Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education

The Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education was established in 1999, with the first publication run occurring in 2000. The Journal arose from a desire to produce an international forum for discussion of cooperative education issues for practitioners and researchers in the Asia-Pacific region. Since establishment, the Journal has gained an international focus with publications from regions such as the UK, Germany, USA, South Africa, Taiwan, Ghana, and Bangladesh. 

The Journal is supported by the New Zealand Association for Cooperative Education (NZACE; www.nzace.ac.nz) and the University of Waikato (www.waikato.ac.nz), and maintains close links with the World Association for Cooperative Education (WACE; www.waceinc.org). 

In 2010, the Australian Research Council (ARC), which administers the Excellence in Research (ERA) ranking system, ranked the Journal in the top 10-20% (ERA ranking of ‘B’).

The APJCE views Cooperative Education (Co-op) and work-integrated learning (WIL) as an educational approach that uses relevant work-based projects that form an integrated part of an academic program of study. Essentially, Co-op/WIL is a learning partnership between the educational institution and the workplace, in which enhancement of student learning is a key outcome. More specifically, cooperative education can be described as a strategy of applied learning that is a structured program, developed and supervised by an educational institution in collaboration with an employer or industry grouping. 

An essential feature is that relevant, meaningful productive work is conducted as an integral part of a student's regular program, and the final assessment contains a workplace-based component. Co-op/WIL programs can be highly structured and possess formal (academic and employer) supervision and assessment. The work should have clear linkages with, or add to, the knowledge and skill base of the academic program.

All published manuscripts have been blind peer reviewed by established experts in Co-op/WIL. Access to published manuscripts is free and available only in electronic form. Published articles are provided in the form of PDF files and may be used freely so long appropriate references to the manuscript and the Journal are made.