributed transform from my theorical
knowledge to practical.
6. Probation acquired to ability using and planning time
efficiently.
Factor 2: The advantages of industrial internship
1. Internship helped to perceive necessity of life long
learning programmes.
2. Internship acquired oral communication ability.
3. Internship acquired to ability of disciplinary team work.
4. Internship provided awareness about vocational of
responsibility and ethical.
Factor 3: The conditions of the place of internship
1. Too many people were related to the field in
internships area
2. Proficiency level of employees on probation in the
vocational field was good
3. According to the weight of probation training in topics
that were used for training.
5. There is no mismatch of probation guide with the
desired qualification between their training
Factor 4: The procedures for industrial internship
1. Internship file is more detailed
2. Internships workplace manager had difficulty filling the
internship file
3. In internships workplace, there is difficulty in receiving
information in one’s field
4. There is difficulty in finding an internship workplace
Factor 5: Industrial internship education
1. Time course of the internship was enough.
2. Employees who have worked in the probation area
have enough interest in education training.
3. A probation which is parallel with education issues has
been covered.
