College2Career Forum: OKC Zoo

As research continues, it is becoming increasingly evident that simply telling students about postsecondary institution (PSI) opportunities or career fields isn’t enough. Teachers need to give students impactful, relatable, and engaging experiences so that they can actively explore future options. Not only do these experiences help students explore future opportunities, they can also lead to career success later in life. Research shows a strong correlation between career success later in life and job shadowing and workplace visits as a teen. One study found that Canadian students who made a workplace visit by age 15 were 4% less likely to be NEET (Not being in Education, Employment, or Training) than their peers at age 25 (Covacevich et al., 2021). The same study found that Korean students who made the same type of workplace visits were 1.23 times more likely not to be NEET than those who did not make a visit.

Work-Based Learning

In making college and career decisions, Work-Based Learning (WBL) opportunities can provide secondary students with experience, clarity, and increased self-efficacy. Field-based learning is a powerful tool in helping students to better understand the core concepts and to increase their enthusiasm (Janovy & Major, 2009; Manzanal et al., 1999, as cited in Pereira & Gheisari, 2017). These experiences also enable students to interact with professionals and perceive fieldwork in a way that is unattainable in a traditional school setting. A research project by Pereira and Gheisari (2017) studied faculty perceptions of the effectiveness of construction site visits during construction courses. The researchers found that faculty members believed observing the construction environment was critical for the students (Pereira & Gheisari, 2017). With student benefits and faculty acknowledgment, work-based learning (WBL) can provide a compelling experience for students.

Another WBL study of eleven low-income ethnic-minority secondary students aimed to gauge the impact of a school’s WBL program. Through data analysis of student interviews, the study revealed that the WBL program promoted hope for students’ future academic and career success and offered support and mentorship through workplace supervisors within the program (Medvide & Kenny, 2020). This hope, support, and mentorship give students—especially low-income students whose backgrounds and lived experiences may hinder them—the self-efficacy to reach their full potential.

Hands-On Educational Experiences

Several research projects prove that hands-on educational experiences can positively impact students' academic and work-related outcomes. One such study followed a group of Australian secondary school students through a year-long science program. This program aimed to strengthen students' science skills in data analysis, experimentation, and scientific writing through current, hands-on research within the context of a significant worldwide health issue (Puslednik & Brennan, 2020). The research team found that the success of the intervention was reflected in students’ mean score of knowledge growth, which rose considerably according to a self-assessment survey. They also found, through VALID 10 testing, that 84% of intervention students would have scored lower on their tested science knowledge, problem-solving, communication, and planning skills than the control group (Puslednik & Brennan, 2020). 

Another similar study evaluated the effectiveness of a hands-on learning experience in cancer research for 20 secondary students. After a two-week science summer camp at the University of the Pacific, the researcher found that 83.33% of students were interested in participating in another hands-on learning experience. The same number of students reported increased interest in attending the University of the Pacific as their postsecondary institution (PSI) (Argueta et al., 2020). These results demonstrated the impact and importance of hands-on learning for high school-aged students when considering their future academic and career endeavors.