Victoria Abboud, Anahita Baregheh, Libby West,
Leneque Wilson-Carson, Magdalena Mot
The first post in this three-part series described our set of shared online learning resources that help students to develop their capability for Workplace Innovation. These resources have been created, adapted and enhanced by instructors at a diverse set of postsecondary institutions, each with their own specific context. In Part II and in this post, those instructors summarize some aspects of their context and outline a distinctive aspect of their instructional approach – topical theme, instructional format, host disciplinary program area, etc.– which contributes diverse new thinking to our collective expertise.
The first two instructors (Vicoria Abboud and Anahita Baregheh) in this post share a common interest in Linking Course Learning Outcomes to Workplace Practice; the second group of instructors (Libby West, Leneque Wilson-Carson, and Magdelena Mot) share a common interest in Applying Workplace Innovation Capability in Work-Integrated Learning. The distinctive approaches of each instructor highlight some of the ways that their diverse contexts – and their own personal contributions – have produced a diverse set of innovative solutions. (Note: Part II of this series contained case story summaries from four other instructors, paired up by common interests in Inclusive Workplace Innovation and Sustainable Development Goals and in Applying Discipline Expertise to Advance Workplace Innovation.)
Linking Course Learning Outcomes to Workplace Practice
Helping Engineering Graduate Students to Explore Workplace Innovation (Victoria Abboud, University of Windsor, Canada)
The University of Windsor is Canada’s southernmost university and shares a natural border (the Detroit River) with Detroit, Michigan (USA). It is a mid-sized research university with nearly 20,000 students. The Faculty of Engineering focuses on practical learning skills that complement core curriculum. As an institution that has also welcomed thousands of international students into Engineering, it is especially important to ensure that these learners have opportunities to gain the durable skills to make career pathways into the Canadian workplace.
To that end, I developed an extra-curricular program for the University’s Master of Engineering (MEng) students, “Engineering Meets Professional Orientation and Workplace Readiness”. This “EMPOWR” program bridges the gap between the academic curriculum and the Canadian engineering workplace through intentional, focused skill-building offerings. In a series of learning modules and live workshops, students gain the vital socio-technical perspectives and “more-than-Engineering” technical skills to support their future careers.
One example of socio-technical content is Inclusive Workplace Innovation. Through the innovation activity of Job Crafting, participants begin to recognize their own value as creators of ideas and improvements in the workplace. While many MEng students are eager to share ideas and to forge new paths in their anticipated careers, some are reluctant because of their experiences in past workplaces where their roles were tightly directed and bounded. Most of the students completed undergraduate degrees outside of North America, so the EMPOWR program also helps them gain vital understanding about how they can engage in Canadian workplaces.
As learners recognize the need for innovation, especially in Engineering, they also engage in “low stakes” opportunities to experiment with innovative ideas, projects, and communication. This allows them to build their identity, self-efficacy, and motivation as individuals with agency to improve their own workplace experiences. Our learners also focus on what it means to be “innovative” as an employee and employer, so that they gain a vocabulary they can use to describe their experiences to prospective employers.
Contact: Victoria Abboud (victoria.abboud@uwindsor.ca)
Developing a Workplace-Based “On-Ramp” for Working Learners (Anahita Baregheh, Nipissing University, Canada)
Nipissing University is a primarily undergraduate institution located in Northern Ontario, known for its supportive community, small class sizes, and strong focus on student experience. Nipissing’s School of Business offers flexible and career-oriented programs, including the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and Bachelor of Commerce (BComm), with options to study on campus or online. With a focus on skill development and experiential learning, the School of Business equips graduates with the capabilities needed to thrive in today’s competitive business environment.
Our shared online resources were the basis for my “Creatity for Innovation” course which is a third-year elective distance course. In week two of the course, working learners – who are taking the course online as part of completing their BComm part-time – can choose to engage in a Job Crafting project within their professional workplaces. These professional learners (half of the class) appreciated this opportunity, and all found it beneficial in both of their roles as students and as employees.
We are now working to extend the option for completing assigned project work into the Design Innovation assignment in Week 8 of the course. The working learners find it difficult to engage fully in the client-facing, on-campus Design Innovation project with the full-time students. In the next course offering, working learners will be invited to leverage their professional workspace as the setting for a Design Innovation project.
The first step in this process will be to replace the current Design Innovation team project with an individual project for working learners to engage their fellow workplace employees in identifying a Design Challenge that would benefit their workplace (through improved productivity and performance for the employer and improved quality of work life for employees). We also plan to develop an additional option for working learners to take a follow-up special project course on enabling workplace innovation at the organizational level, which would allow them to earn academic credit in parallel with implementing the workplace innovation project conceived in ADMN3917.
Contact: Anahita Baregheh (anahitab@nipissingu.ca)
Applying Workplace Innovation Capability in Work-Integrated Learning (WIL)
Assessing Innovation Outcomes during Workplace Placements (Libby West & Leneque Wilson-Carson, University of Toronto, Canada)
The University of Toronto is Canada's leading research-intensive public university, founded in 1827 and known for its long history of challenging the impossible and transforming society. It offers a wide range of academic programs across three campuses, with world-class faculty and a global community dedicated to innovation and knowledge creation.
Developing an innovative workforce is critical in the digital economy and AI-driven transformation, where organizations need adaptable employees who can anticipate challenges and design creative solutions. Building such a workforce requires not only supportive organizational systems but also strong employee capacity for innovation. As WIL practitioners, we contribute to this capacity by equipping students with the skills to identify opportunities, propose improvements, and align their contributions with organizational goals.
Since the introduction of the workplace innovation curriculum in 2022 to the University of Toronto’s Arts & Science Internship Program (ASIP), almost 500 students have been asked to apply specific concepts in the OER modules to engage in innovation within their workplace terms, specifically through a Job Crafting assignment in which students are encouraged to look for opportunities for innovation in their workplace which align with their professional development goals.
A qualitative analysis of 77 student work term reports highlighted clear areas of impact: students assumed greater responsibility, created new opportunities, and made meaningful contributions to organizational innovation. Going forward, we will continue to evaluate the Job Crafting curriculum and engage employer partners to better understand their needs and assess how this approach supports student performance and workplace contributions.
Contact: Libby West (elizabeth.whittington@utoronto.ca) and Leneque Wilson-Carson (leneque.wilson@utoronto.ca)
Applying Workplace Innovation Capability in On-Campus WIL Placements (Magdelena Mot, Capilano University, Canada)
At Capilano University, we are looking forward to the launch in Fall 2025 of WILCAP, an internal, curricular, work-integrated learning program, in which we will be incorporating learning resources and activities from the OER on Workplace Innovation. The program will create both paid and unpaid Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) opportunities to match curricular needs and to extend current opportunities for students to mobilize research insights into practice. Beyond student learning, the WILCAP program aims to improve how our university campuses function and to elevate our impact on regional communities.
To support WILCAP, we will be integrating several curricular WIL types into a more consistent model, as well as tapping into projects built upon United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). WILCAP will initially engage a pilot group of students and will be supported by the WIL centre, an Educational Developer expert from our Centre for Teaching Excellence, our university department of People, Culture & Diversity, and the use of other OER materials from the BCcampus Open Collection (the province of British Columbia’s corollary to eCampus Ontario).
Contact: Magdalena Mot (magdalenamot@capilanou.ca)
Acknowledgement: The EMPOWR program benefitted greatly from the strong support of the Associate Dean, Professional Programs, and the Dean, Faculty of Engineering. In addition to the support of other participating institutional partners, elements of the work reported here were also supported by the eCampus Ontario Open Library program and the Government of Canada’s Future Skills Program.