CEWIL Insights | Viewing Party Series: Mapping the Future of WIL

Join the Experiential Learning Hub's watch party to view the encore presentations and sessions from CEWIL Canada's 2025 Conference.

Mapping the Future of WIL: Using the WIL Curriculum Classification Framework in International Contexts  

Presented by: Andrea Prier, University of Waterloo; Michelle Eady, University of Wollongong 

The University of Wollongong’s (UOW) Work Integrated Learning Curriculum Classification (WILCC) Framework represents an innovative approach to embedding and mapping Work Integrated Learning (WIL) across diverse degree programs. This workshop will introduce the WILCC Framework and its potential for addressing key challenges in the mapping and reporting of WIL.

Attendees will learn how the framework can be applied to enhance student employability, ensure consistent scaffolding of WIL across curricula, and enable institutional-level reporting to identify gaps and opportunities.  Workshop aims: Introduce WILCC  and its application in mapping WIL across degree programs. Share insights from UOW’s pilot study that tested the framework across six disciplines.

Explore the utility of WILC in addressing the lack of a unified definition of WIL and improving its visibility across an entire institution. Engage participants in reflecting on how they could adapt a similar framework to meet their needs. This workshop is designed as a collaborative space where participants can actively engage with the principles, structure, and application of WILCC: Introduction to the WILCC Framework (15 minutes): Provide background on how WILCC informed UOW’s strategic WIL Plan Explain how WILCC was developed to create a unified classification system for WIL. Highlight mapping WIL across degree programs to scaffold employability skills systematically from first year to graduation. Showcase of Pilot Study Findings (15 minutes): Share preliminary results from mapping WIL in six degrees, including vocational and non-vocational programs. Discuss feedback from UOW subject coordinators on using the WILCC Framework and its implications for curriculum design and reporting. Interactive Activity: Mapping WIL (25 minutes): Participants will work in small groups to map WIL activities in a sample curriculum using an adapted WILCC Framework Question Matrix.

Groups will discuss their findings and reflect on the challenges and benefits of applying such a framework. Discussion on Institutional Adaptation (30 minutes): Facilitate a group discussion on how the WILCC Framework could be adapted to other institutions or tailored to specific disciplines. Explore strategies for engaging stakeholders, ensuring ease of use, and aligning frameworks with existing reporting systems. Expected Outcomes:  By the end of the workshop, participants will: Gain a clear understanding of the WILCC Framework and its potential for improving WIL delivery and reporting. Be inspired to consider how a classification framework could be applied or adapted to their institutional context. Leave with practical strategies for engaging subject coordinators and other stakeholders in enhancing WIL visibility and integration. Be equipped with practical strategies to aid them in the adaptation/creation of this classification framework for their own institution, faculty, or degree program.

Target Audience:  This workshop is designed for academic staff, curriculum designers, and administrators involved in WIL, as well as institutional leaders looking to differentiate their programs by leveraging WIL to innovate, and improve and/or track graduate employability outcomes. This workshop is not just about presenting the WILCC Framework but about fostering collaboration and reflection. We hope to inspire participants to think critically about how structured frameworks like WILCC can drive meaningful change in higher education.