This project was designed to determine the most appropriate system that would enable employer engagement with analytical science students via the use of technology and to integrate the use of the technology into the curriculum of the undergraduate Forensic Science course.  From the communication technologies available, two were selected representing the best available meeting/conferencing technologies; videoconferencing (VCON) and the online FlashMeeting (FM).

Volunteer students from the UWE Instrumental Analytical Science (IAS) module presented a 10 minute presentation based on a practical analytical technique learned in the course, followed by a 10 minute feedback from the employers.  The presentations were recorded and all students on the IAS course were required to complete a 400-word assessment based on the employers’ feedback.  The acceptability of this protocol was evaluated from the responses from the three different groups; presenting students, non-presenting students and employers.

VCON and FM were both found to be fit-for-purpose and acceptable to both students and employers.  The two systems had complementary strengths; VCON was an excellent quality and stable system with limited uptake in industry because of initial setup costs, whereas FM is free and does not incur setup costs but is susceptible to connection problems and a lack of audio and video quality.  Both systems are acceptable to employers, although VCON was the technology of choice.  FM may become more viable with improved internet speed and connection stability, and from the improvement of mobile technology.

The presenting students and employers viewed the engagement as constructive and a valuable experience.  The standard of the presentations and the encouragement to the student from the employers were highly appreciated.  The quality of communication was vital to the positive experience of both these groups.  The non-presenting students were rather negative about the assessment, but the reasons for this are clearly defined and discussed.  In subsequent years it will be eminently possible to address all of these concerns based on the learning experiences of this initial year. 

A measure of the success of the engagement has been the willingness of the employers to participate in future years and the commitment of UWE to continue the employer engagement with limited modifications for the IAS students and potentially other forensic science courses involving analytical techniques.