This article describes students' experiences of different activities arranged by a Swedish university in connectionwith their internship. The article presents two approaches for conducting seminars while students are on aninternship. One student group attends formal, structured seminars while the other group attends seminars in theform of focus groups called huddles, where the theme of conversations is carefully selected and has its origins instudents’ narratives on their authentic experiences during the internship. The more ’traditional’ formal seminarsare perceived by the students as scattered, while the conversational approach based on personal experiences helpsstudents to develop a professional identity. Conversational focus groups were perceived as the pedagogicalmeasure that contributes most to students’ development. This research emphasized the deep learning affordedstudents and the insights emerging from the conversations. The organic nature of the conversations enableddevelopment in both intended and unintended learning outcomes.

This licentiate thesis describes the development and change of forms within a course with a focus on Work-Integrated Learning (WIL). For several years I have been responsible for a course and at the same time author of the syllabus for the course and seen how weak the integration is, and how it is perceived by the students, between theoretical knowledge and the practical work during an internship period. This has resulted in two interventions and processing of the syllabus and above all the methods and pedagogy used for the implementation of the course.

In the beginning, the internship period contained four presentation seminars where the result was only a joint listening to the other students' stories and presentations. This resulted in a discussion and conceptual paper that focused on the importance of integration and how this can be made visible. The first change in curricula was inspired by Flipped Classroom, where students had to submit their narratives in advance in an online shared document. Prior to the seminar, it was assumed that they would then read each other's text and reflect on similarities and differences in experiences and learning in the workplace where they had their internship period. This resulted in a more reflective conversation during the seminars which can be called Peer Reflections where the conversation was always based on previous reflections and each other's thoughts.

The second intervention was carried out in implementation at the same time as it was to be compared with the student's experiences of seminars in a control group that carried out a similar course structure with presentation and examining seminars. The change was inspired by a model from Australia that they call Huddles. This is a concluding seminar as a briefing of the practice. The issues that are discussed are carefully selected in collaboration with the students and have a clear anchoring in their experiences during the practice. The change, which was then implemented, after inspiration from Huddles in one group, with as before four seminars during the internship with carefully selected themes. At the same time, I was inspired by models for evaluating differences in teaching when technology is introduced, such as the SAMR model (substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition) and how this could be seen as a form of progression if technology was changed to AIL. The SOLO taxonomy was also the inspiration for describing the assignments and themes before each seminar.

The research questions presented in this licentiate thesis focus on the students' experiences of how these changes contribute to a better understanding of the integration of what is taught at the university in the form of theory and the practical knowledge they learned in the internship.

Qualitative data collection has taken place through observations and focus groups in both the group where changes have been implemented and in the group that conducted accounting and examining seminars. The results show that the integration in the students' understanding of theory and practice increases. They also experience a progression in their reflections and the seminars, while the students in the control group experience their seminars as scattered and they do not contribute to any knowledge development.

The licentiate thesis also contributes to considering WIL as a complex concept with different areas of responsibility. The university teaches on the theoretical side, Work-Integrated Education (WIE) while on the other side of the dichotomy theory and practice where students are largely responsible for Workplace learning (WPL). Between these, several different activities can be carried out, including Huddles, which can be described as work-based learning (WBL). The university can contribute to these activities with, for example, simulations, the teaching of relevant software used by companies and organizations in the field. Workplaces can also contribute with concrete assignments in the form of various projects that the students are allowed to carry out or perhaps with guest lectures and concrete cases. Seeing WIL as an umbrella covering different forms of activities with different organizational responsibilities can make it easier to see the importance of the different activities and these can be integrated. WIL is not only WIE.

In addition to the view that AIL is an umbrella concept with several different types of activities, ideas are also given on how Huddles can be introduced as a pedagogical method and how progression can be developed within Work-integrated Education and Learning with inspiration from different models.

