Co-operative Education Alternating

• With alternating school and work terms (three work terms), Co-op promotes continuous learning through the integration of classroom and applied work-based learning.
• Co-op provides students with an enriched understanding of their academic program through practical application but is not integral to meeting the program vocational learning outcomes and not required for program completion.
• Finding a Co-op placement is typically a competitive process, i.e., college staff do not find placements for students or conduct a student-employer matching process. Students must compete for jobs, in most cases with students from other institutions and/or the general public. As such, the co-op process sharpens students’ ability to professionally participate in a job search process (networking, resume writing, interviewing, etc.).
• The program curriculum should be able to accommodate a pre-employment training course prior to the first work term (COOP 221).
• Student assessment includes completion of a written report for each work term.
• The student in effect becomes an employee of the employing organization and is expected to be treated as any other temporary employee. As such, the employer assumes responsibility, as they would for any other employee, for the period of the co-op employment, and students accept the responsibilities of an employee.
• Co-op students should be remunerated.
• There should be a measured market demand for program-related short-term, paid positions.

Co-operative Education Internship

• The same points for Co-op Alternating listed above apply, except that students do not benefit from alternating work terms and the integration of practice and learning offered by that model.
• When back-to-back work terms are conducted with the same employer, Co-op Internship provides students with a longer period of time to hone their practice without interruption and to learn the processes and practices of a particular employer.
• This model may be more appropriate for fields in which the work context does not support short-term employment and employers have greater need for students who can be employed for work terms of a longer duration.

Field Placement/Work Placement

• Field placement provides intensive part-time/short-term hands-on practical experience in a setting relevant to their subject of study.
• It is an integral part of the curriculum and is required to meet the program vocational learning outcomes and for program completion.
• Students are not typically remunerated and the relationship between employer and student takes the form of a learning contract.
• Assessment of the field placement is tied directly to the program learning outcomes.
• Securing a placement is not a competitive process to the same extent as with co-op. College staff typically provide support in “placing” students and conduct employer-student matching activities.
• There should be assurance that placement opportunities will be available for all students in the program and enrolment projections must align.

Clinical Placement

• Clinical placement is appropriate in disciplines that require practice-based work experience for professional licensure or certification.
• The same points for Field Placement/Work Placement listed above apply, except that the work experience should be completed under the supervision of an experienced registered or licensed professional (e.g., preceptor).

Fieldwork/Simulation Lab

• Fieldwork simulates the workplace that students may enter upon graduation and takes place under the supervision of college staff, e.g., a computer repair service, esthetics clinic, autobody repair shop, etc.
• Simulation labs are typically used in healthcare programs, e.g., clinical skills nursing labs that allow students to practice on manikins.
• Fieldwork/Simulation Labs are more appropriate when permitting students with hands-on practice in a work setting may present too much risk or may not be feasible for employers.
• Fieldwork/Simulation Labs can provide opportunity for more students to access the EL activity (e.g., the whole class can participate) rather than the typical one-to-one workplace engagement (e.g., an organization takes one student for a field/clinical/co-op placement).
• Fieldwork/Simulation Labs can provide more consistent availability of and access to EL since it is college-run. However, since these activities often rely on real customers/clients, there should be a sustained demand for the service on offer. For simulation labs, the facilities should be kept up to date and align with what students would otherwise experience in the workplace.

Other EL Activity

• Other EL Activity (e.g., consulting, design, and community-based research projects) is more appropriate in fields where organizations are not able to have students on site, e.g., small-to-medium businesses that do not have capacity (time, money, or people) to supervise or provide a learning experience to students on a full-time/consistent basis.
• Other EL Activity can provide opportunity for more students to access the EL activity (e.g., groups of students work on one project) rather than the typical one-to-one workplace engagement (e.g., an organization takes one student for a field/clinical/co-op placement).
• Other EL Activity can also provide more consistent availability of and access to EL since it is college-run and built into curriculum. However, relationships with external partnering organizations will need to be sustained to ensure enough projects are available.
• Project-based work may be more appropriate when the objective is providing students with experience in a focused skill rather than broad experience in a field (e.g., creating a product marketing webpage versus rotating across several hospital wards).
• Project-based work may be more accessible to students who would have challenges attending a workplace on a regular basis/during standard work hours (e.g., challenges with transportation, competing demands and responsibilities, etc.).