Showing papers on "Cooperative education published in 2010"

Learning through practice : models, traditions, orientations and approaches

Abstract: Series Foreword Series Editors' Foreword Contents Contributors 1. Learning through Practice 1.1 Learning through Practice 1.2 Emerging and Growing Interest in Learning through Practice 1.3 Approaches to and Models of Learning through Practice 1.4 Section One: Conceptual Premises of Learning through Practice 1.5 Section Two: Instances of Practice 2. Learning in Praxis, Learning for Praxis 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Praxis and Theory 2.2.1 A Historical Perspective 2.2.2 A Phenomenological Perspective 2.3 Learning at/for Work: A Case from Fish Culture 2.4 Coda 3. Knowledge, Working Practices, and Learning 3.1 My Perspective on Knowledge 3.2 Learning Trajectories 3.3 The Construction of Professional Practices in the Workplace 3.4 How do People Learn at Work? 3.5 Transfer of Knowledge Between Contexts 3.6 Factors Affecting Learning at Work 3.7 The Role of the Manager in Supporting Learning 4. The Practices of Learning through Occupations 4.1 Learning for and through Practice 4.2 Historical Conceptions of Learning through Practice and their Worth 4.3 Participatory Practice: A Conception of Learning through Practice 4.4 Individuals' Engagement, Agency, and Subjectivity Invitational Qualities 4.5 Intersubjectivity, Appropriation, and Extending Knowledge 4.6 Participation and Learning 5. Objectual Practice and Learning in Professional Work 5.1 Professional Work and Learning 5.2 New Contexts for Professional Work 5.3 Object-related Learning 5.4 The Study 5.5 Dynamics of Objectual Practice in Computer Engineering 5.5.1 Interplay between Explorative and Confirmative Practice 5.5.2 Linking Practitioners with Wider Knowledge Communities 5.5.3 Mediating Participation along Multiple Timescales 5.5.4 Facilitating Reflexive Learning 5.6 Concluding Remarks 6. Learning through and about Practice: A Lifeworld Perspective 6.1 A Need to Reexamine Learning through Practice 6.2 Historical Development of Lifeworld Perspective 6.3 Ways of Being in Workplace Contexts 6.4 Learning Ways of Being in Higher Education Contexts 6.5 Learning from a Lifeworld Perspective: Developing Ways of Being 7. Conceptualising Professional Identification as Flexibility, Stability and Ambivalence 7.1. Learning and Professional Identification as Life Politics 7.1.1 Flexibility - Stability - Ambivalence 7.2 Empirical Data 7.3 Becoming an Engineer or a Physician 7.3.1 Becoming an Engineer 7.3.2 Becoming a Physician 7.4 Being an Engineer or a Physician 7.4.1 Identification as a Flexible Strategy or a Permanent State 7.4.2 Engineer - Confined to Workplace, Occupation, and Hours 7.4.3 Physician - Profession Associated with Personality 7.5 Flexibility, Stability, and Ambivalence in Practice 7.6 Work, Life Politics, and Sustainable Life 7.6.1 Lifelong Qualification as Exclusion 7.6.2 Learning and Professional Identification as Life Politics 7.7 Concluding Remarks 8. Developing Vocational Practice and Social Capital in Jewellery 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Workplace and Practice-based Learning 8.3 The Development of Work Placement Scheme in the Jewellery Industry 8.4 The Development of Vocational Practice in the Jewellery Industry 8.5 Practice-based Learning: Epistemic and Pedagogic Issues 8.6 Conclusion 9. Guidance as an Interactional Accomplishment Practice-based Learning within the Swiss VET System 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Apprenticeship in the Swiss VET System 9.3 Researching Vocational Learning and Language-in-Interaction 9.4 An Interactional Approach to Guidance in the Workplace 9.4.1 Spontaneous Guidance 9.4.2 Requested Guidance 9.4.3 Distributed Guidance 9.4.4 Denied Guidance 9.5 Concluding Remarks and Practical Implications 10. Cooperative Education: Integrating Classroom and Workplace Learning 10.1 Cooperative Education as a Model of Practice-based Learning 10.2 The Development of Cooperative Education 10.3 The Organisational Milieu of Cooperative Education 10.4 Theorising Learning in Cooperative Education 10.5 Integrating Classroom and Workplace Learning 10.6 The Real Value of Cooperative Education 11. Individual Learning Paths of Employees in the Context of Social Networks 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Viewing the Organisation as a Network of Actors 11.3 Learning-Relevant Experiences Gained from the Work Network 11.3.1 How Actors Organise Work: A Cycle 11.3.2 Four Ideal Types of Work Process 11.3.3 Three Dimensions in Work-Network Structures 11.4 Learning-Relevant Experiences Gained in the Learning Network 11.4.1 Actors Organise Learning Networks: A Cycle 11.4.2 Actors Create Learning Programmes 11.4.3 Four Ideal Types of Learning Network 11.4.4 The Importance of Actors' Action Theories 11.5 How do Employees create their Individual Learning Paths? 11.6 Learning, Networks, Structure, and Agency 12. Apprenticeships: What happens in On-the-Job Training (OJT)? 12.1 Apprenticeship and Learning 12.1.1 Institutional History of Apprenticeship Programmes in the US 12.2 Methodology of this Study 12.3 The Physical Context of the Classroom as compared to the Field 12.4 On the Job: The Worksite itself as Resource for Learning 12.5 On the Job: Tools and Equipment as Resources for Learning 12.6 Learning Through Interaction without Master-Apprentice Relationships 12.7 Learning and the 'Bottom Line' 12.8 What can go Wrong 12.9 Apprenticeship Learning as Reproduction of the Economic Viability 12.10 Conclusion 13. Interactive Research as a Strategy for Practice-based Learninge 13.1 Introduction 13.2 Towards a Model of Competence Development 13.3 Cultural Context of Teachers' Learning and Professional Growth 13.4 Interactive Research 13.5 The Interactive Processes - The 'Quality Case' 13.5.1 Local Schools' Collective Competence Development 13.6 The Practice-based Model 13.6.1 Identifying Practice 13.6.2 Reflective Transformation 13.6.3 Joint Construction and Institutionalisation of Tools 13.6.4 Professional Growth and Remaking of Practice 14. The Relationship between Coach and Coachees 14.1 Coaching 14.1.1 The Coaching Relationship 14.2 Coachees' Accounts of the Coaching Relationship 14.3 Conclusion: Crucial Aspects of an Effective Coaching Relationship 15. The Development of Airline Pilot Skills through Simulated Practice 15.1 Pilot Training 15.2 Early Flight and Pilot Training 15.3 Pilot Education in the Jet Age 15.4 Influences on Major Aviation Training 15.4.1 Crew Resource Management and Nontechnical Skills 15.4.2 Technology 15.4.3 Simulation 15.5 Pilot Training into the Future 15.6 Practice-based Learning in Aviation

