The authors propose and outline an educational model for the preparation and evaluation stages of cooperative education that provides opportunities for students to be more active and engaged in the learning process. In the "learning communities" model, learning is situated in a community of inquirers who share meanings, interpretations, and ideas, learning continually relates to classroom members' lived experiences, learning relates to the present cultural context of the larger society as well as the cultural context of our collective history, and the content students learn has value and is meaningful. The authors argue that the learning communities approach offers new learning and teaching possibilities for preparing students for co-op and evaluating their work.
Researchers have documented the variety of learning outcomes students gain from co-op's approach to learning. For example, Grantz and Thanos (1996) described influences on students' academic learning from their internships, such as recognizing multiple perspectives and taking responsibility for their learning. In terms of career entry, cooperative education has been shown to enhance career identity (Weston, 1986), career planning (Mueller, 1992), employment opportunities (Eyler, 1995), and career decisions (Hackett, Croissant, and Schneider, 1992). Involvement in co-op also has been demonstrated to positively influence graduates' short-term career progress, including the level of job responsibility they achieve (Gore, 1972), their involvement in decision-making activities (Jarrell, 1974), salary levels (Gardner, 1992; Seidenberg, 1990), maturity and independence of thought and action, a sense of identity, motivation and self confidence, academic achievement, and clarity about goals (Wilson, 1987). Psychological or personal outcomes positively related to co-op experience include students' attachment to their university's commitment to educational goals, short-term gains in social adjustment (Carrell & Rowe, 1993), autonomy, and the quality of their interpersonal relationships (Mueller, 1992).
Compared to the large number of studies on learning outcomes of cooperative education, there are few studies that focus on the learning process of cooperative education. As Michelson (1996) points out, experiential forms of education must be built on a solid theoretical foundation so we make intentional decisions about the teaching and learning process. There are numerous theoretical perspectives on experiential learning available for consideration (Cates & Jones, 1999). Kalb's (1984) experiential learning theory is perhaps the most well known. According to Kolb, the learning cycle involves four stages: Concrete Experience, Reflective Observation, Abstract Conceptualization, and Active Experimentation. The learner engages in an experience, reflects on that experience from various perspectives, forms concepts that integrate his/her observations with theories, and uses these theories to guide future action, Fletcher(1990) suggested that Bandura's theory of self-efficacy might also be a useful theoretical framework for understanding the learning process in cooperative education. Self-efficacy is the belief that one is capable of controlling situations that affect one's life and, therefore, of managing and succeeding at challenging tasks (Bandura, 1989). Co-op offers repeated opportunities to develop self-efficacy by putting the student in contact with many new challenges.
One of the few theories about the learning process of co-op that has some research support is Sternberg and Wagner's (1986) theory of practical intelligence. Practical intelligence is what enables us to acquire practical skills: knowing how rather than knowing that. The low correlations between IQ measures and job performance suggest that most competencies required in the workplace are not measured by standard tests of intelligence. Williams, Sternberg, Rashotte and Wagner (1993) found differences in a measure of practical intelligence between a group with as little as five months of cooperative education experience and a control group with no such experience.
Cooperative education provides students with unique learning outcomes and learning processes that prepare them to make a smooth and intentional transition from college to the workplace. Students are placed in real-world contexts and required to make decisions, negotiate their different roles as students and workers, develop relationships with co-workers and supervisors, take on responsibilities, and work as members of teams. Through the educational experiences gained from the dual roles of student and worker, students begin developing the necessary skills to make the transition from student to professional. There is new evidence from recent research that graduates of a cooperative education program attributed their career success to this combination of work and study, even 50 years later (Linn, 1999; Howard & Linn, 2001).
In Teaching to Transgress ( 1994 ), bell hooks challenges postsecondary educators to transgress educational boundaries in order to establish an engaged pedagogy. She argues that teaching and learning in most postsecondary institutions neglect the talents, strengths, weaknesses, and voices of students. Consequently, teaching and learning are defined in terms of the nature of the activity and the knowledge of the teacher. Counter to this banking concept of education2 is what hooks described as "engaged pedagogy," a progressive and holistic approach to teaching and learning whereby students are understood "as whole human beings with complex lives and experiences rather than simply as seeking after compartmentalized bits of knowledge" (p. 15).
The philosophical underpinnings and the practices of cooperative education naturally transgress boundaries of traditional understandings of education by broadening the landscape of learning opportunities for students. The teaching and learning of cooperative education extend beyond the confines of the classroom in order to provide students with diverse educational experiences and to prepare students for the challenges of the workplace. The co-op model finds its truest manifestations through this experiential approach to learning.
