STUDENT INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPERIENCE SCHEME (SIWES REPORT)

CHAPTER ONE

1.0       INTRODUCTION TO SIWES

The Student Industrial Work-Experience Scheme (SIWES) is a planned and supervised training intervention based on stated and specific learning and career objectives, and geared towards developing the occupational competencies of the participants. It is a programme required to be undertaken by all students of tertiary institutions in Nigeria pursuing courses in “specialized engineering, technical, business, applied sciences and applied arts” (ITF, 2004a).

Therefore, SIWES is generic, cutting across over 60 programmes in the universities, over 40 programmes in the polytechnics and about 10 programmes in the colleges of education. Thus, SIWES is not specific to any one course of study or discipline.

1.1       SIWES, A REAL EXPERIENCE

According to Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES). A practical approach a book written by K.W Ojesola, G.A. Adebisi and G.O. Oyeleke. Some challenges that could be faced during SIWES were disclosed. The challenges include:

• Changing of environment
• Production tension
• Limited finance
• Inability to operate tools or gadgets at a start of SIWES among others

All those challenges are those that can make us to gather more experience. challenges are synonymous to life. A life without challenges is not complete. Hence one can say that they are the “spice” of life. In any case, the fortitude to face it is what makes who you are, the more of such challenges you face, the more you become master of the situations. You know, we go to school to learn, but if we have learnt enough there is no further need to go to school, meanwhile, SIWES is also a school being a training ground where you learn more. So, the challenges have exposed me to learn more. So the challenges have exposed me to learn more about the field “Office Technology and Management” and life generally.

A big thanks to those that brought the idea of SIWES into the education system, for the benefits of student to know about the labour market before they finish their study. Indeed its an experience.

1.2       AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF SIWES

SIWES is a practical aspect of learning which is done in university and polytechnic in Nigeria and in some other countries. It was established for the purpose of bridging the gap between theories and the knowledge acquired by students in institutions of higher learning on one hand and the practical industrial work on the other. Its objectives are as follows:

• To give practical exposure to students on technological advancement in their various field of study.
• It provides an avenue for students in higher institutions of learning to acquire industrial skills and experience in their course of study.
• It prepared students for the industrial work situation they will meet after graduation.
• It exposes students to work methods and techniques in handling equipment and machinery that may not be available in their institutions.
• It provides students with an opportunity to apply the knowledge in real work situation to their training thereby bridging the gap between theory and practice.

1.3       IMPORTANCE OF SIWES

            Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme pay a crucial role in the society few of them are.

• It helps to develop more interest in the course of study
• It improve the students skill and knowledge
• It helps students to be more discipline and obedient
• It exposed students to Industrial culture

CHAPTER TWO

2.0       INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER

2.1       HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF COMPUTER

Computer is fast becoming the universal machine of the 21st century. Early computerswere large in size and too expensive to be owned by individuals. Thus they wereconfined to the laboratories and few research institutes. They could only be programmedby computer engineers. The basic applications were confined to undertaking complexcalculations in science and engineering. Today, computer is no longer confined thelaboratory. Computers and indeed, computing have become embedded in almost everyitem we use. Computing is fast becoming ubiquitous. Its application transcends science,engineering, communication, space science, aviation, financial institutions, socialsciences, humanities, the military, transportation, manufacturing, extractive industries tomention but a few. This unit presents the background information about computers.

2.2       A BRIEF HISTORY OF COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

A complete history of computing would include a multitude of diverse devices such as the ancient Chinese abacus, the Jacquard loom (1805) and Charles Babbage’s “analytical engine” (1834). It would also include discussion of mechanical, analog and digital computing architectures. As late as the 1960s, mechanical devices, such as the Marchant calculator, still found widespread application in science and engineering. During the early days of electronic computing devices, there was much discussion about the relative merits of analog vs. digital computers. In fact, as late as the 1960s, analog computers were routinely used to solve systems of finite difference equations arising in oil reservoir modeling.

In the end, digital computing devices proved to have the power, economics and scalability necessary to deal with large scale computations. Digital computers now dominate the computing world in all areas ranging from the hand calculator to the supercomputer and are pervasive throughout society. Therefore, this brief sketch of the development of scientific computing is limited to the area of digital, electroniccomputers. The evolution of digital computing is often divided into generations. Each generation is characterized by dramatic improvements over the previous generation in the technology used to build computers, the internal organization of computer systems, and programming languages.

