Title: From the classroom to the workplace: a cooperative education stratagem for student transitioning skills

Authors: Ravee Phoewhawm

Addresses: School of Administrative Science, Maejo University, 63 M. 4, Chiang Mai-Phrao Road, Tambol Nongharn, Sansai District, Chiang Mai, 50290, Thailand

Abstract: Cooperative education students (in Thailand) need to acquire strong transition skills that will enable them to overcome discomfort and difficulties that may occur in the workplace. The objective is to devise a mental strategy for helping students to manage situation that presents itself in an undesired and difficult manner. An appreciative inquiry method was applied to learn from students who managed to succeed in the programme. Results showed that these students were able to learn on their own. Their experiences were converted to a stratagem model for providing a method on successful transition from the classroom and into the workplace.

Keywords: personal projects; professional projects; appreciative inquiry; cooperative education; employer engagement; reflection; classrooms; workplaces; education stratagems; student skills; transitioning skills; transition; Thailand; workplace discomfort; workplace difficulties; mental strategies; student experiences; innovation; learning.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIL.2012.048350

International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 2012 Vol.12 No.2, pp.122 - 141

Published online: 28 Aug 2014 *

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