Reflective Practice to Connect Theory and Practice; Working and Studying Concurrently

Core challenge for educating systems engineers is the need for students to have a frame of reference of practice to appreciate the theory they learn. In this paper, we report on the use of reflective practice to connect theory and practice. Since 2008, our master education mandates a special course Reflective Practice. The course gradually evolves, based on observations and feedback. Appreciation of the course is high, however, students still perceive applying of systems engineering in practice as difficult.