CEWIL Resource Hub: WIL Quality Indicators

Institutions around the world are interested in increasing the number of work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities available to post-secondary students. As the quantity of WIL programs and experiences increases, it's just as important to pay sufficient attention to the quality of these experiences for all key stakeholders. The AAA* WIL quality framework (McRae, Pretti, & Church, 2018) was developed through a review of quality in higher education and the field of WIL. Practitioners can use the framework to identify potential gaps in quality WIL. It also provides a list of potential outcomes and measures that can be used to evaluate WIL programs.aaa

The key components of quality WIL as defined by AAA* are pedagogy, experience, assessment, and reflection, or P.E.A.R. Making sure all four elements of P.E.A.R. are met is critical for ensuring quality WIL. 

 

WIL Quality Indicators

In the context of quality WIL, pedagogy represents the integration of workplace learning and academic learning. When thinking about pedagogy, practitioners may seek to answer the following questions:

  • How WIL fits into the overall curriculum, including when it occurs, for how long, and how it's taught
  • Whether or not a program includes one or many instances of WIL experience
  • At what stage in a student's curriculum the WIL experience occurs
  • How the WIL experience connects with and to other courses in the curriculum

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WIL Quality Framework

In addition to the WIL quality indicators detailed above, WIL experiences also need to be evaluated in terms of their impact on a variety of stakeholders. WIL is a collaborative endeavour, and the perspectives of all stakeholders must be incorporated to ensure the quality of WIL outcomes. 

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Employers and/or host organizations work with institutions to offer WIL opportunities to students.

Aims
Actions 
Achievements
  • Pre-screening of potential post-graduation hires
  • Opportunity for students to motivate existing employees
  • Help develop the workforce skills needed for their industry/profession
  • A cost-effective method for new employee training and recruiting
  • Students can bring fresh and innovative ideas to organization
  • Access to short-term, flexible source of labour
  • Opportunity for staff development through supervision of students
  • Students can help create an organizational brand with the next generation of talent
  • Increased access to global talent pool
  • Opportunity for increased diversity and inclusion in workplace
  • A mechanism for host organization to “give back” to community
  • Identifying a role and set of responsibilities for the student
  • Communicating role and responsibilities to the WIL educator and student through a job description
  • Possibly involved in screening and selecting a WIL student
  • Identifying responsibilities and/or projects for student that are valuable and important to organization but also give student opportunity to learn
  • Making people available that the student can learn from and reach out to for support
  • Providing feedback on WIL experience through assessment of student learning, performance, and experience as a whole
  • Reflecting on what worked well and what did not work well 
  • Achieve productivity gains through their access to short-term labour
  • Students infuse their organization with innovation, suggesting new and better ways to do things
  • Meet diversity and inclusion goals
  • Create awareness about their organization to future recruits
  • Develop additional connections to post-secondary institutions through their engagement with WIL program
 

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