Preparing students for work-integrated learning

There are two distinct preparation dimensions concerning students:

1. for entry into a suitable environment
2. orientation for the learning

Regardless if the theoretical teaching is residential or distance-mode, a key role of academic staff regarding work-integrated learning is the development of learning materials that would orientate students for their experiential learning process, with the view of:

• Attuning students to the learning they ought to derive from the real-life experience.
• Preparing the mindset of students to interact with the learning environment from which to derive learning.
• Raising the awareness of students with regard to the learning outcomes expected from their experiential learning.
• Reminding students about the theoretical knowledge that they need to operationalise within their work-integrated learning (an overall learning-map for the qualification might serve this purpose).

However, the above assumes that students readily have access to an appropriate real-life learning setting. In the South African context institutions offering qualifications with one or more work-integrated learning components are obliged to place students for such learning. A colleague, Ms Lizzie Mbuli emphasise the following:

• Students experience difficulty, during interviews, expressing themselves
• Students do not realise the competition students from Universities of Technology and other Comprehensive Institutions represent
• The academic record of a student plays an important role — it serves as evidence of accomplishments — if results are generally poor, with lots of failures and repeats it reflects negatively on the student's abilities
• Organisations prefer more advanced students, because they need not be frequently away for examinations and other university matters
• Importance of a marketable CV (not old fashioned) and a covering letter stating why a work-integrated learning opportunity is needed
• Value of a thank you letter to present to interviewers at end of interview
• Professional telephone skills — often secretaries complain about lack of professionalism
• Students must develop their own company database of likely employers or work-integrated learning host organisations, from newspapers and Internet searches
• Collaborative learning—work shopping in groups what taught to build confidence
• Organisations want to hear what students can bring/contribute — students often not capable to portray their acquired knowledge base
• Students must familiarise themselves about the purpose and expected outcomes of their work-integrated learning — it creates a negative impression if students don't understand why work-integrated learning and/or know what the work-integrated learning is suppose to entail — they must be able to state why and what
• Basic conduct when invited to an interview, e.g. wait until invited to sit down
• First impressions count, e.g. how dressed
• Students must improve their verbal and communication skills in English, in particular