Abstract
The recent reforms in Norwegian higher education renew the focus on relevance and quality in education and on the importance of the learning environments for the students. This is particularly important in higher education in the professions, as its major task is to prepare students for future work as professionals in various fields — in other words to develop a professional competence (Rolf et al. 1993). Gaining insight into professional competence and how and to what degree current instructional strategies in professional higher education afford professional competence, becomes imperative — based on empirical data.
In Norway, nursing and engineering education use different approaches when preparing students for practice. To what extent do each education develop relevant preparation for work and professional competence? In a field study, I have followed, interviewed and observed two groups of students of nursing and engineering over an extended period in their final year of education. This paper focuses on and reports from the students' perspective: What do students view as characteristics of professional competence? And, in what sense and to what degree have students, in their own views, experienced that the cultures of learning (knowledge and learning processes) of their education have facilitated the development of professional competence? A descriptive and comparative analysis of the two groups of students' views and experiences is given in the paper.