Research Committee Publications and Presentations
IJWIL Special Canadian Edition
- CEWIL is proud to have sponsored a Canadian Special Issue of the International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning (IJWIL) focusing on the research and practice of WIL in Canada which was released in the summer of 2021.
- CEWIL Canada alongside University of Waterloo’s Work-Learn Institute were pleased to sponsor the publication of “The practice and research of cooperative education and work-integrated learning in the Canadian context”. Lead Editors, Dr. Judene Pretti and Dr. Ashley Stirling, were instrumental in the development, creation, and dissemination of this special edition.
- As the leader of quality WIL in Canada, CEWIL prides itself on using research-based evidence to inform its accreditation, quality standards, and best practices. Through many of the works presented in the Canadian special edition, we are pleased to see Canada continue to take its place as an innovator and leader in the field of WIL globally. Congratulations to all the authors who contributed to the work.
- Please click here to view the issue.
eBook on WIL
CEWIL is proud to be publishing its first eBook on The Practice of Co-op and Work-Integrated Learning in the Canadian Context, which is now available here!
2022 CEWIL Research Webinar Series
The CEWIL Research Series is a collection of presentations by WIL scholars across Canada. Over four webinars, the Series features eight research papers published in The Practice of Co-op and Work-Integrated Learning in the Canadian Context (2021) . The Series also begins and end with brief presentations on amplifying and engaging in WIL research.
Research Series - Part 1
Welcome - Advancing WIL Research
Ashley Stirling, University of Toronto
Work-integrated learning experience for public health students: A case study project in partnership with a community farm
Apira Ragunathan, University of Toronto Scarborough
Obidimma Ezezika, University of Toronto Scarborough
This chapter describes a case study on work-integrated learning (WIL) in a public health undergraduate course, where students addressed a health issue in a “real-world” context. Students collaborated with a community partner to develop case study proposals that would target food insecurity. In this chapter, we describe the design and development of the course to integrate the WIL experience. Five key lessons were drawn; aligning learning outcomes with the aspirations of the community partner requires careful dialogue, a well-designed WIL experience enhances critical thinking skills and course enjoyment, WIL must not replace other course learning opportunities and outcomes, students may not value work-integrated learning experiences unless shown how it affects course performance, and WIL can provide students opportunity to create meaningful impact. We discuss the lessons and course implementation in light of Kolb’s experiential learning theoretical framework and provide a few considerations for course designers.
Number of work experiences and student employability
David Drewery, University of Waterloo
Judene Pretti, University of Waterloo
This study addresses a fundamental question underpinning the influence of work-integrated learning (WIL) on students’ employability: will participation in multiple WIL experiences lead to greater competency development and, in turn, greater employability? To address this question, we asked co-operative education (co-op) work supervisors (n = 778) to evaluate students’ competency development in terms of a lifelong learning mindset and employability in terms of their willingness to offer a position to their student in the future. The number of students’ WIL work experiences was also collected. Linear regression and mediation analyses showed that supervisors’ evaluations of students’ lifelong learning mindsets mediated a positive indirect association between the number of WIL work experiences and employability. The results suggest that coordinating multiple WIL work experiences may promote greater employability because of greater competency development.
Research Series - Part 2
WIL in the Ontario College Sector
Sean Elliott, CEWIL Canada
Kathleen Clarke, Wilfrid Laurier University
Work-integrated learning (WIL) initiatives must be considered within the unique contexts in which they are located. While literature focused on WIL has focused on the Canadian university context, literature pertaining to the college sector is sparse. In this chapter, we provide an overview of findings stemming from a pilot study in which we completed a literature review, an examination of sector reports and ministry papers, and an environmental scan of institutional websites for six colleges in Ontario. Analysis revealed that there are differences across the college sector pertaining to how WIL is conceptualized and how these programs are delivered. However, findings also indicated there is a consistent, increased focused on WIL, evidence of mandatory WIL participation, and a growing focus on entrepreneurial/innovative WIL opportunities. Recommendations for future directions for practice and research are provided.
Good WIL hunting: Addressing common barriers to engaging faculty in work-integrated learning
Christine Arsenault, University of Toronto Scarborough
David Fenton, University of Toronto
In Canada, there has been encouragement at all levels of government to increase work-integrated learning (WIL) within post-secondary institutions. Understanding faculty-perceived barriers to expanding WIL has been a critical step to success. In 2017, The Department of Management at the University of Toronto Scarborough committed that all students would have a WIL experience prior to graduation, prompting an internal analysis on barriers to WIL. The insights derived from this exercise inspired the development of methodology that would help overcome barriers — a path that ultimately resulted in reaching the 100% WIL goal two years sooner. This chapter explores obstacles to faculty offering WIL including administrative load, relationship management, pedagogical differences, and lack of reward. The Acceleration Web and Project Accelerator management models were developed as novel solutions for supporting faculty in overcoming these challenges. The theories and models presented are considerations for increasing quality curricular WIL experiences at a research-intensive university.