Forms and issues in experiential learning

Abstract: This chapter introduces some of the forms and practices of experiential education and raises some challenging questions about the role that pedagogy plays in institutions of higher learning.

Aligning reflection in the cooperative education curriculum

Abstract: Reflection is widely used in cooperative education to support learning and praxis; however, a review of the literature reveals limited empirical evidence for the correlation between reflection and positive student learning outcomes. As with any ‘wicked’ issue, there are multiple positions on reflection. A substantial body of anecdotal evidence, together with evidence based on student satisfaction and self-reporting does, however, indicate the value of reflection for learning, particularly when transparently aligned with the curriculum. This paper draws from the evidence for the practice of reflection to present new models, informed by theory and developed as a result of this research, to support the alignment of reflection in the cooperative education curriculum. (Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 2010, 11(3), 137-152)

The Effects of Cooperative Learning Experience on Eighth Grade Students' Achievement and Attitude toward Science.

Abstract: Introduction Cooperative learning activities are frequently employed in different parts of the world in order to enable active learning and realize learning as a social activity. The reason lying behind the frequent use of it is that traditional approaches in teaching and learning do not give ample opportunities for students to improve simultaneously in different aspects such as knowledge, skill, attitude and so on (Johnson & Johnson, 1999; Kagan, 1990). Cooperative learning is an educational process in which speaking, listening, writing, and reflection--as crucial tools of active learning--take place. In this process, students are asked to use their social skills and to cooperate with peers, which, in the long run, contribute to the development of their cognitive and affective learning outcomes (Johnson & Johnson, 1991). Social interaction indeed meets various kinds of interests of students and enables them to use their mental abilities in having critical decisions concerning themselves (Acikgoz, 1992; Kagan, 1990). Students study together in a small group through an organized activity in cooperative learning. Each individual in a group bears his or her individual responsibilities while carrying out other responsibilities toward group members. In a cooperative learning setting, the groups are formed in such a way that each member of a group should perform his or her task for the purpose that the group will achieve (Acikgoz, 1992). In other words, the achievement of the group depends on that of each member. The students learn how to work in cooperation via face-to-face and group activities. The assignment of the students to groups and the construction of tasks are not the only necessary provisions to practice cooperative learning. In order for the cooperative learning to be effective, it is vital that the students properly understand what is expected from them and how they will interact with each other (Johnson & Johnson, 1990). Aftermath of the cooperative learning activity, the performance of the group is evaluated as a whole (Acikgoz, 1992; Kagan, 1990). In cooperative learning, the gains and benefits for students are multi-dimensional. It is highly likely that the students improve interpersonal skills in cooperative settings and that the low-achievers build up better self-esteem within a setting in which responsibilities are shared (Joyce, Weil, & Showers, 1992). What is more, it is known that cooperative learning is effective in developing students' upper level mental abilities, communicative skills, achievement, retention, recall, transfer, motivation, and attitude; also, it is more preferable inasmuch as it is inexpensive and practical (Acikgoz, 1992; Johnson & Johnson, 1999; Kagan, 1990). It is also revealed in the previous studies that the cooperative learning enhances students' self-esteem (Box & Little, 2003), motivation (Johnson & Johnson, 1999), social development (Gillies, 2004; Jordan & Le Metaias, 1997), and abilities to express their thoughts (Shachar & Sharan, 1994). The studies investigating the effects of cooperative learning (e.g., Bilgin, 2006; Bilgin & Geban, 2004; Jones, 1990; Lazarowitz, 1991; Slavin, 1995; Smith, Hinckley & Volt, 1991; Wachanga & Mwangi, 2004; Zacharia & Barton, 2004) indicate that students who are working together in small groups learn better, retain more information, and build up better relationships with classmates and group mates. As reported by Herreid (1998), Johnson and Johnson made a meta-analysis of more than 1200 studies evaluating the differences between the performances of students who learn via traditional methods and cooperative learning activities. As a result of their study, it is concluded that the students who learn via cooperative learning are better at verbal, mathematical and social skills than those who learn via individual and competitive learning methods. It is further indicated that students gain more experience, improve better attitudes toward the subject matter, develop their social skills, and learn to respect different points of views. …

