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Many employers experiment with virtual working modes for project-based work. Virtual internships are one such mode that is gaining increasing popularity worldwide, particularly e-internships that require remote working with employers. However, little is known about the extent to which e-internships present learning opportunities to such e-interns.

The current study examined mentoring experiences among a cross-sectional sample of 158 e-interns working for different companies. Data were collected using an online survey in two data collection rounds.

The length of the e-internships did not increase mentoring satisfaction, but the likelihood of e-interns having a mentor was higher the longer the e-internships. Mentoring was offered irrespective of working hours per week. Mentoring increased reported skill development, particularly in relation to their communication skills and their ability to think strategically about problems. In addition, mentored e-interns were more likely to have opportunities to cooperate with and help others. They likewise had opportunities to share information, knowledge and experiences.

The study recruited interns from various countries. Potentially relevant cultural differences were not explored as part of this study.

The results demonstrate that the benefits of mentoring observed in relation to traditional internships can be fostered in e-internships. E-internships represent an opportunity for managers and employees, regardless of company size, to become mentors. E-internships thus represent another work-integrated as well as work-applied learning and skill development opportunity that creates additional options for many interns and organisations alike.

The evidence suggests that mentoring is becoming a regularly available feature for virtual and temporary workers such as e-interns, many of which are hired for short-term projects. As remote working has become a standard practice, e-internships are on the rise – and worthy of further study in order to promote best practices.

This paper aims to probe into the implementation of internship courses under the five-year cosmetology program in Taiwan from the perspective of Dewey's philosophies in hopes that the analysis can serve as reference for schools in planning their internship courses in the future.

This paper probes into the off-campus internship courses under Taiwan's five-year junior college education program by applying Dewey's empirical philosophy.

The study aims to understand the learning experience acquired by students from learning by doing internship courses as reference for future internship design. The current internship courses comprise the follows: summer, during the semester and for a full academic year. The experience of summer internship is career exploration, the experience for semester internship is career experience and the experience from academic-year internship is career choice. The internship strategies are designed according to the three different internship approaches, so that the internship courses can implement the educational effect of “learning from experience”.

To minimize the discrepancy between the cosmetology program under the five-year junior college education and the employment market, credit-based off-campus internship courses are arranged for students' final years at school.

Through on-site trainings, students accumulate work experience and explore into a related career field. The accumulation of experience and gaining of insights mirror the philosophy of learning by doing, which involves students' reflective thinking.

It is hoped that the analysis can serve as reference for internship courses planning in the future.

The current study addresses how blockchain can deal with the challenges that the midstream liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply chain poses combined from a management standpoint. Such challenges are: the volume of transactions, communication hurdles and the lack of contemporary management tools. The paper proposes a comprehensive framework to assess the impact of blockchain implementation in the midstream LNG supply chain in order to tackle those barriers.

The basis of the research is the business process modelling (BPM), through which entities, roles, tasks, resources and transactions can be modelled and simulated. The modelling of the midstream LNG supply chain, via BPM, is based on guidelines of the Society of International Gas Tanker and Terminal Operators (SIGGTO) and common industry business models. A quantitative analysis is employed to support the motivation and the potential impact of blockchain implementation. The methodology is used to identify (1) inefficiencies related to large volume of transactions between stakeholders and (2) critical areas of an LNG shipping company, where blockchain can be implemented.

Process repeatability, numerous shared documentation forms, excessive paperwork and communication imbroglios are mapped from the modelling section. Up to 327 processes are repeated during a typical vessel voyage, and up to 122 shared documentation forms are exchanged. Excessive paperwork and communication imbroglios are tracked through, which correspond to 25 severe errors as detected. By implementing the methodology, stakeholders can quantify the possible impact of blockchain on the operational performance of each stakeholder's operations separately and the supply chain as a whole in terms of real-time monitoring, transparency and paperwork reduction, time and cost savings.

The research has certain limitations deriving from its conceptual nature. The business processes' modelling is based on standard procedures described in the guidelines by SIGGTO and may need further adjustment for specific use cases. A structured case study has not been realisable as corporate data for an LNG shipping company regarding processes and other commercial sensitive information are required.

Potential practitioners may exploit the proposed framework as a low cost and seamless tool to evaluate how blockchain could disrupt their operations. Thus, the blockchain implementation's improvements or weaknesses can be pinpointed, and enabling the interested stakeholder of the LNG supply chain with specific feedback, it can guide them towards informed decisions on their operations.

The research has a novel approach as it combines the creation of practical management framework, with a comprehensive visualization of the midstream LNG supply chain. Thus, the reader can identify in which parts of the midstream LNG supply chain can blockchain be implemented, and what impact it could have in terms of supply chain operations.

