Blog

Between 2020 and 2022, the University of Waterloo rapidly hired and trained over 1000 undergraduate co-operative education (co-op) students as part of the Online Learning Assistant (OLA) Program, to support faculty (i.e., course instructors) in the transition to online teaching. Our research findings suggest that these co-op hires were incredibly beneficial to many faculty, with their efforts ultimately leading to improvements in teaching and learning.

This research study explored the kinds of friendships co-op students make on work terms and how they are impacted by remote work. We also examined the impacts of these friendships on outcomes that are important to both students and employers.  

In many parts of the world, including Canada, there are calls for an increase in the number of work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities for post-secondary students. 

The Future Ready Talent Framework (FRTF) is a research-backed tool to help students, employers and educators understand the key competencies we all need to navigate the future of work and learning. The FRTF is a competency framework that was developed through extensive research into existing frameworks, studies and reports, and validated through our network of employers, students and fellow educators.

The Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning (CEWIL) Resource Hub is a website developed for all stakeholders involved in work-integrated learning (WIL): students, practitioners, employers, and educators.

One of the most important aspects in successful student recruitment is an understanding of what students value in the workplace.

With partners at Macquarie University in Australia and Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, the principal researchers developed a framework for the factors that are critical to sustainable partnerships in work-integrated learning (WIL).

Exploring lifelong learning as a concept and how it can be measured can provide educators with clear steps for fostering this mindset in students.

Definitions of talent are changing to address work-related challenges (e.g. aging workforce, increased globalization), as are the practices used to manage talent (e.g., recruit, develop and retain it).