Experiential Learning Requirements

Experiential Learning “supports students in gaining hands-on learning that helps them transition to employment”^[1]. Experiential Learning can take the form of co-operative education, degree work placement, clinical/field placement, fieldwork/simulation labs, capstone/applied research projects, and service learning.

In the Interactive Media Management program, there are several opportunities for you to engage in experiential learning, starting with your first semester Storyworks course. In Storyworks, your professor will put students into teams to emulate an agency environment, and provide you with a real-world client that you will work with throughout the semester, on a set of deliverables you define with both your client and professor.

Then, in the second semester, you expand on that knowledge in Senior Project, where you take an idea of your own, and throughout the semester, take it from concept to high-fidelity functioning prototype. Other second semester courses enhance your experiential learning by challenging you to think about your project from a business perspective, in addition to a creative endeavour.

Finally, in the third semester, you practice your skills in industry with a nine-week field placement, after participating in an event to showcase your work to industry.

Most of the assignments in the program are also the types of projects you would do in industry. Instead of exams or essays,  you will complete projects that you will be able to showcase in your portfolio.

The evaluation scheme for each of these experiential learning opportunities will be provided in the course outlines.

The status of clinical/field placements and co-op work terms will be subject to public health directives and the reopening plan. Students may complete their placement requirements at sites that are permitted to open, either onsite, following appropriate health and safety protocols, or remotely. Students will be asked to read and sign a Student Informed Consent form in order to ensure that they understand their rights and the potential health and safety risks. Similarly, employers and/or placement hosts will be required to complete an Employer/Placement Health and Safety Site Checklist.

If workplaces are not permitted to open, placements and work terms may be completed remotely where feasible. In programs where placements or unpaid internships can not be facilitated through alternative/distance models, students will be allowed to complete these components at a later date.