First Generation Electronic Computers (1937 – 1953)

Three machines have been promoted at various times as the first electronic computers. These machines used electronic switches, in form of vacuum tubes, instead of electromechanical relays. In principle the electronic switches were more reliable, since they would have no moving parts that would wear out, but technology was still new at that time and the tubes were comparable to relays in reliability. Electronic components had one major benefit, however: they could “open” and “close” about 1,000 times faster than mechanical switches. The earliest attempt to build an electronic computer was by J. V. Atanasoff, a professor of physics and mathematics at Iowa State, in 1937. Atanasoff set out to build a machine that would help his graduate students solve systems of partial differential equations.

Second Generation (1954 – 1962)

The second generation saw several important developments at all levels of computersystem design, from the technology used to build the basic circuits to the programminglanguages used to write scientific applications.Electronic switches in this era were based on discrete diode and transistor technologywith a switching time of approximately 0.3 microseconds. The first machines to be builtwith this technology include TRADIC at Bell Laboratories in 1954 and TX-0 at MIT’sLincoln Laboratory.

Third Generation (1963 – 1972)

The third generation brought huge gains in computational power. Innovations in this era

include the use of integrated circuits, or ICs (semiconductor devices with severaltransistors built into one physical component), semiconductor memories starting to beused instead of magnetic cores, microprogramming as a technique for efficientlydesigning complex processors, the coming of age of pipelining and other forms ofparallel processing , and the introduction of operating systems and time-sharing.

Fourth Generation (1972 – 1984)

The next generation of computer systems saw the use of large scale integration (LSI –

1000 devices per chip) and very large scale integration (VLSI – 100,000 devices perchip) in the construction of computing elements. At this scale entire processors will fitonto a single chip, and for simple systems the entire computer (processor, main memory,and I/O controllers) can fit on one chip. Gate delays dropped to about Ins per gate.Semiconductor memories replaced core memories as the main memory in most systems;until this time the use of semiconductor memory in most systems was limited to registersand cache. During this period, high speed vector processors, such as the CRAY 1,CRAY X-MP and CYBER 205 dominated the high performance computing scene.

Fifth Generation (1984 – 1990)

The development of the next generation of computer systems is characterized mainly bythe acceptance of parallel processing. Until this time, parallelism was limited to pipelining and vector processing, or at most to a few processors sharing jobs. The fifthgeneration saw the introduction of machines with hundreds of processors that could allbe working on different parts of a single program. The scale of integration insemiconductors continued at an incredible pace, by 1990 it was possible to build chipswith a million components – and semiconductor memories became standard on allcomputers.

Sixth Generation (1990 to date )

Transitions between generations in computer technology are hard to define, especially asthey are taking place. Some changes, such as the switch from vacuum tubes totransistors, are immediately apparent as fundamental changes, but others are clear only inretrospect. Many of the developments in computer systems since 1990 reflect gradualimprovements over established systems, and thus it is hard to claim they represent atransition to a new “generation”, but other developments will prove to be significantchanges.

2.3       DEFINITION OF COMPUTER

A computer is basically defined as a tool or machine used for processing data to give required information. It is capable of:

1. taking input data through the keyboard (input unit)
2. storing the input data in a diskette, hard disk or other medium
3. processing it at the central processing unit (CPU) and
4. giving out the result (output) on the screen or the Visual Display Unit (VDU).

A COMPUTER SYSTEM

2.4       CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTER

1. Speed: The computer can manipulate large data at incredible speed andresponse time can be very fast.
2. Accuracy: Its accuracy is very high and its consistency can be relied upon.Errors committed in computing are mostly due to human rather thantechnological weakness. There are in-built error detecting schemes in thecomputer.
3. Storage: It has both internal and external storage facilities for holding dataand instructions. This capacity varies from one machine to the other.Memories are built up in K(Kilo) modules where K = 1024 memorylocations.
4. Automatic: Once a program is in the computer’s memory, it can runautomatically each time it is opened. The individual has little or noinstruction to give again.
5. Reliability: Being a machine, a computer does not suffer human traits oftiredness and lack of concentration. It will perform the last job with the samespeed and accuracy as the first job every time even if ten million jobs areinvolved.
6. Flexibility: It can perform any type of task once it can be reduced to logicalsteps. Modern computers can be used to perform a variety of functions likeon-line processing, multi-programming, real time processing etc.