Facilitating and integrating learning within sport studies cooperative education: exploring the pedagogies employed by students, academics and workplace supervisors.

Abstract: Using an interpretative case study methodology, the pedagogical approaches used to facilitate and integrate student learning in cooperative education programmes in sport studies were investigated. This research drew from two New Zealand university cohorts and involved six focus group interviews. Findings suggested there were limited direct explicit attempts to integrate on- and off-campus learning. Integration was implicitly or indirectly fostered, principally by reflection through assessments (e.g., journals, reports), and primarily consisted of reflection-on-action (Schon, 1991) after the learning activities. Significantly, the integration of learning also consisted of reflection on personal growth, rather than critical reflection on theory or organisational practice.

Balancing student learning and commercial outcomes in the workplace

Abstract: Community engagement is growing across higher education. Cooperative education and other internships are well established in the literature as pedagogies with links to experiential and connected learning. Cooperative programs combine business, industry, educational providers and students paid on‐the‐job. Most studies of work‐based learning focus on individual or small group‐based models. This paper reports on a large and complex work‐integrated project involving 35 students from seven disciplines in an Australian higher education context. The students took 10 weeks to research, design and implement an online financial skills training program for small business owners. Students worked in teams to create an online content management system, design the website, develop and edit content and produce audio visual material. Feedback from industry partners and students identified that greater attention to planning, student selection and overall project management could have increased the overall benefits. Finding...

Mentoring in Cooperative Education and Internships: Preparing Proteges for STEM Professions

Abstract: This paper presents the findings of a mixed methods study regarding students’ perceptions of mentoring in a cooperative education (co-op) program. Specifically, content analysis of student interviews suggested a lack of understanding of the mentoring process as characterized by unexamined assumptions and inadequate preparation for the co-op experience. It was noted that the STEM pipeline continues to shrink through decreasing student enrollment and increasing rates of retirement in industry. Cooperative education and internship programs can provide institutions and employers with a unique opportunity to recruit and retain students for a highly skilled and technically proficient workforce. This paper identifies key skill sets, knowledge and dispositions that undergraduate students in the STEM fields need to become successful proteges within a cooperative education or internship placement program. & Angel 1995; Taningco, Mathew, & Pachon 2008) and (3) characteristics of participants and mentors (Payton 2004; Van Gyn, Branton, Cutt, Loken, & Ricks 1996). The purpose of this article is to identify the key skill sets, areas of knowledge and dispositions that undergraduate students in the STEM fields need to become successful proteges within a cooperative education or internship placement. Results from this research are intended to provide information about students’ experiences in a professional setting in order to inform the practice of protege preparation for mentoring. 2. Background

WIL[ling] to share: an institutional conversation to guide policy and practice in work‐integrated learning

Abstract: Teaching in universities can be a solitary pursuit, with academics designing and delivering learning and teaching experiences, and even units, in relative isolation. Even course design can involve only a small, discipline‐specific team that rarely extends to colleagues outside their specialisation. The challenges and possibilities provided by introduction of work integrated learning (WIL) to universities offer an unprecedented opportunity for staff to share knowledge and experience across disciplines to enhance student learning. This paper focuses on an opportunity for such cross‐discipline collaboration on the issues of WIL through a roundtable event at the University of Tasmania. The roundtable allowed staff from across the institution to share successes, challenges and resources and then to make recommendations to address identified issues.

