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This paper will contribute to our understanding of the Block, its pedagogical rationale and value, and explain why, apart from pandemic conditions, these might constitute a compelling alternative to traditional academic calendars. Current research highlights the need for further research on the nature of the Block, driven by an increased global focus on student outcomes and retention in Higher Education. This paper offers five case studies from institutions that have adopted a version of the Block at some time over the last 50 years. The authors seek to define the features that comprise block courses whereas the nature and functionality distinguish blocks from other intensive formats. A survey of the limited literature on this topic was based on theoretical underpinnings offered by one-course-at-a-time delivery, scholarship of teaching and learning on compressed education, and experiential learning. Using the research question, "Other than scheduling alternatives, what does the block offer HE institutions?", this project uses research that is qualitative in nature drawing on a controlled comparison of case studies which enables a cross-institutional evaluation. The case studies explain why each institution adopted the Block, how these schedules work, and discusses the challenges and affordances of teaching in this intensive format. First findings of this cross-institutional exploration suggest that blocks are unique in their delivery, often experiential in nature, and effective in their outcomes. The various versions of the Block described within, provide ongoing transformative models of teaching philosophy, curriculum, student success, and more.

Work-integrated learning (WIL) has been suggested as a potentially beneficial addition to modern doctoral education. However, there is little research outlining the specificities of WIL aimed at PhD students. This paper explores the range of WIL opportunities available to PhD students through a review of secondary data. The findings indicate that WIL opportunities are non-homogenous and vary widely across their structure and implementation. Patterns emerge to indicate that WIL opportunities tend to be optional, paid, short-term, focused on horizontal learning development, and provide opportunities for boundary crossing outside of academia. These findings imply that WIL has the potential to complement doctoral education by providing opportunities to experience cross-sector or cross-discipline learning and development. However, higher education institutes might consider becoming more involved in the design and implementation of WIL for PhD students. Additional research is required to understand how WIL opportunities fit into doctoral education and to evaluate existing WIL opportunities.

The COVID pandemic forced universities worldwide to shift to remote and online formats of teaching delivery. In design education, this shift has impacted Experiential Education (EE) pedagogical approach to studio teaching, an approach that gives students an opportunity to apply theory to a concrete experience in a reflective manner and provides cross-disciplinary learning opportunities. This paper discusses Global Design Studio (GDS), a collaborative cross-disciplinary teaching initiative between three design disciplines across three continents: Industrial Design in Australia, Interaction Design in Canada, and User Experience Design in Germany. The objective was to develop a support framework during emergency situations to facilitate cross-disciplinary EE to design students. This paper discusses the three teaching experiences as case studies that offer opportunity for deep analysis and reflection of challenges and enablers to EE education in the shift from traditional design studio to remote and online delivery. While navigating COVID-19 barriers to EE education, GDS aimed to achieve these objectives by sharing resources, ideas, and expertise across the three universities. Each unit dedicated the entire academic term to a first exploration of GDS through a semester-long project 'Interactive Mannikin for children to learn CPR techniques'. This article discusses the context and outcomes of EE teaching and learning experiences at each unit. This paper also reviews the lessons design educators learned about: inter disciplinarity, inter-intra-cultural issues, group working, timing, remote collaboration, and proposing a GDS model for cross-disciplinary EE.

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to identify the principles and characteristics of a learning conference which uses action learning and action research (ALAR) processes to create: optimal learning for all participants through a collaborative, inclusive conference culture; further knowledge creation in publishing conference papers post-conference through a supportive research culture. Design/methodology/approach: The 2010 World Congress of the Action Learning and Action Research Association (ALARA) is showcased to exemplify a learning conference, using the PIP (preamble-interview-postscript) framework to demonstrate the utility of this new genre for research and writing conference papers and action research models as frameworks to support publishing articles. Findings: Discussion offers ways to enhance opportunities for conference learning through creative purposeful activities that promote collaboration, critical thinking and reflection, and models of action research cycles to progress research from conference presentation to journal article. Originality/value: The paper makes the crucial link between conference procedure and publication of learning from conference to extend knowledge creation. The PIP model used here presents ways for novice researchers to network with experienced researchers through interview, for professional development, career advancement and publication. (Contains 1 table, 1 figure and 5 notes.)