Populärvetenskaplig Sammanfattning

I denna licentiatuppsats beskrivs utveckling och förändring av former inom en kurs med fokus på Arbetsintegrerat Lärande (AIL). Jag har under flera år varit ansvarig för en kurs och samtidigt författare av kursplanen för kursen och sett hur svag integrationen är mellan teoretiska kunskaper och det praktiska arbetet under en praktikperiod och hur integrationen uppfattas av studenterna. Detta har resulterat i två interventioner och bearbetningar av kursplan och framför allt av de metoder och den pedagogik som använts för genomförandet av kursen.

Initialt innehöll praktikperioden fyra redovisande seminarier där resultatet endast blev ett gemensamt lyssnande till de andra studenternas berättelser och presentationer. Detta gav som resultat ett diskuterande och konceptuellt paper som fokuserade på integrationens betydelse och hur detta kan synliggöras. Den första förändringen inspirerades av Flipped Classroom där studenterna i förväg fick lämna sina narrativ i ett online delat dokument. Inför seminariet förutsattes att de sedan skulle läsa varandras texter och reflektera över likheter och skillnader i upplevelser och lärande på den arbetsplats där de hade sin praktikperiod. Detta resulterade i ett mer reflekterande samtal under seminarierna som kan kallas Peer Reflections där samtalet hela tiden byggde på tidigare reflektioner och varandras tankar.

Den andra interventionen genomfördes samtidigt som studenternas upplevelser av seminarier skulle jämföras i en kontrollgrupp som genomförde ett liknande kursupplägg med redovisande och examinerande seminarier. Förändringen inspirerades av en modell från Australien som där kallas Huddles. Detta görs vid ett avslutande seminarium som briefing av praktiken. Frågeställningarna som diskuteras är noga utvalda i samverkan med studenterna och har en tydlig förankring i deras upplevelser under praktiken. Förändringen genomfördes sedan, efter inspiration av Huddles i den ena gruppen, med liksom tidigare fyra seminarier under praktiktiden med noga valda teman.

Samtidigt inspirerades jag av modeller för värdering av skillnader i undervisning när teknik införs, såsom SAMR-modellen (substitution, augmentation, modification och redefinition) och hur detta kunde ses som en form av progression om teknik byttes mot AIL. SOLO-taxonomin blev också inspiration för beskrivning av uppdragen och teman inför varje seminarium.

Forskningsfrågorna som redovisas i denna licentiatuppsats fokuseras på studenternas upplevelser av hur dessa förändringar bidrar till att bättre förstå integrationen av den teori som de lärt sig på högskolan och den praktiska kunskap de fått på praktikplatsen.

Insamling av kvalitativa data har skett genom observationer och fokusgrupper i både i den grupp där förändringar har genomförts och i den grupp, kontrollgruppen, som genomfört redovisande och examinerande seminarier. Resultatet visar att studenternas förståelse av integrationen mellan teori och praktik ökar. De upplever också en progression i sina reflektioner och i seminarierna medan studenterna i kontrollgruppen upplever sina seminarier som spretiga och att de inte bidrar till någon kunskapsutveckling.

Licentiatuppsatsen bidrar med att betrakta AIL som ett komplext paraplybegrepp med olika ansvarsområden. Å den ena sidan är högskolan ansvarig för att förmedla teoretisk kunskap, Arbetsintegrerad Undervisning (AIU) medan studenten å den andra sidan, till stor del är ansvarig för att integrera teori och praktik genom sitt arbetsplatsbaserade lärande (APL). Mellan AIU och APL finns arbetsbaserat lärande (ABL) där det kan genomföras en rad olika aktiviteter, där bland annat modellen Huddles ingår. Aktiviteter som lärosätet kan bidra med är till exempel simuleringar och undervisning i relevanta programvaror som används av företag och organisationer inom fältet. Aktiviteter som arbetsplatserna kan bidra med är konkreta uppdrag i form av olika projekt som studenterna får utföra eller med gästföreläsningar eller konkreta Case. Att se AIL som ett paraply som omfattar de olika begreppen och innehåller olika former av verksamhet med olika organisatoriska ansvar kan göra det enklare att inse vikten av de olika aktiviteterna och hur dessa kan integreras. AIL är därmed inte enbart AIU.