'But how do we assess it?' An analysis of assessment strategies for learning through participation (LTP)

Abstract: Assessment is a critical endeavour with implications for students, universities, industry and the wider community. The measurement of student learning, however, presents many challenges, particularly in the context of cooperative education, work-integrated learning, work-based learning, service learning and other models of learning through participation (LTP). This paper offers a new resource, the Strategies Analysis Tool, designed to assist practitioners make informed choices about the strategies they use to assess student achievement in LTP. The resource is based on an extensive review of the relevant literature and addresses six key aspects of learning in LTP. Strategies for assessing student learning may include particular approaches or specific tools and instruments. These strategies have been examined to establish their strengths for the designated purpose and potential problems or considerations that practitioners may need to take into account before or while using them. The resource features six tables with each aspect of learning and its associated assessment strategies presented separately. A discussion highlights some of the main issues concerning assessment in this arena: the use of portfolios; the role of the host supervisor; workload; reflection; and the challenges associated with assessing the less well defined aspects of learning. Finding appropriate assessment strategies is a significant factor in ensuring the sustainability of experience-based education in universities. (Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 2010, 11(3), 67-91)

Assessment of student learning in a business internship

Abstract: Internships, like other forms of cooperative education, involve students undertaking work as an integrated component of their tertiary education programme. It is only relatively recently that research has been undertaken to consider what it is that students actually learn when undertaking such work. This is because workplace learning is complex, informal, and subject to the contextual influences of the particular workplace. Such complexities are heightened in some disciplines, like business, where the work occurs in diverse workplace settings, with the work requirements being unique to each student. Not surprisingly, there is even less research that may assist practitioners to find ways of assessing such learning. Most forms of summative assessment are based on adherence to the principles of criterion-referencing, which require using the same criteria and set of standards for all students. But when the learning takes place away from the formal, structured environment of an educational setting, underpinned by a fixed and 'known' curriculum, adoption of such principles is problematic, and can create the conditions for assessment to be inherently unfair (and therefore invalid). This is because they can fail to take account of the individual and variable nature of the work, the contextual influences involved, and the conscious and unconscious biases of the assessors. So how does one assess student performance and learning in cooperative education? This thesis sets out to address this question in relation to a business internship that is part of an undergraduate degree programme in a large New Zealand polytechnic. A multi-theoretical approach was taken to the study, which provided valuable frames of reference for viewing assessment of learning. By adopting an interpretive methodology, primarily driven through participatory action research, the contextual complexities involved were able to be incorporated into the research design. Through engagement with the practitioner, a self-assessed, evidence-based portfolio model of assessment was created. A key feature of the model is that the 'truth' of students' performance emerges through consensus, based on an informed understanding of the subjective elements and contextual influences present. An important contribution is the on-going dialogue that occurs, throughout the work placement, between the stakeholders (employers, students and academics). The study has found that the assessment model developed was able to address the complexities involved. The stakeholders supported and valued the portfolio assessment model, and it was apparent that the formative aspects of the portfolio contributed positively to its summative outcome, without seemingly compromising the nature of either. The portfolio also had a high 'backwash' effect on learning, contributing to its consequential validity. Such learning included students' increased awareness of the important competencies required in the workplace and how such competencies contribute to effective performance. In addition,…

Real World Project: Integrating the Classroom, External Business Partnerships and Professional Organizations

Abstract: Introduction The rapid changes in technology as well as the struggling economy demand that organizations efficiently utilize their resources in order to remain competitive. These constraints translate into an increasingly competitive and discriminating hiring process for recent college graduates (National Association of Colleges and Employers, 2009). A college graduate must possess more than the technical skills acquired through his or her degree program. "There is an increasing need for managerial and professional employees with a range of personal competencies that extend beyond the exhibition of technical expertise" (Brown & Scase, 1994, p. ix). The literature strongly suggests that many graduates with IS degrees lack soft skills (Bullen, Abraham, Gallagher, Simon, & Zwieg, 2009; Russell, Russell, & Tastle, 2005). These soft skills generally include, but are not limited to project management, teamwork, presentation and communication. Some universities have attempted to make curriculum changes to strengthen these skills through adding new courses or programs (Hanna & Sullivan, 2005; Russell et al., 2005; Seethamraju, 2007). Since many IS departments may not have the flexibility to expand their programs, there is a need to address these issues within their current curriculum. Education must go beyond the classroom in order to prepare students for today's job market. We introduce a pedagogical model that integrates "real" world projects with business partnerships and professional organizations in order to facilitate and reinforce technical, communication, presentation, teamwork and project management skills. Background IS Skills Gap The IS model curriculum (Davis, Gorgone, Couger, Feinstein, & Longenecker, 1997; Gorgone, Davis, Valacich, Topi, Feinstein, & Longenecker, 2003; Topi et al., 2010) has evolved over the years to recognize the changing nature of information systems. The curricula guides acknowledge each university's responsibility to adjust the model curriculum to meet the needs of its target job market. Matching skills learned to employer needs is widely accepted as a means to review and adjust the IS curriculum. In order to understand and properly align IS curriculum, researchers have studied the effect of the ever changing Information Technology (IT) industry and how it relates to the preparation of future IT workers. The concern that curriculums match industry needs has led to research that involves the in-depth study of business needs based on informal focus group discussions and follow up surveys of IT professionals (D. M. S. Lee, Trauth, & Farwell, 1995). D. M. S. Lee et al.'s (1995) study found that the lower-level IT jobs are rapidly disappearing and the requirements for IT professionals are becoming more demanding in multiple dimensions, particularly in the areas of business functional knowl edge and interpersonal/management skills. While new jobs require some technical competencies they also require the soft skills necessary to apply information technology to solve business problems. Other studies have also surveyed IT professionals to determine job-hiring expectations for either specific IT occupations or within a specific region in order to better map the IS curriculum with employers needs (Banerjee & Lin 2006; Downey, McMurtrey, & Zeltmann, 2008; Janicki, Kline, Gowan, & Konopaske, 2004; Janicki, Lenox, Logan, & Woratschek, 2008). All of these studies confirmed the findings of D. M. S. Lee et al. (1995). The consistent theme in the studies is the need to hire IT professionals that possess a blend of technical and soft skills. These soft skills include, but are not limited to, the ability to communicate, solve business problems and have some project management expertise (S. M. Lee & Lee, 2006). While many of these soft skills have been taught in the classroom, "learning techniques, beyond classroom activities, have been recognized as essential ingredients to enhance learning outcomes" (Kamoun & Selim, 2007, p. …

