Abstract:

Dual higher education programmes pose significant challenges for the assessment of student competencies during curricular internships, particularly in heterogeneous environments such as micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. In the case of the Bachelor’s Degree in Automotive Engineering at the University of the Basque Country, more than 35 companies have participated since its implementation, ranging from microenterprises such as Silver Car, S.L. to multinational corporations such as Mercedes-Benz and Michelin. Internships are carried out over four consecutive semesters and annually involve approximately 40 students, 33 academic staff members, and a similar number of company mentors. This degree programme complies with the requirements of the EHUduala model and the Spanish Royal Decree 822/2021 for the Dual Mention.

Within this context, the evaluation of competencies in a homogeneous manner becomes particularly complex due to the diversity of companies, tasks, and individual learning situations. Although there is extensive theoretical literature on internship assessment and general frameworks defined in degree curricula, these approaches are often insufficient for operational evaluation in real work environments.

The objective of this study is to develop and describe a structured workflow protocol and a clear, transparent, and manageable assessment system, applied to a real case study in a micro-SME characterized by a high diversity and complexity of tasks.

The methodology is based on an applied research approach conducted over four semesters with a small group of six students. This process has enabled the accumulation of practical experience to define, within a specific company context, workflow structures, identify student tasks, map them to degree competencies, and determine their level of achievement. Additionally, the study optimizes the number of meetings, feedback processes, and evaluation mechanisms. Given that each company, department, and student generates a unique learning pathway, the study focuses on identifying common elements that can be grouped to simplify the process and facilitate its transferability to other contexts.

The results include:
(i) the definition of a structured workflow model for internships,
(ii) the development of a competency-based assessment system integrating academic and professional criteria, and
(iii) the creation of adaptable evaluation tools that ensure coherence across heterogeneous environments.

The proposed framework enhances transparency, comparability, and feasibility in monitoring and assessing competency acquisition in dual education programmes.

Keywords:

Curricular, internship, dual education, evaluation, competencies.