Work Experience, the Scientist-Practitioner Model, and Cooperative Education

Cooperative education and the scientist-practitioner model have in common a belief in the value of a period or periods of work related to the academic program of students. This article examines research on the effects of such work in these programs and how the construct of work experience might contribute to our understanding of these effects. It is suggested that outcomes of work experience are more likely to be related to future behaviours if more specific measures are made of experience and its outcomes, such as the number of times a task is performed and the skills learned on the job.