Confidential
8
•
Practicums andapplied researchprojectswere themost commonWILelements
includedwithincourses, followedby fieldplacements, community-basedor community
service learning, and internships.
•
Respondents,whose students are involved inWIL, primarilyundertookactivities related
to facilitating student reflection, evaluatingassignments, andestablishing learning
outcomes.
•
Theprimarybenefitsperceivedby respondents for studentsparticipating inWILwere in
helping themunderstand thenatureofwork, developcontacts, andapply theoryand
skills in theworkplace.Overall, respondentsoverall believedWILwas apositive
experience for students.
•
Froman institutional perspective, respondentsbelievedWIL couldhelpstrengthenand
connect theUniversity to thebroader community,whilehelping to respond to itsneeds
Respondentsdidnot believe that the institutionadequately supportsWIL and that,
consequently, someunits, that donot lend themselves toWIL,may suffer.
•
Respondents identifieda significant number of challenges associatedwithWILon-
campus, primarily related toplacements (i.e., ensuringqualityandquantity), balancing
responsibilitieswithexistingworkload, and lackof resources.
Adetailedsummaryof theanalysis completedcanbe found inAppendixD.
Experiential LearningOfferings andParticipationRates
TheUniversityofWindsor doesnot havea centralizedsystemthat accuratelyor efficiently
reportson thenumber of ELofferingsor student participation.
ProgramDevelopment Committee (PDC) forms collect informationon thedescriptionof a
course, delivery format, andbreakdownof contact hours. However, possible inconsistencies
pertaining to interpretationof terminologyand inability to“qualify”EL typeswithina course
reduces thevalidityof thesedocuments as a reliable sourceof information. After discussion
with theUniversitySecretariat, itwasdetermined that there isnot aneffectivemethod for
queryingPDC/Senatedata to identify courses that havebeen identifiedashavingoneormore
hours/week spent onco-op, practicums, or EL.
Anonline searchofUniversityofWindsor’s 2017SpringUndergraduateCalendar identified44
courses that referred toa “practicum”eitherwithin thecourse titleor description (see
AppendixE: Practicums as listed in theUniversityofWindsor’s 2017SpringUndergraduate
Calendar). However, it isunlikely that themajorityof courses fit thegenerallyaccepted
definitionof apracticum,withsomeother coursesnotablyabsent (i.e., nursing),which include
being requiredbybothanacademicprogramanda regulatory college/professional association,
supervisionbyanexperienced registeredor licensedprofessional (e.g., preceptor),with the
overall aimofmeeting theworkhour requirements for professional licensure, certification, or
registration (Sattler&Peters, 2012). These inconsistencies further questioning theability to
qualifyELofferings andparticipation rates at theUniversityofWindsor.