Collaborative Testing and Achievement: Are Two Heads Really Better than One?.

Abstract: Two studies examined the impact of collaborative testing on exam scores for psychology students at a moderately selective Midwestern University. The first study was a replication of previous classroom research where students could choose to test with a partner or alone. No significant differences were found between those taking tests alone or with a partner. Students who scored high on extraversion and excitement seeking were more likely to choose collaborative testing. However, no significant differences were found between the students in each condition in anxiety, trust, and achievement striving. Following the classroom study, a laboratory study was conducted to tease apart the effects of studying with a partner and with testing with a partner. In Experiment 2, a strong testing effect was found, where students testing with a partner benefited, regardless of whether they studied with a partner or not. ********** Although individual work is stressed in schools, the ability to collaborate with others is deemed to be an important ability in many diverse aspects of life, such as business, team sports, and scientific research. While cooperative learning in school settings has been popular for some time, and has been the subject of extensive research, collaborative test taking is a relatively new phenomenon. Recent studies have found that collaborative test taking improves exam performance and promotes positive student attitudes (Lambiotte, Dansereau, Rocklin, Fletcher, Hythecker, Larson, et al., 1987; Lusk & Conklin, 2003; Mitchell & Melton, 2003; Slusser & Erickson, 2006; Zimbardo, Butler, & Wolfe, 2003). In addition, some researchers maintain that collaborative testing encourages positive problem-solving, improves long-term retention of information, and reduces anxiety (Cassini, 1994; Helmericks, 1993; Mitchell & Melton; Zimbardo et al.). One purpose of the present studies was to replicate these collaborative testing effects with a different sample and in different subject areas. A second issue addressed in this paper is the role of personality traits and collaborative testing. Traits such as extraversion/introversion may play a major role in student preference for testing alone or with a partner and in determining whether they benefit from their collaboration. To our knowledge, no such studies have been conducted to date. However, a recent critique of the cooperative education literature may prove helpful (Genovese, 2005). Commenting on why so many educational innovations (including cooperative education) cycle in and out of favor with the education community, Genovese argued that the lack of attention to individual differences dooms any innovation that promises universal success. For example, high achieving students often prefer to work alone rather than with a partner (Cano-Garcia & Hughes, 2000). Hutchinson and Gul (1997) found that the trait of introversion/extraversion played a role in student preferences for working alone or with a group, and Onwuegbuzie (2001) found that peer-oriented students fared better than students with other learning styles in a research methods course requiring cooperative learning. A second purpose of this research project was to test the impact of personality traits on collaborative testing. While it seems intuitively obvious (at least to the students who participated in the first study) that "two heads are better than one" and that collaborative testing would improve grades, the group process literature is quite mixed (Kerr & Tindale, 2004). Many times, groups fail to live up to their potential. For example, productive groups tend to be cohesive, and collaborative testing appears to work best when students have the opportunity to learn about one another's competencies (Zimbardo et al, 2003). However, two students choosing to take a test together may not spend enough time together to realize the benefits that partners offer. …

Contributions of Cooperative Education in Preparing At-Risk Students for Post-High School Transition

Abstract: Work-based learning interventions, particularly cooperative education, are a viable way to support the post-high school transition process, enhance work-related cognitive development, and increase the occupational engagement of at-risk youth. Using propensity score matching to analyze data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), the impact of participation in cooperative education on two indicators of postsecondary transition readiness, including postsecondary education plans right after high school and importance placed on work, were examined for students deemed at risk of high school failure. Participation in cooperative education had a significant positive effect on at-risk students' postsecondary education plans right after high school. However, no significant effect was detected for the importance students placed on work.

