4.4. Análisis estadístico que responde a la investigación
4.4.5. Prueba de hipótesis específica 3 Dimensión: Prosodia
College Applied Research Projects
Only 5.7 per cent of college survey respondents reported participating or planning to participate in applied research projects.
Administrative records were used to identify the program areas of respondents who had already completed applied research projects or who indicated that they would be completing a project prior to graduation. Half of all college students (49%) involved with applied research were enrolled in business programs. Another one-quarter were in technology programs (24%) and 18 per cent were in health, social and community services. Only 9 per cent were in applied arts.
Figure 59
College Applied Research Projects by Program
Just 8.1 per cent of college applied research students indicated that they had not yet completed their project but would be doing an applied research project prior to graduation.
College students who had already completed applied research projects were asked to indicate the timing of their projects in relation to their program. Close to two-thirds of college students (63%) had participated in a single applied research project during their college program, and 23 per cent had completed two projects.
Figure 60
Completed College Applied Research Projects
49.4 24.1 18.0 8.5 0 20 40 60
Business Technology Health, social & community services Applied arts Percent of respondents (n=240) 62.8 23.0 7.5 6.8 0 20 40 60 80
One Two Three Four or more
Percent of
respondents
(n=220)
Close to half of college applied research projects (45%) were completed during the second year of the program. Similar proportions of college students participated in applied research during (22%) or after (18%) their first year of study. About one-quarter of college students (25%) did a project following the second year of their program, one- third did a project during their third year (31%), and one in five completed a project following their third year (20%).
Figure 61
Timing of College Applied Research Projects
Overall, college students were less satisfied with their overall applied research
experience than with other forms of WIL, ascribing a mean satisfaction score of 3.79 (see Table H26 in Appendix H). The majority of college students rated their experience as satisfactory (55%). While close to one in five said they were very satisfied (18%), a similar proportion was neutral about their experience (19%). Nevertheless, only 9 per cent of respondents expressed any degree of dissatisfaction.
Figure 62
College Applied Research Project Satisfaction
Analysis of mean satisfaction scores by the number of completed applied research projects, as well as the length of respondents’ most recent applied research project, showed no significant differences between college students in their overall WIL satisfaction – regardless of the number and duration of their applied research project experience.
College applied research projects generally included the following characteristics (see Table H18 in Appendix H): 20.2 31.1 25.1 44.9 17.5 21.6 0 20 40 60
After third year Third year At the end of second year Second year At the end of first year First year Percent of respondents (n=220) 4.5 3.3 19.4 54.5 18.3 0 20 40 60 Very dissatisfied
Dissatisfied Neither Satisfied Very satisfied
Percent of
respondents
• The projects were typically about 12 weeks in length and averaged about 13.5 hours each week.
• More than half of college applied research projects were completed on-campus (52%), and about one-quarter were completed in a private business or industry setting (26%). Applied research projects were less likely to involve employers from the community or non-profit sector (10%) or health care sector (4%), and had virtually no government involvement. About 7 per cent of college applied research projects were carried out in simulated work settings.
• College students were very unlikely to be paid for applied research projects. However, 13 per cent received a salary and 1 per cent received an honorarium or stipend.
• College applied research projects were most often evaluated by college faculty or staff (84%). About one-third of college students (32%) indicated that their
employer participated in the evaluation and 27 per cent were encouraged to self- evaluate their project. Only 6 per cent said their projects were not evaluated.
• Letter or number grades were typically assigned to college applied research projects (70%), and another 12 per cent of projects were graded pass/fail or satisfactory/unsatisfactory. Project completion was required for 6 per cent of college research projects. For 13 per cent of college projects, no academic recognition was given.
College Applied Research Project Motivations, Benefits and Challenges
Of the 91 respondents who only participated in college applied research projects, 72 per cent identified their experience as mandatory and 16 per cent indicated that they could apply for professional accreditation following program completion.Only two motivations were viewed as quite or very influential by these respondents. One was employment-related (gaining practical work experience) and the other was to meet mandatory requirements (see Tables H19 to H21 in Appendix H).
College participants in applied research projects viewed the experience as allowing them to relate classroom theories to the work environment. They also agreed that participating in a project was a valuable experience.
The top challenges for college students who participated in applied research projects were related to time and cost pressures, in particular additional time demands, and balancing the project with family commitments.