2.5       CATEGORIES OF COMPUTERS

Classification based on signal type

– Digital computer

– Analog computer

– Hybrid computer

Classification by purpose

– Special purpose

– General purpose

Classification by capacity

– Main frame

– Mini computers

– Micro computers

Classification Based On Signal Type

There are basically three types of electronic computers. These are the Digital, Analogand Hybrid computers.

Digital Computer

Represent its variable in the form of digits. It counts the data it deals with, whetherrepresenting numbers, letters or other symbols, are converted into binary form on inputto the computer.As a result of this, digital computers are mostly used in commercial andbusiness places today.

Analog Computer

It measures rather than counts. This type of computer sets up a model of a system.Common type represents it variables in terms of electrical voltage and sets up circuitanalog to the equation connecting the variables. The answer can be either by using avoltmeter to read the value of the variable required, or by feeding the voltage into aplotting device.

Hybrid Computer

In some cases, the user may wish to obtain the output from an analog computer asprocessed by a digital computer or vice versa. To achieve this, he set up a hybridmachine where the two are connected and the analog computer may be regarded as aperipheral of the digital computer. They are mainly used in aerospace andprocess control applications.

Classification By Purpose

Depending on their flexibility in operation, computers are classified as either special

purpose or general purpose.

Special Purpose Computers

A special purpose computer is one that is designed to solve a restricted class ofproblems. Such computers may even be designed and built to handle only one job.

General-Purpose Computers

General-Purpose computers are computers designed to handle wide range of problems.

Theoretically, a general-purpose computer can be adequate by means of some easily

alterable instructions to handle any problems that can be solved by computation. Examples of areas where the general purpose are employedinclude the following:

Payroll

• Banking
• Billing
• Sales analysis
• Cost accounting
• Manufacturing scheduling
• Inventory control

Classification of Computers According to Capacity

The capacity of computers was measured in terms of physical size. both memory size and cost shall be used to rank (classify) computer into threemain categories as follows:

(a)        Microcomputers

(b)        Medium/Mini/Small Computers

(c)        Large Computer/Main Frames.

Micro Computers

Microcomputers, also known as single board computers, are the cheapest class ofcomputers. In the microcomputer, we do not have a Central Processing Unit (CPU) aswe have in the larger computers rather we have a microprocessor chip as the main dataprocessing unit.

Mini Computers

The Mini Computers have memory capacity in the range 128K bytes to 256 Kbytes andare also not expensive but reliable and smaller in size compare to mainframe. It was firstintroduced in 1965; when DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) built the PDP – 8.Other Mini Computer includes WANG VS.

Mainframe

The Main Frame Computers often called number crunches have memory capacity of the

order of 4 Kbytes and they are very expensive. They can execute up to 100MIPS(Meanwhile Instructions Per Second). They have large systems and are used by manypeople for a variety of purpose.

Different Types of Personal Computers (Micro Computers)

personal computers are placed on table desk hence they are referred to asdesktop personal computers. Still other types are available under the categories ofpersonal computers. They are:

Laptop Computers: Theseare small size types that are battery-operated. The screen is usedto cover the system while the keyboard is installed flatly on the system unit. They couldbe carried about like a box when closed after operation and can be operated in vehicleswhile on a journey.

Notebook Computer: This is like laptop computers but smaller in size. Though small, it comprises all thecomponents of a full system.

Palmtop Computer: Palmtop computer is far smaller in size. All the components are complete as any of theabove but made smaller so that it can be held on the palm.

2.6       USES OF PERSONAL COMPUTERS

Personal computers can perform the following functions:

_ Can be used to produce documents like memos, reports, letters and briefs.

_ Can be used to calculate budget and accounting tasks

_ It can analyze numeric function

_ It can create illustrations

_ Can be used for electronic mails

2.7       ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF PERSONAL COMPUTERS

Advantages of Personal Computer

_ Computer is versatile; it can be used in any establishment.

_ Has faster speed for processing data.

_ Can deal with several data at a time

_ Capable of storing several data.

_ Network possible, that is linking of two or more computers together.

            Disadvantages of Personal Computers

_ Computer is costly to maintain.

_ It is very fragile and complex to handle

_ It requires special skill to operate

_ With the invention and innovation everyday, computer suffers from being obsolete

CHAPTER THREE

3.0       INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER COMPONENT

3.1       HARDWARE

A computer consists of hardware and software.