Cooperative Education at the University of Cincinnati: A Strategic Asset in Evolution

Abstract: Cooperative Education (co-op) was developed at the University of Cincinnati (UC) in 1906 by Herman Schneider, a young, dynamic dean. Co-op is today defined as an educational methodology in which periods of classroom instruction alternate with periods of paid discipline-related work experience (Cates and Cedercreutz 2008). Co-op students typically participate in a school-work rotation that may span over as many as three academic years throughout their undergraduate education. While Schneider had proposed this concept a few years earlier as a professor at Lehigh University, his ideas did not resonate with the institution. However, in Cincinnati, he found the ground to be fertile, and the building blocks for the program were already in place. The city of Cincinnati, with its largely German population, had a large number of successful machine tool companies that were gearing up their production to meet the demand of the emerging automotive industry. The Mdwest was headed for an era of historic growth, creating high demand for qualified engineers at an accelerated rate. The Cooperative Method of Education was Herman Schneider's response to the escalating demand. Schneider capitalized on the presence of a strong manufacturing industry, a well-established engineering school, and the intrinsic appreciation the German culture held for apprenticeships. According to campus tradition, the skeptical University of Cincinnati Board of Trustees gave Schneider the right to "try this cooperative idea of education for one year only, for the failure of which they would not be held responsible." The rest is history. Schneider started with twenty-seven students. The next year, more than eight hundred students applied to participate in the program. The "Cincinnati Plan," as the program was initially coined, soon took off as a transferrable concept. In 1909, Northeastern University announced its co-op program. This was followed by the University of Pittsburgh in 1910, the University of Detroit in 1911, and Georgia Institute of Technology and Rochester Institute of Technology in 1912. Drexel University would join ranks in 1919. Within twenty years, co-op programs had been adopted by more than a dozen institutions, including Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For many of these institutions, cooperative education has provided a sustainable competitive advantage that is still a vital part of their academic strategy today. From Cincinnati, co-op has grown to be adopted by as many as nine hundred universities worldwide. In September 2005 (University of Cincinnati 2005), the UC Board of Trustees tongue in cheek issued a proclamation that contained the following statement: "We, the Board of Trustees of the University of Cincinnati, hereby declare the trial period of one hundred years of cooperative education officially ended, for the success of which we will assume full responsibility." In September 2010, UC President Gregory H. Williams emphasized in his investiture speech the generation of new models of co-op, internships, and service learning as a top UC priority (Williams 2010). Like all innovators, Herman Schneider was a product of his time. He had a passion for linking theory and practice together in a meaningful way. He could move from manufacturing to Shakespeare whenever he recognized that his students needed a wider spectrum of intellectual stimulus. Schneider's thinking had many parallels with the thoughts of John Dewey. In his "learning by doing" philosophy, Dewey, in essence, brought practice into the classroom. Schneiders approach to problem solving was to bring the students out to work, to make them contributing citizens in the real world. Philosophically, these men had a lot in common. But Dewey was a prolific writer, whereas Schneider was a "doer" who wanted to maximize his effect on students' lives and the industrial world around him. Over the years, co-op has seen a number of shapes and forms at the University of Cincinnati. …

Engaging computer science students through cooperative education

Abstract: Computer science educators continuously seek creative and effective ways of engaging students. The model of cooperative education, in which students systematically combine academic learning with practical work experiences, provides opportunities to deepen student learning, promote student retention, and prepare students for professional life. We discuss ways in which cooperative learning can engage students in the broader discipline of computer science.

A study of outcomes-oriented student reflection during internship: The integrated, coordinated, and reflection based model of learning and experiential education

Abstract: Student reflection in experiential education is recognized as a valuable tool in learning and development (Moon, 2006). InCoRe, an acronym for integration, coordination and reflection, is a model for reflective teaching and learning intended to encourage student reflection prior to, during, and after an internship experience. InCoRe operates through the strategic integration of experiential education within a program of study, the coordination of student advising between faculty and the administrators and staff members who manage and support experiential education and student-based reflection oriented toward fulfillment of student learning outcomes. The model employs several theoretical constructs including a derivative of Bruner’s (1960) spiral curriculum, Tyler’s (1949) principles of curriculum and instruction, Kolb’s (1984) model of reflective thinking, and Boud, Keogh and Walker’s (1985) approach to facilitating post-learning reflection. A 14 item survey was developed to assess student perceptions of reflection, outcomes attainment, and appropriateness of curriculum relative to their program of study for N = 943 post-secondary college students at a major national nonprofit university. Implications for educators and students regarding reflection and outcomes attainment are discussed. (Journal of Cooperative Education & Internships, 2010, 44(1), 42-50).