Utöver synsättet att AIL är ett paraplybegrepp med flera olika typer av aktiviteter lämnas också idéer på hur Huddles kan införas som en pedagogisk metod för att stärka ”I.et” i AIL och hur progression kan utvecklas inom arbetsintegrerat lärande med inspiration av olika modeller.

In this article, we propose a framework for addressing work-integrated learning (WIL) in a higher education context. We build on the work of Shulman’s Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) and extend it to address teachers' effort of incorporating work-integrated learning into their teaching practice. This calls for a complex knowledge base that we named WIL-PACK (Work-Integrated Learning Pedagogical and Content Knowledge). This work is the result of many years of teaching in higher education where issues of WIL have been the focus of discussions, innovations, and critical scrutiny of our teaching practice. Contributions include presenting a framework that captures fundamental qualities of teacher knowledge required for addressing WIL in teaching practice and by extension support students to develop both the ability to be adaptable and critical to their future professional practice. 

It is a common view in higher education to make clear distinction between theory, what you learn in school, and practice, what you learn in the workplace. Work integrated learning (WIL) is an approach in higher education that problematizes this distinction and that supports the understanding of an integrated view of theory and practice. In this paper we report from a study in which we investigate how students become increasingly ready for working life during a course. We explore “the process of learning to be ready for working life”, that we herein call ‘Work Integrated Learning’ (WIL) and we explain how WIL can be supported by ‘the methods used to enhance readiness for working life’, which we refer to as Work Integrated Education (WIE). The first aim of this study is to better understand how students develop readiness for working life. A second aim is to shed light on the distinction between WIL and WIE in order to understand how different types of knowledge sources for students can support the feeling of being ready for working life.The study is conducted at the bachelor’s degree programs ‘Digital Media’ and ‘3D-animation and visualisation’, at University West, Sweden. During the fifth semester, students have the opportunity to carry out internships in a workplace. The internship is conducted as a course at the university that gives higher education credits. The time spent on the course is split between the workplace (80%) and the university (20%). Every second week the students write down reflections on a given topic related to experiences in the workplace. Topics can be for instance custom relations, professional roles and ethics. The reflection texts are shared openly on the learning management platform so that all students can read each other’s reflections. Thereafter the group meet with faculty teachers in a seminar to discuss each other’s reflections. In the end of the seminar the teachers present a matrix including dimensions related to the topic discussed and the students are given the task to place the organisation they are practicing at in the matrix. The purpose of the shared reflection texts, discussions and work with the matrix is to give the students the opportunity to compare each other’s working experiences and to shed light on aspects of the experience that can help them to feel prepared for working life.The study is a mixed methods approach and consists of three sets of data: group interviews, online surveys and students' written reports. The research questions we seek answers to are:- How do the work of writing and discussing experiences from the workplace contribute to students’ personal understanding of what kind of workplace they search for in work life?- To what extent can both academic theoretical goals and students practical goals be combined during Internship?Preliminary results show that the student learn something on top of the course curricula. In the seminars discussing and reflecting upon each others experiences from different workplaces, they start to construct a vision for a future workplace of their own. A set of preferences on company size, the way the creative process is conducted, values, type of clients and other factors that define the company where student make internship.

