Search

Assessment is said to drive student learning, though the value of a 'grade' within work-integrated learning (WIL) is still not clear and most field placement students do not want their learning to be assessed beyond a pass/fail grade. Is then, the 'learning' in WIL as important as 'learning' in non-WIL courses? The focus of this paper is on the 'value' stakeholders place on the academic standards and grading practices in WIL. Data from a small qualitative constructivists grounded theory study undertaken in the Human Services sector will be used and how to grade 'reflection' will link learning, assessment and grading practices, identifying the difficulties and challenges to mainstreaming WIL. The importance of employability from a WIL experience will be the focus of a future paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student success in nursing degree programs is contingent upon work-integrated learning (WIL) success, particularly given the mandated curriculum requirement for clinical hours in WIL environments. The impacts of COVID-19 disrupted study and resulted in anxiety for nursing students. For most first year nursing students this also included an interruption of their socialization to university, provoking uncertainty. This paper presents a case study of the development and implementation of a new virtual environment explorer tool for simulated learning at one multi-campus university in Australia (February-June 2020). COVID-19 illuminated the extended utility of this tool, for supporting ongoing nursing student orientation to the university environment and to the materiality of the simulated clinical setting. Educational theory is drawn upon to discuss the implementation and evaluation, of this tool, within the COVID-19 context. Findings suggest inclusive teaching practices underpin effective preparation for WIL, especially in uncertain times, and must be valued more highly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to stimulate further discussion on divergent institutional and academic needs for effective marking processes to evaluate student work in Australian universities. This is in specific response to institutional stated goals and emerging policies under current economic realities. After identifying the three significant areas of marking that must be addressed: content, consistency and cost; the author proposes that the use of the AERO-dynamic model of marking will reduce academic workloads and provide institutions with an effective marking process to meet corporate budgets. Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper is a synthesis of researcher participation and discourse interpretation. It is based on a cynical response to changing realities and resides in the arena of the "Theatre of the Absurd". Findings – The AERO-dynamic model of marking was found to be highly cost effective for institutions with large student cohorts and ever diminishing budgets. Critical analysis identified areas of concern in marking consistency and assignment content and recommends specific actions to address these but also identifies that no process will be perfect and that some tradeoffs between cost, consistency and content need to be made. The role of the academic within this marking process is redefined and the implications of this for both institution and individual acknowledged. Originality/value – This paper offers a starting point for further debate into the widening gap between student expectations on assignment marking and institutional resource allocation and support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deciding whether to release tutorial solutions to students is quite often a dilemma for instructors. This paper provides empirical evidence on the effect of releasing tutorial solutions in a management accounting course at a large Australian university. For this purpose, this paper develops a base model for predicting performance in the course and expands the model to incorporate a variable capturing the release of tutorial solutions. Consistent with previous research (e.g. Doran et al., 1991; Danko-McGhee and Duke, 1992; Kavanagh and Rohde, 1996), in the base model, although performances in an introductory accounting course and the mid-semester test were found to be good predictors of performance in the final examination, evidence on the role of gender and age was weak. In the expanded model, there was no evidence that releasing tutorial solutions improved performance in the final examination. The findings of this paper have policy implications for educators and administrators in education in deciding whether to release tutorial solutions to students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the question of the relative importance of work-integrated learning placement quality, structure (whether part-time or full-time), and duration (in weeks), for producing employability outcomes. Additionally, we explore whether the quality of those placements is more, less, or equally important than the structure and duration. Drawing on responses to questions in a survey from 2,313 participants, 1,316 of whom had no placement experience and 997 of whom had had a placement experience, as part of their university studies, we tested a series of related hypotheses. After controlling for prior work-experience, results show that the quality of the placement experience is a greater predictor of a variety of employability outcomes than either structure of the placement experience or its duration. Findings will inform curriculum designers, practicum supervisors, and those interested in the outcomes of higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Work-integrated learning (WIL) experiences rely heavily on the development of relationships between the university, industry and often community organizations. As participation in WIL is increasing, the issue of sustainability becomes paramount, requiring processes and practices for effective collaborations and partnerships. This paper reports on an action research project to develop a framework to represent the critical success factors for sustainable WIL relationships. Drawing on reflections from WIL practitioners on what they considered were the critical success factors and a review of literature, a framework was developed, prioritizing three key themes: communication, commitment and compatibility. Within these themes, nine key factors were identified and then evaluated by academic and industry stakeholders in New Zealand, Canada and Australia. Trust, expectations, reciprocity, coordination, vision, learning, resources, reputation, and recognition were confirmed as important factors for sustainable WIL relationships. The framework provides good practice guidelines for all WIL stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data gathered as part of a study of young people's early career attainments, this paper examines factors that