Increasing Student Learning in the Classroom through Experiential Learning Programs outside the Classroom

Abstract: Does it make any difference to require hospitality majors to gain work experience as part of their curriculum of study? Most hospitality programs require some sort of experiential learning occur prior to graduation, yet there is little empirical evidence that such inclusion in a curriculum changes a student's perception of learning. This study reviews the responses of over 600 students and the differences between those who have not had an experiential learning experience and those who had. The study shows that there is a difference and that many of the reasons that educators require experiential experiences are validated. The study used a modified version of a previously validated survey instrument (P.L.A.C.E.) to obtain data. An independent samples T-test was performed to identify ten areas where statistically significant differences were found. This is what is presented in this paper.

Cooperative Education in Outdoor Education.

Abstract: Cooperative education is a structured experiential education strategy integrating classroom studies with work place learning. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate how a cooperative education model can be included within an outdoor education undergraduate degree to develop reflective practitioners and to enhance graduate capabilities. Document analysis of the students’ final reports indicated that the facilitated critical reflection strategies were relevant to the needs of the learner, enabled them to process the experience, and develop their learning and professional growth, as reflective practitioners. The work integrated learning (WIL) experience provided exposure and a transition to the ‘real world,’ an opportunity to develop required graduate skills, and to put theory into practice.

Self-efficacy in female and male undergraduate engineering students: Comparisons among four institutions

Abstract: Researchers from four universities with strong engineering colleges collaborated on a project that seeks to isolate those factors and experiences that contribute most to the development of positive self-efficacy beliefs and, ultimately, to the increased retention of women in undergraduate engineering majors. A survey was developed to administer to students at each institution during their sophomore, junior, and senior years. Two of the engineering colleges require participation in cooperative education programs for fulfillment of the program of study and two do not. We suggest that a work experience could result in an increase in work self-efficacy that would bolster academic and career self-efficacy. Data analyses show similarities and differences between and among female and male students at these institutions with regard to their current self-efficacy levels (academic, work, and career), amount of support provided for female students, and how likely females are to take advantage of services provided.

Beyond dichotomization : A different way of understanding work integrated learning

Abstract: In higher education for professions, there still seems to be an inherent problem regarding how to integrate academic studies with practical training. There are reasons to highlight the problems for ...

Academic quality in internships : field supervisors' account on the value of theory in practice

Abstract: Internship should not just introduce the students to a future professional role, but is also obliged to live up to the requirements of the Swedish Higher Education Act (SFS 1992:1434) for scientific methods and scholarly activities as well as stimulate a critical and reflective attitude. In order for internships to reach higher education standard, not only must there be students, who through their theoretical studies have developed knowledge with a scientific foundation and an ability for criticism and reflection, but a practice is also required in which this knowledge and ability may be developed and utilized. With this point of departure, the supervisors and the context of which they are a part become of special interest to study and understand. The practice within which the students in the Health Promotion and Education Programme at Kristianstad University College perform their internships is distinguished by richly varied work tasks, ill-defined professional roles and a mixture of different training and competencies (Karlsson, 2005). The supervisors lack supervisory training and only a few have an education that corresponds to the Health Promotion and Education Programme. Interviews were carried out in 2006 with 14 supervisors concerning what they perceived is required in order for them to be able to perform their work tasks, not as supervisors but in general, that is, what knowledge they perceived their work to be based upon; and how they perceived the value and relevance of the core concepts of academic quality, scientific methods and scholarly activities, critical thinking and reflection, with respect to their practical activities. The results of the study show that the supervisors perceived the basic knowledge for their work and the relevance of academic knowledge and ability for their work quite differently. The five different patterns or categories that emerged: Undeveloped, anti-academic, administrative, renewing and tension-laden all give different prerequisites for the socialisation to and learning of a ‘new profession’ by the students. The study reveals the importance of the supervisors perceiving academic thinking to be important to their activities, but also the significance of a practice where such knowledge and ability may be exploited and developed. Internship jobs give very different prerequisites for the students’ learning, which shows the significance of supervisor training and of internship placements with incentives for more development-oriented learning.

Views of industry and higher education on cooperative education in the Gauteng province of South Africa

Abstract: Limited data on cooperative education is available concerning the views of companies and higher education institutions. The purpose of this research was to compare the views on cooperative education activities and to ascertain the current status of company supervisors and heads of academic departments of higher education institutions. The research involved a literature review and an empirical study. A quantitative approach with regard to the method of research was applied. An ex post facto (non-experimental) research was undertaken by using a questionnaire as research instrument to collect data in three disciplines from a number of company supervisors in industry and the heads of academic departments in six higher education institutions in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Research findings indicated that both supervisors and heads of academic departments from the respective sectors either agreed or strongly agreed on constructs related to the basic principles and nature as well as on best practices in cooperative education. No practical significant difference (d-value) was recorded on the constructs between the two above-mentioned study populations, indicating major agreement. The findings clearly show a majority support from Industry (supervisors of students) and higher education institutions (heads of academic departments) in the province in which this study was conducted. Both supervisors and academics involved in the cooperative education partnerships have confirmed without a doubt how beneficial this strategy of learning is to both industrial and educational environments. Higher education institutions should take note of these findings, since they indicate the importance both industry and academics attach to cooperative education as a teaching methodology.