Hardware consists of the physical components of the computer, including such items as theCentral Processing Unit (CPU), motherboard, disk drives, monitor, and keyboard.There are four (4) types of computer hardware.

• The “Box”This is the central box andcontains several components,some optional

– CPU

– Hard disk (storage)

– RAM (random access memory)

– Video card

– Ethernet card

• Input Devices: These are the Devices use to give command to a computer system. They are as follows:

– Keyboard

– Mouse

– Scanner

– CD-ROM, DVD-R drives

– Microphone

– Touch screen

• Output Devices

– Monitor

– Printer

– Plotter

– Speakers

• Storage

– Disk Drives/ Hard Disk

            – Flash Drive

– Memory card

COMPUTER COMPONENT

3.2       SOFTWARE

Software consists all of the programs that you and the computer use to perform tasks. An essential piece of software on all computers is the Operating System. We will use a WINDOWS operating system for communication between the computer and the user and a variety of specialized applications software packages for word processing, data entry, management and statistical analyses.

3.3       INTRODUCTION TO DATA AND INFORMATION

Data is referred to facts about a person, object or place e.g. name, age,complexion, school, class, height etc.

InformationIs referred to as processed data or a meaningful statement e.g. Net pay of

workers, examination results of students, list of successful candidates in an examinationor interview etc.

INPUT                                    PROCESSING                       OUTPUT

STAGES OF COMPUTER UNIT

3.4       METHODS OF DATA PROCESSING

The following are the three major methods that have been widely used for data

processing over the years:

1. Manual method
2. Mechanical method and
3. Computer method.

Manual Method

The manual method of data processing involves the use of chalk, wall, pen pencil and thelike. These devices, machine or tools facilitate human efforts in recording, classifying,manipulating, sorting and presenting data or information.

Mechanical Method

The mechanical method of data processing involves the use of machines such astypewriter, roneo machines, adding machines and the like. These machines facilitatehuman efforts in recording, classifying, manipulating, sorting and presenting data orinformation.

Computer Method

The computer method of carrying out data processing has the following major

features:

1. Data can be steadily and continuously processed
2. The operations are practically not noisy
3. There is a store where data and instructions can be stored temporarily andpermanently.
4. Errors can be easily and neatly corrected.
5. Accuracy and reliability are highly enhanced.

3.5       APPLICATION PACKAGES

Application packages are the software that have been design to perform a specific function to the computer users. They are:

1. Microsoft Office
2. Microsoft Word
3. Microsoft Excel

• Microsoft Access

1. Microsoft Power point
2. Corel Draw
3. Instant Artist

• Microsoft Word/Word Processing: This is the application use to format text or document. It is also use to type a document in an organization.

• Microsoft Excel: It is also refers to as spreadsheet, it is use to manipulate any things in row and column format.Itis also use in an organization to input financial statement of account at the end of the week, month, or year

• Microsoft Access: This is used to keep someone profile and it is used to manage users contact

• Microsoft Power point:It is also known also presentation software. This is an application that deals with slide, it is used to present Seminar, workshop etc.

• Corel Draw: This is an application for graphics design it is used to implement and make a graphics perfect and okay.
• Instant Artist: This is used as a graphics also, it contain many template such as picture, greetings card, etc.

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0       WORKING EXPERIENCE AND JOB UNDERTAKEN

4.1       WORKING EXPERIENCE

The following are what I have the privileged to gain during the attachment period of SIWES

• How to attend to a customer
• Making of photocopy
• Printing of document
• How to make use of mouse
• Application Packages
• Computer component

4.2       JOB UNDERTAKEN

The following are the work that I undertake during the SIWES Period.

• Positioning of hands then using the Mouse
• Turning the Computer On and Off
• Multitasking Exercise
• Working on Application Packages
• Inserting Text
• Printing of Document
• Scanning of Document

1. Positioning of hands then using the Mouse

• Let your hand rest comfortably on top of the mouse. Most people are right-handed and therefore, the mouse is usually on the right side of the computer. All left-handed folks don’t have to worry because millions of “lefties” use computers. Some left-handed people simply move the mouse over to their left side of the computer and use it there. Others use their right hand and soon become ambidextrous! It’s most important to remember to “do what’s most comfortable for you!” For teaching purposes, we will now continue using the right hand terminology.
• Fit the palm of your hand around the mouse, with your index finger resting on the left (the primary) mouse button and your middle finger resting on the right (the secondary) mouse button. Let the heel of your hand rest on the desk or table.
• As you move the mouse, the mouse pointer (the cursor on the screen) will move in the same direction as your hand.