In this study, the authors explore students' and industry’s perceptions about the challenges and opportunities of participating in a large-scale, non-compulsory, individual, in-person and unpaid business placement programme at an Australian university. The placement programme aims to support students' workplace transition by emphasising the development of key employability skills through reflective learning and linking theory to practice.

Utilising a case study methodology and integrating survey questionnaires, the authors collected both quantitative and qualitative data with large sample sizes.

The results highlight curriculum areas for improvement, emphasising tailored feedback to manage placement expectations and addressing employability skill strengths and weaknesses.

Recommendations include co-partnering with students to develop short, tailored and hot tip videos along with online learning modules, including the presentation of evidence-based statistics to inform students about post-programme employment prospects.

The study contributes to benchmarking good practices in non-compulsory, individual, in-person and unpaid placement pedagogy within the business education context.

This paper investigates the effects of working during university education on labour market outcomes of university graduates.

Based on data from three successive cohorts of graduates from the Spanish region of Catalonia, the authors estimate the effect of having worked in different types of jobs before graduation, classified according to work intensity and the match with the field of study, on the probability of being employed, having a permanent contract or having a job that requires the specific degree four years after graduation. The authors employ a multinomial endogenous treatment model that enables controlling for self-selection into pre-graduation working activities.

Pre-graduation work activities that are related to the field of study are generally beneficial for employability and job stability. Work experiences unmatched with the degree's content are detrimental for graduates' job–education match.

This is the first paper that jointly considers the role of work intensity (part-time vs full-time) and the relationship with the field of study in a framework that accounts for self-selection into different types of jobs. The authors also contribute to the literature by estimating the effect of pre-graduation jobs not only on the chances of being employed four years after graduation but also on two important aspects of job quality: having a permanent contract and having a job that requires the specific degree.

In order to address the complex problems of society, the innovation research process should incorporate technical, social, economic and ethical factors, but also actively involve a diverse group of non-scientific actors. One way to prepare students for this type of research is to create “Citizen Scholars,” students who want to work for the betterment of society. Arvanitakis and Hornsby (2016) argue that we need to change how we teach and train students in specific proficiencies. The purpose of this paper is to assess how the pedagogical approach applied within the program contributes to building the proficiencies and attributes as described by Arvanitakis and Hornsby (2016).

The authors conducted a total of 12 interviews with alumni who started their program in 2014, one focus group discussion with lecturers and 132 questionnaires with alumni to discuss to what extend the proficiencies are trained in the program and whether these are used in their current jobs. The authors also included data of an earlier study conducted in 2014. These data contain 26 interviews with students during the first year of the program. These students graduated in 2017 and are thus from the same cohort as the alumni.

The results show that the pedagogical approach in the management policy analysis program trains all the attributes. Important elements in the program are: the inquiry-based approach intertwined with community service learning (CSL) throughout the program; gradually increased complexity of the real-world problems addressed; students working in teams; and gradually reducing support of the lecturer.

The authors conclude that our pedagogical approach applied in the program contributes to learning the proficiencies. The authors argue that for the training of inter- and transdisciplinary, the proficiency knowledge integration should be added.

The result show that more inquiry-based approaches and CSL programs can stimulate the four clusters of proficiencies, which should hold a central place in universities if we want to create citizen scholars.

With the approach, students contribute to research issues of local communities.

Despite the increasing interest of higher education to involve civic activities in the curricula, few pedagogical approaches are described. The research shows that theoretical insights in the adaption of a model to realize a citizen scholar.

This paper describes a two-month summer intensive course designed to introduce participants with a hands-on technical craft on robotics and to acquire experience in the low-level details of embedded systems. Attendants started this course with a brief introduction to robotics; learned to draw, design and create a personalized 3D structure for their mobile robotic platform and developed skills in embedded systems. They were familiarize with the practices used in robotics, learning to connect all sensors and actuator, developing a typical application on differential kinematic using Arduino, exploring ROS features under Raspberry Pi environment and Arduino – Raspberry Pi communication. Different paradigms and some real applications and programming were addressed on the topic of Artificial Intelligence. Throughout the course, participants were introduced to programming languages (including Python and C++), advanced programming concepts such as ROS, basic API development, system concepts such as I2C and UART serial interfaces, PWM motor control and sensor fusion to improve robotic navigation and localization. This paper describes not just the concept, layout and methodology used on RobotCraft 2017 but also presents the participants knowledge background and their overall opinions, leading to focus on lessons learned and suggestions for future editions.