Do you want help to integrate co-op into your lessons? Contact the co-op program connected to your program. We can work with you to incorporate students’ co-op experiences into your teaching. Here are a few simple tips:

Classroom activities

• Ask your students to share their co-op experiences with the class to find out how they applied academic knowledge in the workplace
• Ask students about their future co-op positions and chat with them about how to work your lessons into their work experience
• Encourage your students to develop their core competencies and program-specific competencies (developed with YOUR department) through their assignments and work experiences
• Use your online management tool (Moodle or Blackboard) to create a discussion that links your lessons to co-op (e.g. Using your co-op experience, discuss you the "sample theory or process" was used in your workplace"
• Encourage students to make clear connections between their dream careers and your coursework (e.g. What are you learning in this class and how does it relate to your career ambitions?)

Linking academics to the workplace

• Read students’ work term reports or watch videos about their work term experiences and inform your teaching with students’ first-hand experience
• Explore the program-specific competencies for your area and encourage students to work on these competencies in the classroom and the workplace

Engaging with employers

• Connect with the faculty representative for your area to hear their perspective on how co-op can work in the classroom
• Contact your co-op program and ask if you can accompany a co-op coordinator on a work site visit to learn about what your students do on the job
• Attend a Co-op and Career fair or an employer information session to network with employers and learn what skills and knowledge they look for
• Contact your co-op program and ask if we can bring an employer into your classroom to talk to your students about the links between course content and real world application

If you know of students who might benefit from co-op, refer them to the co-op program in their academic program area or encourage them to visit the student section of the Co-op and Career site.

We’d also be happy to stop by your classroom to speak with students about co-op—contact us for details!