A toolkit to enhance work-integrated learning coordinators’ understanding of practical problems

Abstract

This study is located in the area of university work-integrated learning (WIL) management, in particular the implementation of both placement and non-placement WIL. The focus of the study is on enhancing WIL coordinators’ understanding of WIL as a system, using activity theory as a framework, and to mobilize this understanding to address challenges in practice. To this end WIL coordinators at two South African universities attended WIL challenge workshops in which an activity system-derived diagnostic toolkit was introduced. The verbal discussions and diagrams presented by the coordinators were analyzed for evidence of systematic understanding of WIL, challenges and future possibilities. Findings from the study revealed that WIL coordinators successfully used the toolkit to identify system-level constraints and were inspired to engage in further investigations. The authors thus argue that the diagnostic toolkit could be used with WIL coordinators at other universities as a useful approach to understanding and optimizing their WIL practices. © 2025 International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Activity theory systematic analysis Work-integrated learning challenges

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations

Högskolan Väst, Trollhattan, Vastra Gotaland, Sweden

Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Bellville, South Africa

Mangosuthu University of Technology, Umlazi, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Funding & Acknowledgements

National Research Foundation, NRF

Funding text 1: The researchers wish to acknowledge the financial support of the National Research Foundation/South Africa-Sweden University Forum SASUF23041291642-PR-2023. The research project was first written as a technical report and was reported on at the 2024 WACE conference and in the conference proceedings. This article is substantially different from both these reports.; Funding text 2: The Journal is financially supported by the Work-Integrated Learning New Zealand (WILNZ; www.wilnz.nz), and

Grant: SASUF23041291642-PR-2023

Funding text 1: The researchers wish to acknowledge the financial support of the National Research Foundation/South Africa-Sweden University Forum SASUF23041291642-PR-2023. The research project was first written as a technical report and was reported on at the 2024 WACE conference and in the conference proceedings. This article is substantially different from both these reports.; Funding text 2: The Journal is financially supported by the Work-Integrated Learning New Zealand (WILNZ; www.wilnz.nz), and

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A toolkit to enhance work-integrated learning coordinators’ understanding of practical problems

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