Empirical Validation of the Dart Model in University Business Collaboration: We Working and Envisioning Co Creation Community of Practice

Higher Education faces significant challenges, including internationalization (Msomphora, 2025), digital transformation - in particular the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into traditional methods and cybersecurity (Parambil et al., 2024), students increasing expectations (Amanzhol et al., 2024), pressure for higher alumni employability rates (Schueller, 2023), the increased need of interdisciplinary approaches and for active faculty involvement in fostering sustainability education (Abo-Khalil, 2024). Higher education institutions (HEIs) are rethinking how they design learning experiences and engage with stakeholders (Gill and Singh, 2020). One of the most promising approaches in this scenario is Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) (Jackson and Dean, 2023), particularly the value co-creation methodologies, where learners, educators, and external partners actively collaborate in the production of educational experiences and innovations (Schmied et al., 2024). Analyzing HEI considering the Service-Dominant Logic (Vargo and Lusch, 2004), co-creation shifts the traditional paradigm of education delivery from a unidirectional model to one where all participants contribute meaningfully to shared outcomes. Beyond the higher-education challenges outlined above, a substantial WIL/WIE literature positions work integrated approaches as curriculum-embedded strategies to build graduate employability and professional identity while offering clear design guidance for programs and partnerships (Rowe & Zegwaard, 2017; Billett, 2024). Recent syntheses further consolidate definitions, models and quality indicators across sectors, providing an authoritative reference point for institutions scaling co-creation with industry (Zegwaard & Pretti, 2023). Within this theoretical landscape, the DART model—comprising Dialogue, Access, Risk Assessment, and Transparency—emerged as a practical framework to operationalize co-creation. The DART elements are designed to foster trust, engagement, and mutual learning, making them particularly relevant for higher education settings, where collaborative innovation and experiential learning are increasingly prioritized (Nagarethenam, Shamim and Ghazali, 2018). Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) and its closely related strand, Work-Integrated Education (WIE), emphasize intentional, curriculum-embedded collaboration among higher education institutions (HEIs), workplaces, and students to enhance employability, relevance, and innovation in teaching and learning. In this perspective, co-creation is not merely a pedagogical add-on but a governance logic that distributes agency and responsibility across actors. The DART model operationalizes co-creation by specifying relational and informational conditions under which HEIs and external partners can jointly design, deliver, and evaluate learning and innovation outcomes. Positioning DART within WIL/WIE clarifies how structured communication, equitable resource access, shared risk governance, and openness enable practical, scalable collaboration between universities and companies. This study extends that conversation by empirically testing a context-adapted DART scale with workplace partners engaged in a university–business co-creation program. A representative case in which the DART model can be applied is the WE: Working and Envisioning Community of Practice, particularly its Complex Challenge Based Learning activities, based on co-creation principles Bragança Polytechnic University | Instituto Politécnico de Bragança. WE is a faculty-led, cross institutional ecosystem that convenes professors-facilitators, students from diverse backgrounds, and external stakeholders to co-create solutions to complex, future-oriented challenges. Grounded in a culture of dialogue, trust, innovation, and critical thinking. WE operates on 8–12-week challenge cycles with a structured cadence: joint scoping with company representatives (week 0–1), iterative problem framing and prototyping with weekly checkpoints (weeks 2–10), and a final review delivering actionable insights or prototypes (weeks 11–12). Roles are codified – teachers acting as facilitators ensure process fidelity and responsiveness; company representatives guarantee access to data, facilities, and decision-makers; student teams own proactive communication and evidence-based proposals. Since 2017, the ecosystem has catalyzed regional engagement by coordinating more than 100 co-creation initiatives - reportedly 115 across research reports, prototypes, professional internships, and patents—thereby strengthening university–industry–society ties and generating practical outcomes for national and international development. Although the DART model has been widely cited in business literature, empirical validations of its structure in the context of educational co-creation are scarce. This study contributes to this gap by translating and testing a Portuguese version of the DART scale among external stakeholders participants in the WE Complex Challenge Based Learning program, aiming to understand how these stakeholders perceive value co-creation practices in a higher education setting. The outcomes offer not only theoretical contributions to the cocreation literature but also practical insights for institutions seeking to optimize their collaboration frameworks with external partners.

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10198/35094

Citation

Rodrigues, Pedro M.; Costa, Cláudia S.; Barbedo, Inês; Pereira, Fernando A.; Almeida-de-Souza, Juliana; Barroso, Bárbara; Antão, Celeste; Lachovicz, Rebeca; Ferro-Lebres, Vera (2025). Empirical Validation of the Dart Model in University Business Collaboration: We Working and Envisioning Co Creation Community of Practice. In WIL'25. 3rd International Conference of Work-Integrated Learning. Oslo. ISBN 978-91-89969-29-2