Cooperative Education in Physical Education: An Exploratory Study of Students' Perceptions of Co-op Experiences

Abstract

The nature of today's workplace is one of rapid and dramatic changes. Traditional workplace environments require those entering a field to possess skills and competencies that are not currently being taught in many institutions. As a result, higher educational institutions have come under increasing pressure to adjust their curriculum in an effort to meet these changes. Cooperative education has thus emerged as a legitimate alternative to the more traditional educational strategies in a number of programs. With its inextricable link to the workplace, cooperative education provides a unique blend of practical, career related experiences with formal, academic learning. This exploratory study investigated the cooperative education experiences of university students involved in a four year physical education/ recreation degree program. The study sought to examine through self-completed questionnaires, individual interviews, and a focus group session, the perceptions of students with regard to their academic and work term activities. In particular, the research project focused on: (a) academic skills and competencies developed during the cooperative program, (b) career and professional perceptions of students in the program, (c)work term experiences, (d) personal and interpersonal relationships, and (e) learning strategies and obstacles. Survey data, gathered from 96 students representing 80%of all 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year students enrolled in the program, were summarized using measures of central tendency. Interview and focus group data from students were transcribed, content analysed and organized around several emerging themes. As a group the students described a broad range of experiences and the effect these experiences had on learning in the cooperative program. Results of the questionnaire and the interviews indicated that students perceive the cooperative program as offering a variety of opportunities for learning many generic academic skills along with career and related employability skills required for the workplace. Other findings suggest that students in a cooperative program rely on learning strategies which are both self-initiated and collaborative in nature.