Self-efficacy and Self-esteem of readiness are important factors for students to succeed in an internship. These factors affect how an individual handles new situations and possible threats. By testing their theoretical knowledge in a practical context, the internship can have a positive effect on the student's experience of being successful in working life.Work integrated learning is one approach that may support students progression towards increased readiness for working life. What characterizes work readiness and how can it be achieved?The study was conducted at the bachelor's degree programs ‘Digital Media’ and ‘3D-animation and visualisation’, at University West in Sweden. During the fifth semester students have the opportunity to carry out internships in a workplace. These internships are conducted as a course at the university which also gives higher education credits. The time spent on the course is split between the workplace (80%) and the university (20%). Every fortnight the students meet with faculty staff at a seminar to discuss a given topic. The purpose of the course is to give the student the opportunity to integrate theory from the university studies with practical experience in a workplace.The students spend the majority of the time in the workplace however every second week they meet in a seminar on campus, in which they discuss their experiences in the workplace. As a preparation for the seminar, the students are given different thematic questions to reflect on. Based on all students answers, in the seminar the students reflect on similarities and differences in each others’ texts. Additionally, a supplementary summarizing question is given to the students during the seminar.Prior to the start of the course, the students make their own estimation of how ready they feel they are for working life on a scale from 1-10. After the course, the estimation is revised along the same scale. In addition to this estimation, conversations are conducted between the students, regarding readiness for working life.The study is a mixed methods approach and consists of three sets of data: five group interviews á three hours with 7-15 participants in seminars, two online surveys and 50 written reports from all together 15 students.In the paper we report on how students gradually increase their feeling of being more sure of what type of work tasks they prefer to do in the future, which skills they already have or need to develop further, and what type of workplace they want to work at related to for instance: level of creative freedom, level of collegiality, type of governance etc. These insights, we argue, are vital characteristics of students’ experience of ‘readiness for working life’. We discuss how these characteristics are important aspects of self efficacy and how they are related to the design of the course and ultimately a work integrated learning approach to teaching and learning within higher education.

A not uncommon view in higher education is that there is a clear difference between theoretical knowledge, what you learn at the university and the practical skills, what you learn in the workplace. Both forms of knowledge are considered important and why different activities in the area of Work Integrated Learning (WIL) are included in the teaching that aim to achieve the learning objectives that are in the syllabus. A relatively common form of examination of these goals is that students write a report on their workplace learning. By conducting seminars or huddles where students are given the opportunity to learn from each other's experiences, such integration can be improved. Within the program "Digital Media", at University West, students have the opportunity to participate in a 20-week internship at a workplace with a focus on activities that they themselves want to work with in their future professional careers. Every other week, four thematic seminars was held based on the students' written stories about the workplace and a unique theme for each seminar. Through summaries of the seminars, a questionnaire and a reflection report, the question was asked: How do students experience their learning based on classmates' narratives about their workplace? We conducted 4 peer seminars, in order to talk about similarities and differences in the narratives, and a digital survey, Possibility to Learn at Workplace (PLW)consisted of two parts, one that focused on the workplace and another focused on the university's teaching activities. The students' final written report also dealt with reflections on the student's personal learning and development. These reports were treated through thematic content analysis.

The results show how learning is improved through socio-cultural activities in the form of the thematic seminars. The survey showed that the seminars were good support for creating new knowledge among the students.

Active Learning Classroom (ALC) has been introduced in many universities designed to promote active, student-centered learning to facilitate new teaching and learning situations. However, it is well known that technology per se do not create new teaching practices. The aim of this paper is to explore the role of technology in instructional design created for an active learning classroom. We explore a case of instructional design in an ALC, within the context of a university in Sweden and students at a bachelor's degree program in informatics. An action oriented research approach was applied. Data includes; engaged classroom observations; a student survey; and teachers’ interviews. The results show that technology came to play an important role in the instructional design in terms of affecting the engagement and pace in the teaching situation. Contributions includes unpacking how the functionality of technology can affect the teaching situation in a technology intense ALC environment as well as instructional design suggestions created for a ALC and that is considered fruitful by students and teachers.