influence Australian high school seniors' plans to attend college and their actual entry into college. The paper applies the Fishbein-Ajzen (1975) model of attitude-behavior relations to the particular issue of the link between intentions to continue school and the realization of those intentions. Results show that the Fishbein-Ajzen model provides a useful, but incomplete, representation of the educational attainment process. In accord with the Fishbein-Ajzen model, favorable attitudes toward higher education, parental encouragement, and Friends' college plans all lead to the formation of intentions to enter college. Intentions, in turn, predict actual college attendance. Other results, however, suggest revisions in the Fishbein-Ajzen model. In particular, college entry was affected by attitudes toward college, academic achievement, and parental encouragement, over and above the effect of intentions. Moreover, behavioral intentions were shaped by academic achievement and by perceived academic ability, in addition to attitudes and perceived social norms. Finally, evidence was obtained that several variables in the model, such as gender and perceived parental encouragement, have interactive effects on college plans and college attendance. The results lend support to Liska's (1984) argument that social-structural opportunities and resources must be considered when applying the Fishbein-Ajzen model to behaviors such as entry into higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Work-integrated learning experiences of LGBTQIA+ students are rarely considered, with no specific consideration of paramedic students in this context. Students’ perceptions of WIL and the challenges associated with navigating the off-campus clinical setting have highlighted the need for a sense of belongingness, safety and security, and a healthy self-concept. The present study piloted a 37-question online survey with participants from six paramedic programs from metropolitan and regional Australian universities in 2021. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 participants from three universities, with participants selected from both metropolitan and regional universities. A mixed method approach was used to guide the data collection and analysis. Data were interpreted to suggest that paramedic students are unlikely to be open about their gender identity and/or sexual orientation with WIL staff for fear of discrimination. Study limitations and directions for future research are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background An understanding of anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology is considered essential for graduate nurses, but many nursing students find such courses difficult and anxiety-provoking. This was contrary to the authors' experiences, so student perceptions were studied at the survey institution. Objective This paper examines nursing students' satisfaction with bioscience and nursing courses in the first two years of a Bachelor of Nursing at an Australian university, in order to suggest strategies for effective bioscience teaching. Design Quantitative data for student satisfaction, measured on the Likert scale, were collected for three bioscience and 11 nursing courses from 2010 - 2012. Mean satisfaction was compared among courses and offerings by ANOVA, with offerings nested within courses, and correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between student satisfaction and pass rate. Qualitative data were sourced from open questions, emails and forum posts and examined for recurrent themes. Results Students rated the three bioscience courses in the top four of the 14 courses. There was no relationship between satisfaction and pass rate. Qualitative responses showed satisfaction with the course content, the learning materials, the delivery style and lecturer support. Conclusion It is possible to deliver bioscience courses that are appreciated by nursing students. Four principles are suggested in this paper that may improve student satisfaction with bioscience courses and, therefore, result in more effective learning and better prepared nursing graduates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a 'just-in-time' engagement framework for a high quality first year experience ('FYE'). The concept 'just-in-time' refers to a student-centered timeline for a managed learning environment based on the week-to-week experiences faced by a first year student in an Australian University semester. The engagement framework detailed in this paper consists of a series of teaching strategies embedded as part of a designed, integrated and co-ordinated first year program, expanding on the transition blueprint of Nelson, Kift, Humphreys & Harper (2006), working within a transition pedagogy (Kift, 2008) and implementing an institutional-wide program of collaborative engagement. This paper discusses the application of this framework to a first year foundational unit in the Bachelor of Laws degree at Deakin University, Victoria, Australia, implemented as part of an embedded institutional-wide transition program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changed funding arrangements and views of education have resulted in a re-prioritization of activities and practices in Australian universities. While considerable research attention has been given to the consequences of these changes for university policies and the activities of academic staff, less attention has been given to how students perceive these changes. In this paper, undergraduate students’ experience of the commodification of higher education sector are explored. The evidence suggests that the changed context is beginning to affect how students perceive university priorities and their effects on teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper seeks to examine the spatial patterns of student use of machines in each laboratory to whether there are underlying commonalities. Design/methodology/approach - The research was carried out by assessing the user behaviour in 16 computer laboratories at a regional university in Australia. Findings - The study found that computers within easy access to doors are disproportionately more used than computer that are further away, irrespective of other "incentive" such as windows, wall anchoring or security camera positioning. Practical implications - This paper has implications for any division within a university environment responsible for the spatial positioning of computer in a student laboratory. Originality/value - Previous research of the use of computer laboratories in schools and universities has focussed on educational issues. None of the studies so far have considered matters of situational territoriality and spatial patterning that govern human behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Year-long team projects with external clients provide a well recognized