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Work Based Learning

A Survival Guide

Kyle Watts - Millstream Career Center

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My Background

  • First year as WBL Coordinator at Millstream Career Center.
  • Former Math/Science teacher for Findlay City Schools.
  • Graduated from a Career Tech school - Criminal Justice (Tech Center; Fremont, OH).
  • Broad range of employment experiences:
    • Automotive, Maintenance, Graphic Design, Culinary, Website Creation, Distribution

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WBL Survival Guide

This was created to share the lessons I have learned during my first year as WBL Coordinator at Millstream Career Center.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gMzGLneU-6HdwBbLyx-M0k-l2iAZnK5QHm9ee6WIU6A/copy

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“The Golden Question” - What Counts as WBL?

One of my first challenges was understanding what should and should not be counted as Work Based Learning Hours. After plenty of research and conversations with other WBL Coordinators and ODE representatives, these were the three qualifications that must be met to count anything as a WBL experience:

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  1. The learning experience involves an external/community representative.
    1. This can be a customer, an employer, a mentor in the career field, etc.
  2. There is a learning agreement between student, instructor and that external/community representative that outlines learning outcomes.
    • These learning agreements can be tailored to best fit the experience (see attached examples in later pages).
  3. The external/community representative must provide feedback to the student regarding the learning outcomes outlined in the learning agreement.
    • Again, feedback may vary depending on the type of experience and type of external/community representative providing the feedback.

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Quality Not Quantity

  • “Rome wasn’t built in a day”.
  • Current WBL guidelines are broad, giving lots of room for creative solutions to fit your programs.
  • Program Instructors have different motivation levels to reach the goal of 250 hours of WBL experience.
  • Finite vs. Infinite Games
    • Simon Sinek: “The Infinite Game”
  • Are decisions regarding your WBL procedures and standards aimed towards reaching a finite goal or infinite goal?

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“Selling” WBL to Employers

  • Strengthening connection to local businesses:
    • Inviting companies into our labs for skill demonstrations and feedback opportunities. Companies gain insight to available talent, students get real-world experience (WBL Hours!) and potential employment.
  • Exemptions given to Career Tech Students for employment
    • ORC 4109.06 discusses career-tech student exemptions to certain workplace restrictions.
  • Senate Bill 166: Newly passed legislation that supports career-tech and offers tax incentives to companies who employ career-tech students.

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Learning Agreement Examples

Currently, Millstream Career Center is using three main types of learning agreements. We are currently exploring the possibility of adding pre-apprenticeships to our programs as well. These three types can be found in the shared Google Doc.

  1. Offsite/Internship Learning Agreements (Page 6 in Survival Guide)�These include a student self-reflection and a short 1 page feedback form that can be used during my visits to companies. Companies have also been including their own employee evaluations that they are already using. (Smarter not harder!)

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Learning Agreement Examples (continued)

2. Simulated Work Experience Learning Agreements (Page 11 in Survival Guide)�This has been one of our best ideas at Millstream Career Center. This short learning agreement still identifies learning outcomes and provides feedback but it is much faster to complete and manage. There are so many simulated work experiences that we can catch as WBL hours if planned ahead and communicated between instructors and WBL coordinators.

3. School Based Enterprises Learning Agreements (Page 13 in Survival Guide)�One class-wide learning agreement between program and advisory board members formalizes the learning targets of the school based enterprise. Work hours performed by students for customers is recorded in the lab and reported by program instructor. All types of feedback are outlined within the learning agreement.

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Future Goals

The graph to the right shows a current breakdown of our senior students. Lots of room for growth!

Find solutions for scheduling conflicts that are preventing our Tech/Marketing students from offsite placements.

Implement Transeo. We are in the starting phases of this still and hope to manage our WBL program through this platform starting next year.

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