A key part of the student experience in the higher education context is employability. There is an expectation that universities will contribute to their students' employability and indeed they are measured on this contribution and are allocated funding based on it. Despite the importance of employability in higher education, it remains a complex and contested concept, often conflated with employment -- graduates in jobs and the roles they occupy -- and seen as a quantifiable outcome of the student experience. Where employability is understood as an individual's knowledge, capabilities, and personal attributes that make them more likely to gain employment and be successful in their professional lives, it is often framed by the discourse of skills. There are some employability models, however, that champion a more holistic view of employability and highlight the role that experiences play in individual employability development. This paper reports on the development of an institutional employability framework and reflective process in an Australian research-intensive university. The paper discusses the experiential learning theories that underpin the reflective process that supports students to understand and articulate employability learning, for framing narratives around the potential to contribute to an organisation for employment, and for the transfer of this potential to professional contexts. The framework and reflective process represent employability as a learning process through which students make meaning from their experiences and learning opportunities. This involves understanding the value of their experiences, how to articulate that value, and how to transfer it to workplace performance.

Cooperative education and principles associated with learning ecosystems appear throughout the literature. However, the application of cooperative education and learning ecosystems to work-integrated learning has not been fully examined. Furthermore, the applicability of learning ecosystems within work-integrated learning to specific professional practice domains has similarly not previously been examined. The development of domain-specific work-integrated learning ecosystems and an explanation of how they might apply to cooperative education in higher education, the purpose of this paper, are explored from three sequentially related conceptual levels: Level 1), a proto-theoretical model of cooperative education > Level 2), a functional model of a work-integrated learning ecosystem > Level 3), an example of an applied model of a work-integrated learning ecosystem. Specifically, the paper explores how policing, presented here as a working example of a socially important practice domain, has been developed into a work-integrated learning ecosystem within the Australian higher education context.

This practitioner paper explores the positive impact playwork could have for Australian OSHC (Outside School Hours Care) environments and in turn, educators and children. Through a discussion of four theoretical perspectives pertaining to physical space from a playworkers perspective, the authors show how developing a conceptual understanding of these can support Australian OSHC settings nurture a place for play. With a focus on affordance theory, compound flexibility, liminality and psychogeography, this paper breaks down these theories and posits their practical applications within an OSHC setting.

The notion of work self-efficacy is significant as the self-efficacy beliefs of an individual have considerable influence on his/her level of motivation and performance in the workplace. This paper aims to determine the effects of the learning activities of a work-integrated learning course in Exercise Science in relation to students' perceived work self-efficacy in industries relevant to their studies. Comparison of pre- and post-course scores on the Work Self-Efficacy Scale demonstrated significant improvement in students' perceived work self-efficacy in all seven dimensions, as well as their perceived skill levels in thirteen important aspects of the work environment. The results suggested that all three course components (the work experience placement, career development workshops and presentations from practicing lecturers and professionals) provided important contributions to students' development. The factors that were considered to be most influential included feedback from supervisors, personal motivation and involvement, and regular workplace experience. [Paper presented at the World Association for Cooperative and Work-Integrated Education, International Research Symposium on Cooperative and Work-Integrated Education, (2nd, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, 2016).]

Despite significant recent changes to the doctoral training environment, particularly provision of employability skills during candidature, there is a paucity of research investigating best practice in this area. This paper describes a case study in how various pedagogical theories, curriculum co-creation, lifelong learner, adult learning, cognitive load, spiral learning, reflective practice, and community of practice theories, were applied at an Australian university to develop and implement a Graduate Certificate aimed at increasing work readiness by delivering research and employability skills training to PhD candidates. Outlined are the rationale, student interest and theoretical basis underpinning this program, and its integrated suite of work-integrated learning (WIL) activities. Comparison against an emerging framework for high quality WIL demonstrated key alignments between the program and the quality WIL framework. These alignments highlight important considerations for comprehensive training of PhD candidates, together with recommendations for future research into WIL and employability training for PhD candidates.

"Background": The adoption of technology in healthcare and higher education supports an opportunity for educators to harness the capacity of digital environments. This research contributes to discourse of industry acceptance regarding the educational value of virtual teaching and learning nursing skills, along with transferability to healthcare. "Methods": The research was conducted within a Bachelor of Nursing program. In Second Life, students completed assessment activities related to clinical nursing skills. Registered Nurses, educators, and undergraduate nursing students provided perceptions about this learning. This paper focuses on the theme of Virtual learning supports contemporary nursing education. "Findings": Second Life was shown to mimic real-world, experiential learning. All participants agreed that Second Life could be utilised to rehearse and refine nursing skills in readiness for practice. Registered Nurses recognised that learning via this virtual platform could assist to close the theory practice gap. "Conclusion": All key stakeholders valued the experiences provided when learning nursing in Second Life and recommended a broad adoption in curricula. As an adjunct teaching strategy, this has practice implications that could ultimately improve patient care and outcomes. A recommendation calls for nurse educators to adopt the use of virtual worlds for wider and consistent use in nursing curricula.