Since 2002 University West, Sweden has had a mission from the Swedish government to develop methods for work integrated learning (WIL). WIL is thus a “trademark” of the university and the university is continuously developing teaching models to enhance a synergy between theory and practice with the goal to improve education and students’ lifelong learning. A challenge in such work is a decreasing engagement among students to participate in seminars at campus, especially during periods of internship. In the study underlying this paper we therefore explore a new teaching and learning method that aims to stimulate students to come to campus and to discuss their experiences with peer students and teachers during their internship.The internship and the seminars are organized as a ‘WIL course’ in the fifth semester of the candidate program ‘Digital Media’. As part of the course the students spend four days a week in a workplace where they contribute substantially to the work at the workplace. One day a week they spend at campus to reflect, write and discuss topics related to the work and organization at the workplace e.g. organizational culture, how a work day is organized, how design work is organized, and how the workplace treats its customers. The students and teachers meet once every second week for a seminar where they discuss the above-mentioned themes. The reflections made at the seminars and the conversations are important for the learning goals at the course. However, the teachers experience a moderate interest from the students’ side to participate and the students tend to be ill prepared.To increase the value and learning for the students, a new approach for better structure and engagement has been introduced, where students in beforehand writtenly reflect on questions about their workplace in relation to the theme of the week. They write in open and shared documents so that all students before the seminare can take part of each others reflections and as such come to the seminar with a wider perspective on the particular theme. The seminar is then held at the campus where the themes are discussed and workplaces compared with help of a shared matrix where the students can place their workplace regarding level of structure, formality, creativity etc . As such the seminar has a ‘flipped’ character and the ICT tools for learning used are open and editable over time for all participants.The empirical material is based on 24 hours participant observations, 10 students’ written reflections and the course curricula. The findings show that the flipped and open approach to the seminars has made the students more engaged in reflections about their workplace, not only during the seminar at campus but also during their work at the workplace. The shared document stimulates reflections of differences between workplaces that has not been so clear before, and the matrix has helped the students to take the reflections to a higher level by reflecting over organizational culture and workplace conditions. By comparing each other’s experiences from a spectrum of different aspects/themes they get a more nuanced picture of the skills and competences needed in the workplace, and they get more strengthened in their professional role. The recurrent discussions over time during the course therefore contribute to make the students more experienced than they would had been by only having got the experience from their own workplace.

Students need to develop meta-reflection to strengthen their learning process and to be able to manage the continuous changes encountered both higher education and in workplaces. Reflection is the most important for achieving progress within work integrated learning. For students to develop meta-reflection and achieve progression within work integrated learning, they need a systematic structure and conscious tools. The Portfolio method can be one of those tools.In this article we are going to discuss, from a theoretical standpoint, how teachers can develop a better structure for students so that they can strengthen their learning-process and progression of work integrated learning in higher education during internships which in turn promote lifelong learning. This progression of work integrated learning will be discussed in relation to the “WIL4U” model together with examples of reflection questions, learning outcomes, learning activities and examination forms. The “WIL4U” model was developed from the “AIL 4E (DUCATION)” model created by Bernhardsson, Gellerstedt and Svensson.The purpose of this conceptual discussion article is to highlight the portfolio method as a structure and tool for progress work integrated learning by reflection.With support of the portfolio method, the students can develop their ability to make well-balanced, and reflected choices in planning actions for work integrated learning. This requires well-developed self-regulation and the ability to meta-cognition and systematic meta-reflection to evaluate the effects of various actions. The portfolio method can also improve the reflection-process to develop the student's ability to emphasize strengths and increase the ability to achieve the learning outcomes in higher education.

In the Digital Media program, students have the opportunity to complete an internship. In addition to the objectives of the syllabus, they specify their own learning objectives. These knowledge goals rarely align with the course objectives found in the syllabus but focus more on what practical skills they believe they will learn.

In this paper we present planned activities to explore the students' experience and learning during the internship period using mixed methods. The main question is: To what extent can both academic theoretical goals and students' skills goals be combined during the internship period? Students fill out a form of how they themselves feel they are ready for working life, a readiness. Self-esteem of readiness can also be seen as an indicator of what Bandura calls Self Efficacy (Bandura, 2010).Group interviews are conducted and recorded and then transcribed and analyzed, based on survey results investigate whether students who carry out WIL activities feel better prepared for professional life after completing their studies (Purdie et.al., 2013). Students also hand in written reflections on their own learning, where students describe and argue for their learning based on a model called RAT (Replacement, Amplification, Transformation) (Hughes et al., 2006).

Further data is collected through two surveys based on LPW (Learning Potential of the Workplace). It consists of 12 different questions developed by Nikolova et.al. and were presented in article (Nikolova et al., 2014). Collected data is processed and analyzed and should be able to give a clear picture if the internship only served as Work Integrated Education (WIE) or if it was also Work Integrated Learning (WIL). The difference between these concepts is discussed by Billet, which means that merely replacing one form of teaching with another does not always lead to the workplace contributing to student learning (Billett, 2018).