2. Turning the Computer On and Off

On a desktop computer, there will be a button to turn on the computer. Similarly, there will usually be a button on the monitor to turn on the monitor. These buttons are usually on the front of the computer and the monitor.

Turning a computer off takes more practice. You should follow the procedure below that allows the computer to properly store files. Avoid unplugging the computer or holding down the power button, unless the computer freezes.

1. Click on the start button at the bottom left of the screen.
2. From the start menu choose Shut down.
3. In the dialog box that opens, select Shut down (if it isn’t already pre-selected).
4. Click on the OK button.
5. Wait until the monitor turns black and the computer is no longer making a humming noise. Lastly, turn off the computer monitor by pressing the power button on the monitor.

3. Multitasking Exercise
4. First open a program (try notepad). Notice how the name of the program is displayed in a button on the taskbar. (This is true for most programs, however certain programs (commonly intense full-screen games) will take up the entire screen and hide the taskbar.
5. Next press the minimize button at the top. See how the program disappears on your screen, but its button with its name is still in the taskbar.
6. Now open another program (try calculator). Minimize that program also. See how it also is still in the Taskbar. The Taskbar always shows you what you haveopened, even if you have minimized it and it is no longer on the screen. You can open as many programs as you want. To make the program reappear, left click its name and it will pop up.
7. Try clicking on the other program on the taskbar. See how that program comes up too (probably over the other one). Now click on the other program’s window. It will come to the front. When you are done with a task/program, just simply click on the “X” button and it will close.

Inserting Text

Use the mouse or arrow keys to place the insertion point within the text at the point where the text is to be inserted.

Type the desired text.

Printing

Often, you might want a printed version (a hard copy) of your letter or document to take with you. Most word processing programs make it easy to print. First, make sure you have a printer hooked up. If you don’t have a printer, ask a trusted technology-savvy person to help you get one. To print an open file using printing options:

1. From the FILE menu, choose PRINT.
2. In the dialog box that opens (similar to the one on the right), select the printing options

that you want to apply.

3. Click on the OK button (or Cancel button if you are not ready to print).

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0       RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION

5.1       RECOMMENDATIONS

The following recommendations were based on the findings of the study and as a solution to the identified problems.

1. PROPER COORDINATION AND SUPERVISION OF THE EXERCISE: The various bodies involved in the management of the SIWES exercise i.e. Federal Government, Industrial Training Fund (ITF), NUC, NBTE and NCCE should come together and fashion out a modality that will ensure smooth operation of the SIWES exercise. Efforts should be made to ensure that students attached to the organization are properly supervised to ensure that what they are doing is inline with the objectives of the SIWES exercise.
2. The various bodies involved in the management of the SIWES programmes should liaise with the various industries ahead of tune so as to minimize or reduce to the barest minimum the high level of refusal to accept students for their industrial training participation.

iii.        ISSUING OF LOG BOOKS/IT LETTERS ON TIME: The log books used by the student during the industrial training period and the IT letters should be issued to the students at the end of the first semester exam as against the end of second semester examination as this will afford the students enough time to search for place that are relevant to their field of study.

1. EMPLOYMENT OF EXPERTS: The various institutions should endeavour to employ experts in the areas of career development to manage the student’s industrial placement centres.

5.2       CONCLUSION

From the evaluation so far, there seems to exist a wide margin in the reality and actualization of the objectives of the students industrial work experience scheme (SIWES). It is disheartening to note that lack of proper coordination and supervision of the exercise is a factor limiting the full actualization of the objectives of the SIWES, this however, implies that for the students to be fully equipped with skills/knowledge required for efficiency in the place of work all hands must be on deck. The federal government through the industrial training fund and other agencies involved in the SIWES programme should wake up and address the situation to ensure that the loopholes in the system are covered.

REFERENCES

Adebisi G.A. Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES). A practical approach a book written

Atanasoff, J.V. (1937); The earliest attempt to build an electronic computer

Adetoun (2001); Classification of Computer based on signal, purpose and capacity

Jacquard loom (1805); “analytical engine”