By "transgressing" boundaries of prominent educational approaches, cooperative education provides students with unique learning outcomes and learning processes that prepare them for the world beyond the confines of educational institutions. But do co-op practitioners and co-op programs fully put into practice this distinctive and effective approach to teaching and learning throughout the three stages of co-op (planning, the work experience itself, and evaluation/reflection)? Inherently, the actual work experiences of students' co-op programs provide diverse and numerous learning opportunities. They are placed in real world contexts and required to make various decisions, negotiate their different roles as students and workers, develop relationships with co-workers and supervisors, take on responsibilities, and work as a member of a team. This context for learning naturally leads to the previously-mentioned learning process and learning outcomes.
However, the co-op stages of planning and evaluation are not situated within this blend of real-world and educational context. This makes it more difficult for co-op educators to transgress boundaries of traditional pedagogical approaches and educational models in these stages of the processes. Planning and evaluating play critical roles in students' overall co-op programs. Consequently, co-op practitioners are continuously seeking more effective methods of preparing students for their co-op experiences and evaluating their work and performance. "Introduction to Co-op" courses, seminars, workshops, and one-on-one advising are the most frequently used pedagogical approaches in preparing students for the co-op experience. Papers, projects, presentations and debriefing sessions are the usual modes of assessment.
These formats for preparing and evaluating students reflect the conventional methods of instruction and assessment found throughout college and university programs, are widely established and accepted, and readily available for co-op practitioners. These approaches, however, do not adequately prepare students for, nor fully develop upon, the diverse and numerous learning experiences gained through the co-op experience itself. In order to go beyond the banking concept of education as a means of preparing and evaluating students in their co-op programs, we need to develop and implement new and innovative pedagogical approaches.
In the past few years, the concept of learning communities has been introduced throughout educational literature as a pedagogical approach that recognizes " .. .learning is a process, not an event" (Braham, 1995, p. 4). The foundational assumption of learning communities is that the nature of teaching and learning is active. The concept of learning communities shifts focus from particular teaching techniques to developing classroom learning relationships. These learning relationships allow students "to use knowledge in ways that transform their thinking, promote their development, and over time help them to participate in and benefit from society's multiple cultures" (Oakes & Lipton, 1999, p. 192). This approach to teaching and learning provides additional opportunities for students' entire co-op programs to be grounded within a meaningful context.
There are four fundamental tenets of a learning community: learning is situated in a community of inquirers who share meanings. interpretations. and ideas; learning must continually relate to classroom members· lived experiences: learning must relate to the present cultural context of the larger society as well as the cultural context of our collective history; and the content students learn has value and is meaningful (Oakes & Lipton, 1999; Retallick, 1999). Through learning communities, students and teachers reject the notion that education is a fragmentary act of receiving and giving compartmentalized bits of knowledge. Instead, members of the classroom community collectively and thoughtfully enter domains of conversations. As Applebee ( l 997) points out, these conversations have "their educational power because they take place in a context shaped by the larger discourse communities of which they are a part" (p. 27). Consequently, intentional practices such as preparing students for a culturally diverse workplace have a significance and relevance because these practices allow learning communities to have deeper and meaningful conversations. Without this significance and relevance, the attempt to understand cultural differences is merely a process of developing a taxonomy of difference (Tierney, 1993).
The relationships among members of learning communities are defined by equality and mutuality that allow all persons to develop, rather than being given, the voice necessary for stating one's needs, goals, and responsibilities. Through learning communities, teachers and students are situated in the educational process in a particular way that recognizes both their contributions and their responsibilities to other community members. As KleineKracht ( 1993) explains, in learning communities the "basis for human interaction is no longer a hierarchy of who knows more than someone else, but rather the need for everyone to contribute to the process of asking questions and investigating solutions" (p. 392). John Dewey (19 l 6) put this notion of equal participation within the context of democracy when he said, "democracy is more than a form of government; it is primarily a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience. The extension in space of the number of individuals who participate in an interest so that each has to refer his own action to that of others, and to consider the action of others to give point and direction to his own ... " (p. 93) reflects democratic principles.
For cooperative education, the educational model of learning communities provides students opportunities to be more active and engaged in the learning process during preparation and evaluation stages of co-op. This model also corresponds with the unique and transgressing forms of learning and teaching that construct on-the-job experiences. The learning communities model offers new possibilities for preparing students for co-op and evaluating their work.
Before the advent of the Internet, communities were usually described as cohesive, geographically localized groups of individuals that were relatively consistent in their membership (Milroy, 1989). These groups were usually considered to have common worldviews and, often, shared goals (Schwartz, 1981 ). Currently, geographic localization and boundedness are not seen as essential in defining communities; communities exist in cyberspace as well as geographic space and membership is more fluid. The subjective experience of belonging to and interconnecting within a multiplex social network over a self-determined period of time is the basis of many communities today.
