Evaluation of a three year study investigating staff workload associated with CWIE delivery: implications for research and practice

Cooperative and Work-Integrated Education (CWIE) is thought to be more work and resource intensive to design and deliver than classroom based courses, with much of this work reportedly undervalued and unrecognized. Academic workload is notoriously difficult to measure, and with few available studies on CWIE workload, our research set out to systematically collect empirical data on the amount and type of work involved for staff in teaching, administering and supporting CWIE courses. A self-report survey tool was administered to academic and professional staff at an Australian university to capture quantitative weekly data for nine categories of workload tasks including assessment, student/partner related activities and curriculum delivery. Qualitative data was also collected via individual interviews and a focus group. Over a three year period, 61 course offerings have been surveyed, with 30 staff participating in semi-structured interviews. Data collection is in its final phase, due to finish in February 2016. This paper will provide an initial evaluation of the mixed-methods study, based on the experience of the research team and feedback from participants sourced through semi structured interviews. Participants appreciated the study, highlighting its value in recognizing the work involved in delivering quality CWIE, and were highly satisfied with the survey tool. However, there were a number of challenges encountered during the study including maintaining data quality, capturing the complexity of workload as well as work completed outside of formal teaching periods. Implications for future research are discussed, as well as the impact of this study on CWIE policy and practice.