Supporting Exercise Science students to respond to the challenges of an authentic work-integrated learning (WIL) assessment.

Abstract: Work integrated learning (WIL) is increasingly more evident in higher education programs throughout Australia, as it offers valuable experiences for students by providing them with opportunities to translate theory into practice and, as they assume increasing responsibility in the workplace, transition from student to professional practitioner. The benefits of WIL are well documented and attest to preparing work-ready graduates by developing both generic and explicit career skills that position them positively to gain future employment. The purpose of this research was to investigate the nature and degree of support required by Bachelor of Exercise Science students to successfully undertake a WIL action research project in blended mode, during a 360 hour professional placement. Using semi-structured telephone interviews, students who have completed the subject in its prior format, were invited to design structures and systems that, in their view, would scaffold their learning and aid in their completion of the WIL subject assessment requirements. Participant data revealed three emerging themes of support: organizational, pedagogical, and interpersonal. In response to the research results, an online learning environment has been created that will developmentally scaffold student learning, assist students to participate as emerging professionals in the exercise science occupational cultural community, and successfully action their disciplinary, practical, interpersonal and reflective knowledge in authentic professional contexts. (Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 2010, 11(3),153-167)

Students' experiences of work-integrated learning in teacher education

Abstract: Work-integrated learning (WIL) is a defining element of a holistic educational strategy known as cooperative education, which advocates the formal integration of structured real-life experiences (workplace or community service) into the overall programme curriculum. To investigate the current model of teaching practice at a distance learning institution, data were collected by means of a literature review (including constructivist learning as theoretical framework), semi-structured, and open-ended questions in interviews. The research highlights the need for more training in lesson planning, especially training in specific learning areas, learning outcomes and assessment. It is also clear that South African WIL will need to be supervised in all stages of implementation, to ensure that the set objectives are realised. The study highlighted the importance of practical teaching, as well as specific problems experienced by students during practical teaching.

Integrating Real World Entities into an Academic Curriculum.

Abstract: This research will demonstrate how an experiential learning practicum can be successfully implemented into an academic curriculum, using Drexel University’s (Philadelphia, PA) award-winning student-run record label, MAD Dragon Records, as a case study. It will describe the components necessary to implement and operate a real-world entity within the construct of the classroom, such as the structure of the organization, student assignments, meeting agendas, journaling techniques, reflection, grading, sample work and correspondence with outside professionals. Additionally, this article will describe how incorporating such an entity into the curriculum employs various core concepts associated with experiential learning.

Collaboration for cooperative work experience programs in biomedical engineering education

Abstract: Incorporating cooperative education modules as a segment of the undergraduate educational program is aimed to assist students in gaining real-life experience in the field of their choice. The cooperative work modules facilitate the students in exploring different realistic aspects of work processes in the field. The track records for cooperative learning modules are very positive. However, it is indeed a challenge for the faculty developing Biomedical Engineering (BME) curriculum to include cooperative work experience or internship requirements coupled with a heavy course load through the entire program. The objective of the present work is to develop a scheme for collaborative co-op work experience for the undergraduate training in the fast-growing BME programs. A few co-op/internship models are developed for the students pursuing undergraduate BME degree. The salient features of one co-op model are described. The results obtained support the proposed scheme. In conclusion, the cooperative work experience will be an invaluable segment in biomedical engineering education and an appropriate model has to be selected to blend with the overall training program.

Enhancing cooperative education placement through the use of learning management system functionalities: A case study of the Bachelor of Applied Management program

Abstract: This exploratory case study researched the benefits of integrating information and communication technologies (ICT) to enhance cooperative education placement (CEP) for the course coordinator and the learners in their third and final year of study in the Bachelor of Applied Management program. The findings supported an addendum to the Kolb's current model of learning to incorporate reflection into an adapted three stage model. This was due to participants in the study lacking adequate reflective practice during their placement. The study reported that participants need to be engaged in reflective practice to achieve deeper learning, enabled through more interactive discussion online coupled with regular contact by supervisors and the coordinator to strengthen the CEP experience. Suggestions are made for exploring other forms of ICT within a blended learning conceptualization to engage learners through ICT functionalities as well as face-to-face contact.

The Use of Action Learning Strategies for Cooperative Education or Work-integrated Learning Projects

Abstract: The key aim of cooperative education or work-integrated learning experiences at tertiary level is to apply and integrate theoretical concepts to the work environment (Rainsbury et al., 2002). The involvement in a ‘real life’ project, as distinct from undertaking more random tasks, within a cooperative education experience is recognised as a particularly valuable learning strategy that enhances student learning (Eakins, 2000). This case study briefly outlines the theoretical basis of action learning and illustrates how this approach can be integrated into projects undertaken as part of cooperative education or work-integrated learning experiences. Action learning