Finland has adopted a state-guided innovation policy, where polytechnics have mostly the role of delivering and sharing latest knowledge while universities focus on the actual research (Antikainen 2008, Schienstock & Hämäläinen 2001, Hautamäki 2008). Together the two sectors of the dually structured higher education form an elementary part of the national innovation system. Especially great hopes are related to producing technological innovations but even for them the results depend on their social reception (Tuomi 2002). In the innovation policy the higher education institutions have the responsibility to initiate social sharing of knowledge. Ideally thinking they will develop regional economies by enhancing the local communities of practice to become communities of networked expertise (Lave & Wenger 1991, Hakkarainen, Palonen, Paavola & Lehtinen 2004). The cooperation that higher education institutions have with working life builds the basis for this developmental work. At present the discussion on innovation policy is one forum of rhetoric concerning the roles of universities and polytechnics and restructuring the higher education system for the needs of future. The innovation policy is cried up while legitimizing the centralization of institutions and resources (Hautamäki 2008). Balanced and less political picturing of the cooperation with working life demands looking at the cooperation also in practice. The cooperation between HE and working life can be approached from several viewpoints, e.g. from that of (1) the teachers (their previous and present working life experience: participation in cooperative projects, expert exchange, surveys, visits, organization of spesific tasks etc.), (2) curriculum planning (advisory boards attended by representatives of working life and their collaboration, and how applying theory into practice is made part of the curricula through learning projects, assignments, thesis and placements, see), (3) student´ s learning (how visits, projects, assignments, thesis, placements and career planning support and structure student´ s learning), and (4) how the previous aspects are part of HE institutions´ strategy work, and how organizational structures allow cooperation between HE institutions and working life by giving room for various boards and working groups to plan and realize cooperation. Workplace placements form a large part of polytechnics cooperation with working life. According to some calculations the contacts related to organizing placements make up to one half of the contacts that teachers have with working life yearly. Thus it would seem natural that they form one part of the nodes where networking for sharing new knowledge takes place, but what is actually happening? The paper focuses on two questions (1) what is the socio-cultural setting that cooperating workplaces and polytechnics build for students learning in Finland, (2) what kind of measures could be taken to enhance students learning during placements. The presentation draws on interviews with teachers of polytechnics (n=29) , surveys to graduated polytechnic students (n=1050) and guides of placements at workplace(n= 269, n= 160). The studies have been completed in 2002-2005 (Virolainen 2006a; Virolainen 2007, Virolainen & Valkonen 2007).

The presentation draws on interviews with teachers of polytechnics (n=29), surveys to graduated polytechnic students (n=1050) and guides of placements at workplace(n= 269, n= 160). The studies have been completed in 2002-2005 (Virolainen 2006a; Virolainen 2007, Virolainen & Valkonen 2007). The interviews were completed as thematic structured interviews, transcribed and analyzed thematically. The surveys were analysed by using ordinary statistical methods.

Learning at work is multifaceted and thus also polytechnic students feel that they learn a lot during placements. Despite positive overall experiences the guidance provided does not help them to recognize challenges of development or to self-assess their output. Research has brought up that self-assessment is typically one of the things found developing through learning at work (Eraut 2004), but it can also be enhanced during higher education for example by offering tools for structuring self-assessment (Niemi, Nevgi & Virtanen 2003). Career guidance and using tools for self-assessment as well as peer review of placement experiences could be made a stronger part of the polytechnics´ curricula. Polytechnics have paid a lot of attention to planning and carrying out working life cooperation. In the future more weight might be given to collecting feedback on the experiences of different parties and using this information for further development. Recognizing for example the various profiles of working life partners might allow more feasible plans for the cooperation with them.