Canada’s Industry-University Co-op Education Accreditation System and Its Inspiration for the Evaluation of China’s Industry-University-Institute Cooperative Education

Abstract

The high degree of interest that higher education systems around the world have in employability has driven the profound development of industry-university cooperative education. Canada’s industry-university co-op education system has served as a model for global cooperative education, and its accreditation system guarantees the high quality of cooperative education. Canada’s industry-university co-op education accreditation system is characterized by the authority of the certifying institution, scientific accreditation standards, and operable review criteria. As it continuously improves, it has always embodied the best practices of co-op education. The social environment and administrative mechanisms for Chinese industry-university-institute cooperative education are still immature, and the primary functions of its evaluation system, including monitoring and diagnosis, feedback and regulation, and incentives and guidance, are an important starting point for perfecting the system. In learning from Canada’s accreditation experiences, it is necessary to update the concept of cooperative education, refine evaluation entities, and build a Chinese industry-university-institute cooperative education accreditation system with global vision, to further improve evaluation methods.

Keywords:

• Accreditation system
• Canada
• cooperative education
• evaluation mechanism
• industry-university cooperation
• industry-university-institute cooperation

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yang Qiubo

Yang Qiubo is a lecturer in the School of Education, Tianjin University.

Wang Shibin

Wang Shibin is a professor in the School of Education, Tianjin University.

Qiang Zha

Qiang Zha is an adjunct professor in the School of Education, Tianjin University and an associate professor in the Faculty of Education, York University, Canada.