Learning communities provide settings for diverse individuals to form complex networks through their joint participation in learning about the topic(s) of choice. Learning communities are thus communities of practice: groups of interconnected inquirers who value and practice specific behaviors that relate to the overall goal and shared practice of learning. Individuals are connected through a future-oriented goal (gaining knowledge) rather than by prior affiliations; this increases the likelihood that the groups will be heterogeneous. Learning communities that emphasize individuality over conformity provide a diverse set of resources for their members and help preclude groupthink and stagnation.
Integration of learning community members is priorotized over disconnection. The community connects individuals through action and interaction with the world, and overlaps with other communities and settings. This contextualizes the knowledge participants gain, and helps them transfer knowledge from the original situation to others (Lave & Wenger, 1991 ). Members of these communities create shared meanings, interpretations, activities, and ideas that are socially reproduced over time (Milroy 1987). This helps members to bond as a group and to maintain the community over time until it is disbanded (as when a class ends) or abandoned (e.g., when it is no longer functional for members of the group).
In learning communities, participatory, interactive learning is prioritized over the "traditional" lecture method of instruction, which constructs students as passive receptors of knowledge: vessels to be filled rather than persons acting in and through the world. ln community-based learning, all sensory modalities (hearing, seeing, speaking, smelling, tasting, touching, and moving) can be dynamically and simultaneously involved, along with emotion, thought, personal action, and social interaction. This holistic approach to learning facilitates students' developing multiple intelligences rather than only the linguistic and logical mathematical intelligences that are emphasized in "traditional" classroom environments (Guilford, 1967; Gardner, 1985; Cates & Jones, 1999). It also enables learning of "modes of acting and problem solving, not a system of rules or representations" (Lave & Wenger, 1991, p. 20). This aspect of learning through communities reinforces the transfer of knowledge and practice across situations.
Education within learning communities takes advantage of social learning (Bandura, 1977): students learn from observing others in the community and the consequences of others' actions. They also learn to build and maintain teams through interaction. Hierarchy is low in comparison with "traditional" classrooms, which in tum heightens group efficacy (Zaccaro, Blair, Peterson & Zazanis, 1995), and lessens the possibility of learned helplessness and individuals' withdrawal. Although social learning and team building occur in formal classroom situations, their impact is dissipated by the more general emphases on individual achievement and competition (Rich & DeVitis, 1992). In contrast. learning communities emphasize group processes and active integration of knowledge.
As Dewey pointed out (1938), experience alone is not education. Reflection and abstract conceptualization are also required for students to fully analyze and learn from practice. If students do not engage practice with theory and reflexive thought, the practices they engage in may reinforce their stereotypes or mistaken beliefs, and will be less likely to increase their ability to evaluate and respond to future situations (Hatcher & Bringle, l 996). Learning communities provide the opportunity for interactive reflexivity, whereby students draw on each other's diverse backgrounds and points of view in making sense of their experiences and in connecting theory and praxis. By doing so, they can gain a deeper understanding of these experiences than they can obtain as atomistic individuals.
Learning communities prepare their members for today's job market better than the traditional models of education practiced in mainstream schools. Employers feel that academic programs for the most part have not adequately provided students with the essential skills to be competent in the workplace (Foggin, 1992). In a study conducted by Business-Higher Education Forum ( 1997), business leaders agreed that recent graduates were deficient in communication skills, the ability to work in teams, flexibility, the ability to accept ambiguity comfortably, the ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds, understanding of globalization and its implications, and ethics training.
Research indicates that the job market needs students who have developed these particular skills, and that students may gain some of these skills through their co-op experiences. Using learning communities as a pedagogical approach to co-op evaluation and preparation provides an educational opportunity for students to develop these skills even further. When we prepare students for co-op and the workplace in a learning community forum, students are given real responsibilities, have an active role in a group that requires them to contribute their input and understandings, learn to better negotiate relationships, develop improved communication skills, and are placed in a context in which they confront and address issues of diversity.
When students are evaluated within learning communities, they have the opportunity to hear and reflect upon multiple perspectives on their experiences. The evaluation of students becomes a collective effort that reflects the team approach of modern businesses. Students' voices and understandings emerge more powerfully from this process than through traditional evaluative dialogues.
Co-op programs are founded on the premise that learning emerges from and builds upon experience. These programs provide unique learning outcomes and incorporate an experiential approach to learning during the workplace phase of the process. However, many are still constrained by older models of pedagogy in the preparation and evaluation phases. In 1916, Dewey asked a question that still applies to most co-op programs:
Why is it, in spite of the fact that teaching by pouring in, learning by a passive absorption, are universally condemned, that they are still so entrenched in practice? That education is not an affair of 'telling' and being told but an active and constructive process, is a principle almost as generally violated in practice as conceded in theory (p. 38).
Integrating a learning community format into co-op education programs allows educators to apply the concept of co-op beyond the workplace experience itself. Learning communities enable us to continue to transgress boundaries throughout the entire co-op program, and to tap the full potential of our students, our programs, and ourselves.