Cooperative Education in Outdoor Education (Report‪)‬

********** Cooperative education is a structured experiential educational strategy integrating classroom studies with learning, through productive work experiences in a field related to a student's academic or career goals (National Commission for Cooperative Education, 2008). In tertiary education other terminology used for similar educational strategies is, for example, practicum, internship, field experience and work integrated learning (WIL). The focus of this paper will consider cooperative education in the context of full-time undergraduate outdoor education students undertaking a work placement as part of their programme of study. Cooperative education involves collaboration between the student, tertiary education institution (TEI), and workplace to enhance the employability of graduates through the development of generic and specific skills (Coll, 1996; Coll & Eames, 2004).