1	High Quality: Defining and Systematically Assessing Co-op Assignments to Improve Work Integrated Learning Mel Simms Mark Erickson Nora Jemison College of Computer and Information Science Department of Cooperative Education Northeastern University, Boston, MA
2	Who we are Northeastern University, Boston, MA 22,000 students (18,000 undergr., 4,000 grad) College of Computer and Information Science (CCIS) -- Bachelors, Masters, & Ph.D. 600 undergraduate students in CCIS 5 year curriculum with 1.5 years co-op total 6-month alternating co-op program, mandatory for undergrad, optional for grad 180 students on co-op per term
3	Session contents Quality in context, other research activities and feedback to curriculum Participant activity Definition of quality On-line survey example Results Next steps for students, employers, and faculty
4	Goals of our research Understand and document what students learn in the classroom and on co-op Understand how classroom and experiential learning integrate Measure achievement and provide feedback to co-op and academic programs Determine factors affecting quality of experiential learning to improve assignments Recommend and implement change
5	Assessment ongoing since 1997 Surveyed students, employers, and faculty to find out what was learned Needed more objective measures Assessed students’ and employers’ expected versus actual job skill level Feedback from surveys used to modify integrated curriculum Awarded NSF curriculum assessment grant to develop student portfolios
6	Feedback loop Results of feedback from early assessments led to: More objective measures, expectation vs. reality Curriculum design changes based on understanding of what skills acquired/reinforced on co-op
7	Focus on quality Institutional focus: the quality mantra Data on quality needed by administration, students and employers Program focus: what constitutes quality? Develop a matrix of factors intrinsic to quality jobs Hope to improve assignments, attract better employers, and increase satisfaction
8	Create definition of quality Form small groups Define aspects of a quality co-op Discuss
9	Co-op quality Definition A Challenging assignment with positive supervision and mentoring which attempts to match the student’s technical, developmental & professional abilities and allows the student to excel in one or more of the above.
10	Quality definition: academics A quality assignment would reflect curriculum outcomes: outcomes which measure level of success in accomplishing pre-specified programmatic goals and objectives; having benchmarks and measures of success. Yikes!
11	Survey Survey instrument
12	Attributes of quality jobs Job Characteristics Job duties and working conditions Working with detail Working as part of a team Period of work Weekend and shift work Flexible work hours Part-time work Overtime
13	Attributes of quality jobs Job Satisfaction Ability to see results Problem solving Creativity Recognition Ability to influence Ability to fully utilize skills Opportunities to learn Possible advancement opportunities Supervision
14	Attributes of quality jobs Job Status Social status Status within an organization
15	Quality survey results
16	How would you rate the quality of this assignment?
17	Job Conditions: How important was it for your co-op assignment to meet the following conditions, and how satisfied were you that the co-op assignment met these conditions?
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21	Other findings Employers feel that students exceed their expectations However, gap between employer expectations and student performance is decreasing 95% of students rate their assignments as high or moderate quality
22	Other findings Top 5 characteristics for Importance: Opportunities to learn General working conditions Ability to fully utilize skills* Being recognized as an individual Problem solving Top 5 characteristics for Satisfaction: General working conditions Being recognized as an individual Problem solving Flexible work hours* Opportunities to learn
23	Increasing job quality Rejoin your groups Brainstorm methods to improve quality in collaboration with employers Share
24	Effects of survey Changes in ways students think about experiential learning Provide aggregated feedback during reflection meetings Students have a clearer idea of how to distinguish quality in an assignment
25	Effects of survey Improvement in assignment quality: Feedback to employers about how to improve assignments Level of assignments, student and employer expectations Working conditions Job satisfaction
26	Effects of survey Synergistic effort with Institutional Research Length of co-op, what is enough 12 vs. 18 Month 4 vs. 5 years
27	Comments & questions