Work-integrated learning students' experience of a change laboratory: developing student agency

Work-integrated learning (WIL) forms an important part of the student learning experience, effectively bridging the gap between the university curriculum and work and society. Thus, it is key that students gain the most from this learning experience, even where conditions are less than ideal. However, WIL literature is largely silent on the development of student voice to address challenging conditions which may impede their learning. This study aims to investigate and explain how students can develop their voice to become more equal and agentic participants in WIL. The study elaborates on how students are able to advance from voicing individual negative learning experiences to developing a collective understanding of improved communication as a potential solution to address learning barriers. This initial germ cell is then collectively concretised in subsequent workshops into the formulation of a more advanced WIL system driven by the object of teamwork between WIL students and their supervisors. These practical developments, it is argued, are supported through the CL's methodology of double stimulation which promotes the emergence of students' 'transformative agency'.