An exploration of the pedagogies employed to integrate knowledge in work-integrated learning in New Zealand higher education institutions

Work-integrated learning or cooperative education is an educational strategy in which students undergo conventional academic learning at a higher educational institution and combine this learning with some time spent in a workplace relevant to their program of study and career aims (Groenewald, 2004). A key aspect of work-integrated learning is the notion that it entails the integration of knowledge and skills gained in the higher education institution and in the workplace. This has two features - the student takes what he or she has learned on-campus into the workplace when going on a work placement, and likewise what they learn in the workplace becomes related to, or incorporated into, the next phase of academic learning when the student returns to study after completing a work-placement