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- Lundh Snis, Ulrika, 1970-, et al.
(författare)
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Enhancing Quality through Work Integrated Learning and Collaboration Partnership
- 2022
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Ingår i: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 90-91
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- For Sweden to be able to compete in the global economy, our students with a degree from higher education must be ready for a career in working life. Today's work life is facing a major ongoing transformation, characterized by increased complexity, higher specialization, and digitalization. This demands competencies beyond traditional theoretical knowledge, such as preparing for uncertainty and unknown outcomes (Barnett, 2000; Vallo Hult & Byström, 2021). Therefore, it is essential to engage students in learning to learn, i.e., lifelong learning so that the tools and methods for learning in higher education can also be developed through future work (Billett, 2014; Islind, Norström, Vallo Hult, & Ramadani Olsson, 2021). For University West, this means that our education programs must be developed in collaboration with industry partners from the surrounding society to provide arelevant and attractive education, which corresponds to the labour market's long-term competence needs. We want our students to develop abilities and skills that enable them to be part of and drive sustainable societal development in practice.Work Integrated Learning (WIL) is University West's overarching profile, based on the concept of advanced knowledge – characterized by complex problem solving – and the mutual acknowledgment of advanced knowledge within the academy and among its partners. What characterizes WIL at University West is that we have developed and refined a combination of different approaches over a long period, including research -based WIL, through fundamental learning concepts such as socio- cultural, critical and action-oriented learning theories. These influences have shaped WIL at University West into a dynamic and academic area of knowledge and subject. In order to achieve a strategic and qualitative development of work-integrated learning, the University West Board decided to WIL-certify all educational programs with a clear sustainability perspective. The quality processis called the WIL certification process. It has now been developed at the university fortwo years.Experience andrefinements are ready to mature into an overall quality framework worth conceptualizing and disseminating to more universities that systematically want to develop WIL as an explicit quality dimension in higher educa tion. The project is still ongoing but have generated some preliminary findings and outcomes from the initial phase. Data collection activities include workshops and focus groups with selected participants from the target groups at the university (managers/prefects and teachers) as well as at the collaborative partner organization (managers and supervisors/mentors). The focus of the workshops was placed on capturing the participants understanding and perspectives on WIL as a concept, and to map the conditions for and experiences of conducting WIL in teaching and learning at work. We aim for identifying good (or less good) examples of WIL, what they are, how they are understood and why they are (or are not) important.The purpose of this paper is to describe the lessons learned so far and present a conceptual quality framework for WIL in higher education with a clear connection to sustainable development. The quality framework may function as a mediating “support object” between higher education institutions, industry partners, and actors in the surrounding society to promote WIL concepts and experiences in collaboration strategies.
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| 2. |
- Drysdale, Maureen, et al.
(författare)
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A Scientific approach to research design and quality in cooperative and Work-integrated education
- 2011
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Ingår i: International handbook for cooperative and work-integrated education. - Lowell, Mass. : World Association for Cooperative Education. - 9780615518855 ; , s. 85-100
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- "The Handbook has four sections. Section I is concerned with the theory of cooperative education, with particular focus on the learning that occurs in the workplace. This part also addresses contemporary issues such as assessment of cooperative education, and identifies areas of needed research. Section II examines the practice of co-op worldwide. This part shows the breadth of disciplines of study, and is intended to allow co-op professionals see how co-op has been used in their discipline and other disciplines. This has been substantially revised from the first edition, with many more disciplines now covered. Each chapter in this section contains contributions from several authors, in most instances from more than one country, in order to gain an international perspective of the practice of co-op. The chapters begin with an overview of the discipline as it pertains to co-op, and consider models of practice, outcomes, constraints, and conclude with a detailed case study of co-op in the discipline. Section III is concerned with the benefits of co-op for all three parties; employers, students, and educational institutions. Section IV concludes the Handbook by considering some current issues confronting co-op, and the future of co-op."--publisher website.
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| 3. |
- Sjögren, Karin, et al.
(författare)
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What gender barriers do students face in WIL placements? : A comparative study between WIL and Non- WIL Students in an international empirical study.
- 2018
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Ingår i: VILÄR Abstraktbok. - Trollhättan : Högskolan Väst. - 9789187531460 - 9789187531477 ; , s. 6-6
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In an earlier project (2014-2015) we found that young adults and specifically women was a exposed group when it came to reported psychological vulnerability. This triggered us to design for a new study to learn more about their sense of belonging in and out of study context. We plan to use a mixed methods approach with individual interviews, focus groups, and a broader online survey on students that are enrolled in WIL-programs, the student need to have completed at least a practicum or coop-period prior to participation in the research study. Our next steps will be to start the ethics protocols for both the University of Waterloo and the University of Toronto. Thereafter Scotland and Sweden apply for theirs. The research questions is: What gender challenges do WIL students face that impact their career identity, sense of belonging, work self-efficacy, overall wellbeing, sociability, and transition to full-time employment after graduation? What gender specific barriers impact WIL students' perceptions of being valued in the workplace (on the team, in meetings)? What gender specific barriers impact WIL students' perceptions of how employers perceive their technical competencies? What resources do WIL students perceive are available to them from their universities and employers to help overcome these barriers? In the interactive session we will discuss both the research questions/content and the methodological approaches.
