Petroleum Engineering Education - Combination Field Work and Class Work

Cooperative education for engineers is based on the premise that theory and practice are inseparable in training men for the engineering profession, and the two must be advanced simultaneously in order to train men most successfully and efficiently. The teaching of theory obviously should be done by the college but the practice must be obtained in the field where the application of the theory is made. The ideally trained engineer is one that knows theory, can apply the theory to practice, can direct, and work with, his fellow men. The old four-year plan of training engineers does a fair job of teaching the underlying theory of engineering but neglects entirely the training necessary for application of the theory, except through laboratory experiments, and the training in adjustments necessary to direct and work with men. An engineer, like a lawyer, doctor, dentist or other professionally trained man, cannot practice until he has had practical experiences that give him a knowledge of the other phases of his profession. The doctor serves as an interne, the lawyer reads law in the office of a practicing attorney, and the engineer must enter the profession as a laborer or as an apprentice, unless he has had the advantage of a cooperative education. Cooperative education provides the opportunity for the coordination of practical and theoretical training for the engineering profession throughout the period of training and thus eliminates many that are unfit to enter the profession, giving them an opportunity to seek other fields for which they may be better fitted, and reduces the overhead in industry that results from a large turnover of men not fitted for the profession. The Cooperative Plan Cooperative education in engineering is no longer an experiment. It was inaugurated at the University of Cincinnati in 1904 by Dean Herman Schneider, and has worked successfully ever since. Over twenty schools offer this type of education and many thousands of young men have had the opportunity to receive their technical training under this plan. Under the cooperative plan a student attends class for a period of eight weeks, then enters industry for eight weeks, maintaining this schedule