Research Series - Part 3
Delivering undergraduate medical education on rural and remote practice: Commentary and preliminary findings
Mariam Issa, University of Toronto
Kyung Young Kim, University of Toronto
Roxanne Wright, University of Toronto
Laila Premji, University of Toronto
Fok-Han Leung, University of Toronto
Previous studies on rural medical education have identified three factors associated with medical students’ entry into rural medical practice to overcome physician shortage in rural and remote areas: rural upbringing, rural clinical training during undergraduate medical education, and targetedrural training at the postgraduate level. Despite these findings, however, delivering early andsustained exposure to rural medicine has become even more challenging in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and cancellation of in-person shadowing opportunities. To address this challenge, the use of videoconferencing technology to conduct virtual interviews is explored to provide medical students with the opportunity to learn about how healthcare is delivered in rural settings, skills and attitudes needed to practice rurally, and realities of living in these regions. Preliminary findings revealed that the virtual interview had little effect on students’ interest in practicing or training in rural or remote communities, but many agreed they enjoyed the learning opportunity.
Bringing experience-based education together at our institutions: A focus on distinct outcomes, shared attributes and a coherent narrative
Andrea Sator, Simon Fraser University
Nancy Johnston, Simon Fraser University
Institutions seek to meet demands for more work-integrated learning (WIL) and experience-based education (EE) options yet face confusion regarding “what” and “how much” they already offer. Offerings are de-centralized and not reported as discrete models. CEWIL provides some guidelines on WIL, however, many institutions need to determine what is ‘in their collective EE tent.’ The challenge of defining and determining how best to promote, support, monitor and report on this is daunting and sometimes divisive (Johnston & Sator, 2017). Building on existing quality frameworks, this chapter proposes a Purpose and Outcomes Driven approach (POD) that enables institutions to develop coherent narratives and shared understandings regarding their offerings in meaningful ways. The POD framework focuses on sharedquality attributes and unique outcomes across model types, helping link each model’s purpose to student, institutional, and other stakeholders’ outcomes and providing the ability to report on outcomes by their shared purpose.
Research Series - Part 4
Immersive community engaged education: More community engaged learning than work-integrated learning in The Practice of Co-op and Work-Integrated Learning in the Canadian Context
Roger Strasser, University of Waikato (New Zealand) and Northern Ontario School of Medicine (Canada)
Since the early 20th century, clinical education of health professions students has taken place in teaching hospitals. This may be seen as a long-standing example of WIL. In the 21st century, Canada is a leader in socially accountable education focused on responding to the health needs of the population. Immersive Community Engaged Education (ICEE) involves prolonged placements of students living and learning in a range of community and clinical settings. The Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) which opened in 2005 developed its Distributed Community Engaged Learning (DCEL) model that features ICEE in various rural and Indigenous communities across Northern Ontario. This chapter presents the NOSM experience highlighting how ICEE benefits students, health professionals, health services and the wider community, including throughsuccessful recruitment and retention of health professionals. Beyond the usual work placement, active community participation with prolonged immersion justifies the description of ICEE as more CEL than WIL.
CityStudio Abbotsford: A model for innovative work-integrated learning, civic engagement and professional development
Larissa Horne, University of the Fraser Valley
CityStudio Abbotsford is an innovative partnership model between the City of Abbotsford, British Columbia, and the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV). Licensed by the original CityStudio Vancouver organization in 2018, it has since become an integral part of the Work-Integrated and Experiential Learning offerings at UFV. The model engages student innovation and faculty expertise to propose solutions to civic challenges. This challenge-based learning model generates fruitful opportunities for experiencing real-world expectations and pressures of a workplace environment and community-building. It is a collaborative, non-placement Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) network that fosters civic engagement and stakeholder professional development, while impacting positive change. Through the collective effort and knowledge transfer between faculty, students, City staff, and community partners, the true value of CityStudio emerges. This chapter provides an overview of the rapid growth, iterative structure, and the civic and professional impact of CityStudio Abbotsford.
Wrap-up - Advancing WIL Research
Judene Pretti, University of Waterloo