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| 8. |
- Björck, Ville, 1982-
(författare)
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Learning 'theory' at university and 'practice' in the workplace : A problematisation of the theory-practice terminology that the dualistic design of Work-integrated Learning institutionalises
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Work-integrated Learning (WIL) is a label for a form of higher education whose usual design in many degree programmes involves splitting students' education into on-campus training and work placements. This thesis focuses on a theory-practice terminology that is reflected in this WIL design and spreads a dualistic thinking with a basic message. The message is that on-campus and placement-based training teach you opposite bases for learning a profession, namely an abstract research-based knowledge called 'theory' and a concrete work called 'practice'. This thesis argues that when this dualistic thinking is spread to students, it primarily contributes to the creation, but also to the bridging of the gap between these forms of training that the said WIL design seeks to bridge for them, the so-called theory-practice gap. Based on this argument, the thesis has two overall aims: to problematise (1) the dualistic nature of spoken and written instances of the theory-practice terminology and of the usual WIL design, and (2) the possibility of establishing physical and/or virtual countersites to the usual WIL design. Such sites are not established institutional arrangements at present. The idea is that they should be set up not to embody the dualistic notion that theory is the abstract research-based knowledge brought from campus to 'practice', but to offer a non-dualistic experience that would provide a key opportunity to avoid creating the so-called theory-practice gap for students. I refer to an experience of how theory is a form of knowledge that already exists in – and is created through – the daily work practices of a profession in various shapes and forms.To achieve the first aim, this thesis conducts Foucault-inspired discourse analyses of how four ideas of the theory-practice terminology spread dualistic messages. The ideas are explored together in three studies. Study I explores two ideas that interviewed students voiced when asked about the usual WIL design. These are the idea of theory vs. practice as the point of departure for learning and the idea of theory and practice as harmonious points of departure for learning. Using a genealogical discourse analysis, study II traces the idea of academia and the real world while study III examines the dualistic meaning that the theory-practice terminology ascribes to the graduate employability idea, backwards in time from the present. The empirical basis for this consists of present and past documents that three higher education institutions have used to promote the Cooperative Education (Co-op) model of the usual WIL design to their prospective and existing Co-op students. Together, the three studies show how the four ideas include accounts that spread antagonistic and/or harmonious messages. The former messages imply that on-campus and placement-based training do not combine well because 'theory' and 'practice' are not a good match, while the latter imply that these forms of training combine perfectly because 'theory' and 'practice' are a perfect match. The thesis concludes that antagonistic messages only contribute to creating the so-called theory-practice gap for students, whereas harmonious messages contribute to both creating and bridging the gap. To achieve the second aim, the three studies introduce a discussion on a) what countersites to the usual WIL design could look like and b) how they could possibly avoid creating this gap. This discussion is developed in the discussion chapter of this thesis, where these countersites are referred to as third places for learning professions. A focus of this discussion is to problematise the fact that sites of this nature are difficult to establish because the theory-practice terminology they must avoid incorporating to offer a non-dualistic experience is so established that it is easily used out of habit when trying to establish such sites.
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| 9. |
- Bowen, Tracey, et al.
(författare)
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Disparities in work-integrated learning experiences for students who present as women : an international study of biases, barriers, and challenges
- 2024
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Ingår i: Higher Education, Skills and Work-based Learning. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 2042-3896 .- 2042-390X. ; 14:2, s. 313-328
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: This study identifies gendered disparities among women students participating in work-integrated learning and explores the effects of the disparities on their perceptions on perceived opportunities, competencies, sense of belonging, and professional identity. Design/methodology/approach: A series of semi-structured focus groups were run with 59 participants at six higher education institutions in four countries (Australia, Canada, Sweden, United Kingdom). All focus groups were designed with the same questions and formatting. Findings: Thematic analysis of the transcripts revealed two overarching themes, namely perceptions of self and interactions with others in work placements. Theme categories included awareness of self-presentation, sense of autonomy, perceived Allies, emotional labour, barriers to opportunity, sense of belonging, intersections of identity, and validation value. Originality/value: This study fills an important gap in the international literature about gendered experiences in WIL and highlights inequalities that women experience while on work placements.
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