University Applied Research Projects
Only 6.8 per cent of university survey respondents reported participating or planning to participate in applied research projects.
Administrative records were used to identify the program areas of respondents who had already completed applied research projects or indicated that they would be completing a project prior to graduation. About two out of five university students involved with applied research were enrolled in STEM programs (41%), and one-quarter were in social
sciences (26%). Another 19 per cent were in health, 16 per cent were in business, and 8 per cent were in arts and humanities.
Figure 63
University Applied Research Projects by Program
Only 7.2 per cent of university applied research students indicated that they had not yet completed a project but would be participating in an applied research project prior to graduation.
University students who had already participated in applied research projects were asked to indicate the timing of all completed and future projects in relation to their program. As shown in the figure below, about three-quarters of university students completed a single applied research project (75%) and another 12 per cent completed two projects.
Figure 64
Completed University Applied Research Projects
University students were quite unlikely to be involved in applied research in the first two years of their program. Close to one-quarter of respondents completed an applied research project during their third year (23%) and a similar proportion did a project between third and fourth year (21%). However, fully two-thirds of respondents participated in applied research during the final year of their program (67%).
40.8 25.9 19.1 15.8 8.4 0 20 40 60 STEM Social science Health & social services
Business Arts & humanities Percent of respondents (n=394) 75.1 11.6 6.9 3.0 3.4 0 20 40 60 80
One Two Three Four Five or
more
Percent of
respondents
(n=367)
Figure 65
Timing of University Applied Research Projects
University respondents expressed fairly high levels of satisfaction with their overall applied research experience, ascribing a mean satisfaction score of 4.03 (see Table H26 in Appendix H). One-third of university respondents said they were very satisfied (33%), and another 45 per cent were satisfied. Only 7 per cent of respondents expressed any degree of dissatisfaction.
Figure 66
University Applied Research Project Satisfaction
Analysis of mean satisfaction scores by the number of completed applied research projects, as well as the length of respondents’ most recent applied research project, showed no differences in overall WIL satisfaction based on the number of weeks involved in their most recent project experience. There was one statistical difference based on number of completed projects, though the difference is so minor that it does not have practical significance and is not noted in this report.
University applied research projects generally included the following characteristics (see Table H18 in Appendix H):
• The projects were typically about 16 weeks in length and averaged about 15 hours per week.
• About two-thirds of university applied research projects were completed on- campus (66%). The remaining projects were completed for community or non- profit organizations (11%), health sector employers (7%), private sector employers (6%), and government sector employers (5%). About 5 per cent of
17.0 67.3 20.7 22.5 9.9 7.5 3.2 4.0 0 20 40 60 80
After fourth year Fourth year At the end of third year Third year At the end of second year Second year At the end of first year First year Percent of respondents (n=367) 1.1 5.8 14.9 45.4 32.8 0 20 40 60 Very dissatisfied
Dissatisfied Neither Satisfied Very satisfied
Percent of
respondents
university applied research projects were carried out in a simulated work environment.
• University students were unlikely to be paid for applied research projects. However, 21 per cent received a salary and 10 per cent received an honorarium or stipend.
• University applied research projects were most often evaluated by university faculty or staff (77%). Employers were involved in 29 per cent of university research project evaluations. Just 9 per cent of students engaged in self- evaluation and 12 per cent said their projects were not evaluated.
• Two-thirds of university applied research projects received letter or number grades (65%), and another 5 per cent of university research projects were graded pass/fail or satisfactory/unsatisfactory. Project completion was required for 3 per cent of university research projects. More than one-quarter of
respondents (27%) did not receive any academic recognition for their project.
• 4 per cent of university applied research projects were completed in French.
University Applied Research Project Motivations, Benefits and Challenges
Of the 217 respondents who only participated in university applied research projects, 36 per cent identified their experience as mandatory and 12 per cent indicated that they could apply for professional accreditation following program completion.Only two motivations were viewed as quite or very influential by these respondents and both were employment-related: gaining practical work experience and résumé
enhancement. (See Tables H19 to H21 in Appendix H).
While university participants in applied research projects viewed the experience as valuable, they did not express strong agreement with any of the WIL benefit statements. The top challenges for university students who participated in applied research projects were related to time and cost pressures, in particular additional time demands, lack of payment, and balancing the project with family commitments. These students also identified the school-related challenges of insufficient preparation from the university, and lack of relevant theory/skills.