Work experience alone is not enough for good learning
For students to learn effectively through practice, simply sending them into working life is not sufficient. Good integration between theory and practice must be facilitated.
This is according to Professor Stephen Billett, who will be a keynote speaker at the WIL´25 conference hosted by Kristiania University College in Oslo in September 2025.
— It's not sufficient to just provide students with internship positions. The experiences must be strengthened and integrated to optimize the pedagogical value, says Billett who is working at Griffith University in Australia.
Billett is one of the world's leading researchers in work-integrated learning and is coming to WIL´25 to share his thoughts on how educational institutions can best combine theoretical and practical learning.
Requires more than just placement
— We see that many institutions emphasize what we call "work-integrated learning," but often it's mostly about securing internship positions without thoroughly considering how the experiences should be integrated into the education, explains Billett.
He emphasizes that successful practice requires well-thought-out measures in several phases:
It's not sufficient to just provide students with internship positions
— Educational institutions must thoroughly prepare students before practice, support them during, and most importantly, help them process their experiences afterward. This can range from preparatory workshops where students learn about their future workplace, to structured group discussions after the practice period where they can review and analyze their experiences together with fellow students, explains Billett.
Concrete measures yield results
He highlights specific examples of successful measures:
● Briefing about workplace requirements and routines before practice begins
● Support systems for students who encounter challenging situations during practice
● Guidance groups where students can discuss professional challenges
● Structured reflection sessions after practice where experiences are linked to theory
— We see that many students gain much more from practice when the educational institution actively helps them understand and process their experiences. Typically, institutions send students out for practice and hope for the best, says Billett.
Active learning is the key
Billett's research shows that students learn best when they have the opportunity to:
● Systematically reflect on practice
● Compare experiences with peers
● Connect practical experiences to theoretical knowledge
● Receive guidance before, during, and after practice
— Good practice isn't just about being present at a workplace. It's about creating meaning from the experiences and developing professionally through them, Billett concludes.
The WIL25 conference is organized by Kristiania in Oslo from September 22-24. Here, participants will gain insight into the latest research in the field and acquire knowledge about concrete tools that can strengthen the interaction between education and working life.
Source: Billett, S. (2024). Constituting integration in work-integrated education and learning. Studies in Continuing Education, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/0158037X.2024.2363262
