Work-Integrated Learning as a Model to Strengthen Industry-Academia Collaboration

Abstract

Work-integrated learning is an umbrella concept that denotes a curricular, pedagogic, and assessment practice across many academic disciplines that attempts to integrate formal learning and workplace concerns. It is participative, more situated and less didactic, and focuses on the real world. It is a pedagogical approach that is underpinned by experiential, community engagement and service learning as its philosophical and theoretical basis. Although work-integrated learning benefits both industry and academia or higher education institutions, guiding documents in the extant literature are observed to be general and not focused on how industry-academia collaboration may be strengthened. Bridging the gap between industry and academia is vital. Owing to that, the authors describe how work-integrated learning can be utilized as a model to strengthen industry-academia collaboration. A three-phase work-integrated model that may be used to strengthen industry and academia collaboration is designed and described.