Development of A Cooperarative Education Model of THAI-NICHI Institute of Technology

Abstract

The purposes of this study were 1) to study the current status of cooperative education program of Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology, 2) to develop a model of cooperative education program of Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology, 3) to study the appropriateness and the feasibility of the model, and 4) to implement the developed model of cooperative education program of Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology. The study was conducted in four stages. The first stage was to investigate the current status of cooperative education program from the opinions of the related persons by using the questionnaires and the structured interview. The second stage was to develop a model of cooperative education program of Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology based on concept and principle of Japanese management (Monozukuri) by using a focus group method from cooperative education program experts. The third stage was to verify the appropriateness and the possibility in practice of the developed model from the opinions of the related persons by using the questionnaires. The fourth stage was to implement the developed model in the aspect of the continued cooperative education program activities by investigating the satisfactions of the related persons by using the questionnaires.  The findings of this study revealed that 1) the current status of cooperative education program of Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology in the aspects of the cooperative education coordinating organization and the aspect of the continued cooperative education program activities were rated at a “moderate” level, while the cooperative education curriculum and activities was rated at a “high” level,  2) the model of cooperative education program of Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology based on concept and principle of Japanese management (Monozukuri) from the focus group method of the experts consisted of three aspects: the cooperative education coordinating organization, the cooperative education curriculum and activities, and the continued cooperative education activities,  3) the related persons rated the appropriateness and feasibility of the model in overall and each aspect at a high level and statistically significant higher than the set criterion at the level of .01. and 4) for the implementation of the model in the aspect of the continued cooperative education activities, the cooperative education advisors and cooperative education staff were satisfied with the model at the highest level and statistically significant higher than the set criterion at the level of .01. The cooperative education mentors in companies and the cooperative education students were satisfied with the model at a “high” level and statistically significant higher than the set criterion at the level of .01 as well.