opportunity for students to gain industry experience, whilst being supported and guided by staff to minimize risks. Each group should be supervised to ensure that they have enough direction and confidence to approach a new problem of significant size, without being daunted. A structure is needed that is flexible and adaptable to suit various institutional cultures but, at the same time, provides the safety net to ensure that success is likely. This paper presents a reflective analysis of teaching at three different institutions and presents the resulting distilled wisdom of experience that has produced a structured framework for capstone project units. The proposed structure is scalable to any class size and portable across institutions and potentially across technical disciplines. The structure leads to team student projects that are successfully engaging and provide excellent experience toward producing work-ready graduates. The structure is flexible in design so that the teaching workload does not increase too much as class sizes increase, but students are still well supported with appropriate scaffolding and mentoring. We detail the key factors in our framework: careful project selection, appropriate sign posts, and helpful guides that together improve upon overall project success. We argue that students need appropriate projects, 'good' clients, and a well formed team. The sign posts support students through the 'uncharted waters' of ill-defined problem-based learning. Sign posts include: deliverables, deadlines, team notebook, progress reports, and accountable time-tracking. Helpful guides spread the teaching workload broadly: relying on cultural expectations, technology, team supervisor, feedback, and clear marking guidelines. This structure has been successfully implemented in at least three different universities in Australia and several remote partner teaching sites in different countries over many years. We have provided case study examples of implementations in three different Australian Universities: a large urban university (The University of Melbourne), a small urban university (Victoria University) and a regional university (The University of Ballarat). Students benefit from such an experience in their final stages of an undergraduate computing degree. The scaffolding and support provided by the structure enables students to improve their skills in technical development, communication, team work, project management and client negotiation. The project unit provides opportunities for independent self directed learning and realistic experiences in an environment that allows for experiential learning. Students are engaged when working with real problems for real industry clients. Our student feedback supports our view that students' confidence in their ability to manage a project is enhanced through their project experience. Based on our own observations and anecdotal feedback, we believe that our students benefit and are helped to become 'industry ready' graduates through the learning experienced in the capstone project course. This same structure could be used successfully in similar programs. We would encourage others to consider adapting this framework to their institutional context, as we have collectively found it a positive model to help us manage the considerable workload in offering successful year long undergraduate software projects with clients. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Empathy is an important modifiable quality of health care practitioners that relates to the quality of patient care. The educative process may adversely affect the empathy levels of health care students at key phases of training. This topic remains unexplored in chiropractic students to date. A voluntary and anonymous questionnaire was distributed to all chiropractic students in an Australian university-based program in April 2021. This questionnaire recorded age, sex, year of study, and Toronto Empathy Questionnaire scores. Chiropractic student empathy scores approximated those of other Australian health care students. No statistical differences were found when comparing the mean scores of empathy levels across the 5 student cohorts. The empathy levels of female chiropractic students' were significantly higher than those of the male chiropractic students. This study provides a baseline from which further explorations on empathy may be conducted in chiropractic students. This holds the potential to improve practitioners' quality of life and patient outcomes and for educators to identify subject matter that may negatively affect empathy levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports how one Australian university and the Queensland Department of Education and Training (DET) are working together to increase the number of school students from low socio-economic backgrounds enrolling in undergraduate university degrees. This innovative program involves university lecturers and school teachers working together in the delivery and assessment of four Bachelor of Education units (or subjects) to a cohort of Year eleven and twelve students at a secondary school. Focus group interviews collected data from 26 students, 7 parents, 4 school and 3 university staff to assess the effectiveness of the program. All stakeholders viewed the program as a highly valuable opportunity to experience university learning with 31 high school graduating students being made offers to enter full-time university in the 2010 and 2011. This positive result has particular significance in the current drive in Australia and elsewhere to increase the participation in higher education of young people from under-represented groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An institutional electronic portfolio called the iPortfolio had over 17,000 subscribers one year after its introduction at an Australian university. This paper reports on a study to determine how students use these iPortfolio accounts, and factors leading to uptake and effective use. Self-assessed competence with technology skills, factors motivating uptake, and barriers to adoption were examined using an online survey completed by 554 students. Of these, 339 had an iPortfolio at the time they completed the survey. Survey results were examined in the context of usage patterns based on data automatically collected for operational and administrative purposes. No statistically significant difference in prior technology use or self-assessed competence with information technology was observed when comparing students with iPortfolio accounts to those without. Assessment was found to be the principal driver of iPortfolio uptake. However, about two-fifths (42.9%) of students agreed that they were likely to use the iPortfolio in the future, even if it was not a course requirement. An additional 29.6% were neutral. Significant use of the iPortfolio to reflect on extracurricular