Online learner engagement research has risen internationally due to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in relation to experiential learning. However, this research has focused on the use of technology to access learning about a particular place rather than consider the pedagogical potential of the places in which the learner is located. This study therefore considers the question: What is the pedagogical potential of place for online learners? The aim of the study is to scrutinise pedagogical practices that facilitate applied understanding of course concepts in a way that enables learners to contextualise learning in their unique locations. This paper analyzes recounts of experiences with place-based inquiry with online students in an initial teacher education course offered in regional Australia. The evidence presented suggests that place-based pedagogy enables students to see learning concepts at work in context, beyond the abstract. Further, contrary to expectations that the experience of place-based learning is diminished in an online environment, there might be advantages for the preparation of pre-service teachers in experiencing place-based inquiry in their own locales.

How do we dwell tenderly in the ruins of the modern university? This paper engages a hopeful, collaborative, and sensory methodology to imagine possibilities for research and researcher. As academic women navigating the decay of the neoliberal university amid the shadowy spectre of the 'ideal' academic, we explore our lived experiences, identities, and questions. For us, managing modernity's disorientation and dislocation means showing up differently, with new tools, new theoretical frames, and new ways of relating. From our experiential and aesthetic inquiry, tendrils of possibility for what research does, has been, is, and could be, are emerging. Our dwelling together (co-sensing in radical tenderness) helps us see beyond the thicket of institutional requirements towards a more hopeful and collective existence -- for if the sense of separation instilled by modernity is a social disease, healing must be a communal endeavour.

The research reported in this article attends to the learning and knowing that students experience in workplace practice. The research enquiry is propelled by the theories of workplace learning and the recent 'practice turn' in the literatures of organisational studies that accommodate student learning that is impromptu and emergent in the workplace. This research makes a contribution by momentarily decoupling student learning in the workplace from purposeful educational perspectives, to better understand the unscripted knowledge that students acquire in practice. With stronger awareness of this alternate pedagogy, student experiences of work can be enfolded by greater understanding and authenticity in the academy. Using a grounded theory approach, students returning from internships were asked to discuss their learning experiences, what and how they learned. The data were analyzed for emerging categories and a conceptual framework titled "Student Knowing in Workplace Practice" is reported in this article. [This research was presented at the 2019 WACE conference in Cincinnati, USA.]

The fieldtrip has long been a key component of the geography curriculum, described as a 'touchstone' for learning in, on and about place. Learning on Country provides an opportunity to embody Indigenous knowledges and experience places and people in field classes. However, such opportunities are increasingly under threat as the costs and risks of running field trips have risen, and more recently, faced challenges such as those presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, we describe the transformation of a third-year undergraduate geography field trip into a virtual field trip using online resources. We reflect on the processes and challenges of doing so in ways that privilege and respect Aboriginal pedagogies and practices in educational design. Drawing on the philosophies and frameworks of Jindaola, an Aboriginal way of embedding Indigenous knowledges into the curriculum, we show how the virtual field trip, as a form of non-placement work-integrated learning, can embed place-based experiential learning into online learning contexts. This paper outlines how the design, articulation and practice of that process is grounded in Country, culture and customs.

Purpose: Work-integrated learning (WIL) is a strategy that enhances student learning and employability by engaging students in real-world settings, applications and practices. Through WIL, tertiary education institutions forge partnerships with industry to provide students with access to activities that will contribute to their career-readiness and personal growth. The purpose of the paper is to explore academics perceptions of WIL from non-vocational disciplines, where WIL opportunities are less prevalent. Design/methodology/approach: The study employed a qualitative, case-study methodology to unpack academics' reflections on the question "What does WIL mean to you?" Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 33 subject coordinators across a number of non-vocational degrees at one university in Australia. Open coding and thematic analysis was used to explore qualitative data and identify common themes. Findings: Data suggest that academics largely have placement-based understandings of WIL that cause tensions for embedding WIL meaningfully in their courses. Tensions surface when WIL is perceived as a pedagogy that contributes to the neoliberal agenda that sits in conflict with theoretical approaches and that restrict notions of career. Originality/value: Although WIL is not relevant in all subjects, these understandings are a useful starting point to introduce WIL meaningfully, in various ways and where appropriate, in order to provide students opportunities for learning and employability development. The paper has implications for faculty, professional learning and institutional strategies concerning WIL for all students.

