Practicum vs. Practica

Practicum

A practicum (also called work placement, especially in the UK) is a graduate level course, often in a specialized field of study, that is designed to give students supervised practical application of a previously or concurrently studied theory. Practicums (student teaching) are common for education and social work majors. In some cases, the practicum may be a part-time student teaching placement that occurs the semester before a student’s full-time student teaching placement.

The process resembles an internship; however, the latter is often not part of the school program.

Practicum is widely practiced in Asia, especially in India. There, a B.Ed. student has to undergo rigorous training in Teaching and they have to face a lot of practicums to earn their degree. It generally makes one practically face a situation and describe their experience. It differs from Practical in terms of its handling mainly alive beings whereas Practical is confined within the inert materials.