activities was not observed. Improved employability outcomes were seen to be a benefit of iPortfolio adoption by about half (52%) of the students. Recommendations are made to promote iPortfolio uptake and encourage student reflection on 'lifewide' experiences that enhance employability and augment learning within the formal curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the relationship between university participation and socioeconomic status (SES) in Australia, focusing on eligibility to attend university. Participation among those with similar eligibility to attend university does not vary by SES. Conditional on their Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank (ENTER) scores, low SES students are as likely to attend university as high SES students. We find that possession and the quality of ENTER scores (eligibility) rises with SES. Our results suggest better understanding and policy targeting of the link between SES and school achievement, which is an important part of improving equity and access in Australian higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internships are becoming more relevant to universities as they provide students with practical skills that can be aligned with their career aspirations. Typically, successful undergraduate internship programs depend on the efficiency and design of the university internship program; the student commitment to the internship; and host organization's level of resource commitment to the program. Currently, there is very little empirical research conducted to examine how host organization based factors influence the quality of a good internship from a student interns' perspective. The Transaction Cost Economic (TCE) model was the theoretical lens used to address this research. The study used a survey (n=83) of an undergraduate internship program at a university in Australia. The findings indicate that the host organizations' resource commitment has a significant positive influence on the interns' perceived success of the internship. Findings from this research can help to align organizational resource commitment with the students' expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a cross sectional study related to emotional intelligence and personality traits as predictors of occupational therapy students' practice education performance. Topics discussed include obtaining fieldwork performance scores from the Student Practice Evaluation Form Revised (SPEF-R); completing linear regressions with the SPEF-R domains being the dependent variables; and emotional intelligence as significant predictor of components of their fieldwork performance.

The aim of the present study was to describe the characteristics of podcast users, compare uptake across courses, examine preferred modes of use and satisfaction, assess the impact of podcasts on lecture attendance, and evaluate reasons for use and non-use. Participants were 273 undergraduate students enrolled in six diverse courses at a large Australian university. Results suggested differences in uptake and satisfaction across courses, with later year students more satisfied than first year students. Although podcast users were older, worked longer hours in paid employment, and attended fewer lectures than those who did not use podcasts, results also suggest that users had more contact with staff and reported higher levels of academic self-efficacy than nonusers. Suggestions for improvements to current podcasting provisions are offered and directions for future research are provided. In particular the need to tap into the use of podcasts for examination revision is highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- This study seeks to examine the contents and the nature of the academic psychological contract. It aims to explore to what extent the contract has been fulfilled and the impact of demographic variables on the contract and its fulfilment. Design/methodology/approach -- Data for the study were collected through a survey of 280 academic staff of a middle-ranked Australian university. To identify the contents of the academic psychological contract, three focus groups, each comprising eight academic staff, were conducted in three schools. The ordered probit model was employed to explore the impacts of various demographic variables. Findings -- The elements of the academic psychological contract to a certain extent differ from that of the contracts of other professions. Also, the academic psychological contract is more transactional than relational in character. Overall, the academic psychological contract has been fulfilled at the low level. Research limitations/implications -- The study contributes to the debate on the different interpretation of employer obligations and their fulfilment between research-oriented and teaching-oriented academics. Exploring the psychological contract from both employee and employer perspectives will assist in the understanding of mutual expectations. Further research should involve a wide range of universities and make comparisons across national boundaries. Practical implications -- Some items, such as ensuring a safe workplace, the provision of adequate resources to do work, the provision of equal and competitive pay, fair promotion, consultation and recognition of skills and talents, ranked considerably higher than others and should, therefore, be given priority over others. More support should be provided to young, research-oriented academics who are enthusiastic about research, but mobile and marketable in order to develop university sustainability. Originality/value -- The study contributes to the literature by arguing that the contents and the perceived significance of the academic psychological contract are to a certain extent different from those of the contracts in other sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the differences in perceptions and expectations between students at the Caulfield and Peninsula campuses of Monash University with different entrance criteria and degree availability to determine whether two different introductory finance subjects should be offered rather than one. Results reported in this study suggest that students at the Caulfield campus are interested in studying a challenging introductory finance subject, whereas students at the Peninsula campus perceived that introductory finance is ‘difficult’. Capital structure and cost of capital topics are statistically significantly ranked higher by Caulfield students than Peninsula students. The results reported in this study revealed that two different introductory finance subjects would be more effective. The core subject at the finance major campus (Caulfield) follows a traditional structure with more emphasis on finance theory, whereas the new subject at the non-finance campus (Peninsula) places greater emphasis on applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]