Cooperative Education in Outdoor Education

Overview & Synopsis

Cooperative education is a structured experiential education strategy integrating classroom studies with work place learning. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate how a cooperative education model can be included within an outdoor education undergraduate degree to develop reflective practitioners and to enhance graduate capabilities. Document analysis of the students' final reports indicated that the facilitated critical reflection strategies were relevant to the needs of the learner, enabled them to process the experience, and develop their learning and professional growth, as reflective practitioners. The work integrated learning (WIL) experience provided exposure and a transition to the "real world", an opportunity to develop required graduate skills, and to put theory into practice.