Australia's first nation people have suffered deep loss stemming from the colonisation of their lands and restrictions on cultural practises. Despite endemic disadvantage, many people maintain profound connections to traditional lands, their "country," and retain a desire to share their cultural knowledge. This presents opportunities for design academics and tertiary students to establish partnerships with indigenous communities. This paper casts a reflective lens over an architecturally focused case study with a remotely located indigenous Australian community to differentiate learning outcomes that are site based "on country" and those conducted in classrooms "off country." In the pre-COVID era, the Bower Studio program within the Melbourne School of Design at the University of Melbourne was taught with both on and off country learning opportunities. Bower Studio coordinates small groups of students travelling on country to meet community members in remote Australian communities and facilitates indigenous elders travelling to attend classes in Melbourne. While this combination was accepted as best-practise, the suspension of in-person gatherings due to COVID threatened the integrity of this program and forced significant change. Reliant upon video conferencing it would be reasonable to expect that the loss of on country experiences would significantly hamper the student/community engagement whilst simultaneously diminishing academic outcomes. This research reflects upon the project to confirm that on country learning remains best practise, however there were unexpected benefits from off country engagements facilitated through video conferencing.

Within work-integrated learning (WIL), partner communities and organisations are increasingly seen as co-educators, but not often as collaborators of research inquiry (Hammersley, 2012; 2015). This paper reflects on the research methods employed to engage partner organisations in the co-creation of curriculum to support international WIL activities in a way that recognises the valuable expertise, knowledge and skills of international community partners. In particular, it focuses on the specific role of reflection as a research method that enabled participants from diverse cultural and experiential backgrounds to critically and collectively explore the co-creation process. This paper shares the different ways reflection was used to recoginse multiple knowledges and enable all participants to freely and creatively map and share their personal and collective experiences as co-researchers.

There is increasing pressure on higher education institutions to better prepare students for future work, augmented by widespread measurement of their performance using graduate employment metrics. Accounting is no exception with growing attention on whether, and in what ways, accounting curricula is aligning to labor market demands. This paper considers the importance of career preparedness among accounting students and higher education institutions' effectiveness in achieving graduate outcomes that meet the needs of the profession. It contemplates the challenges in preparing accounting students for contemporary work and explores current practice in authentic and practical learning, particularly emergent forms of work-integrated learning (WIL) that are considered pivotal for engaging diverse student cohorts with the profession. We present key considerations when designing and implementing quality WIL programs, along with suggested strategies for enhancing WIL in the accounting discipline. The paper broadens thinking beyond internships to effectively strengthen accounting curricula in meeting industry needs.

Around the world, over 5.3 million students were engaged in international education in 2017. In Australia, international students made a significant contribution to the country's economy and its society. However, there is a paucity in theory and of empirical research on the effects of field experience on international preservice teachers (IPSTs). Addressing this gap, the paper contributes to an understanding of the changes to the identities of IPSTs engaged in field experiences. Drawing on a single case study of a group of first-year IPSTs undertaking a non-assessed field experience, the concept of 'transcultural' is employed to understand the links between culture, place and identity that the cohort experience in the host education sites. This paper shows the emergence of how IPSTs understand how children learn and its connection with pedagogy as part of them becoming transcultural. While this study occurs before COVID-19, it argues for shared responsibility between universities, education sites and teachers to enable the transcultural meanings to be established within the field experience, thereby creating inclusive conditions central to IPSTs' contribution to the existing cultural and linguistic diversities in education settings. This is even more vital under the changed circumstances of COVID-19.

There is strong evidence that learning gained in, through and for work, whether it is through employment, voluntary, community, domestic or any other kind of work, helps to equip people with the capabilities that can improve their working lives, their employability and their life skills (Lester and Costley, 2010, Beehives, 2018, WEXHE, 2019). Learning in, through and for practice situations such as work can ease the transition from education to work and also enhance the current knowledge of those already in work, facilitating growth in a professional career. Work-Based Learning (WBL), a common term to define this can be designed for placements or other work experience for students in higher education (h.e.) taking initial awards or it can be for employees undertaking h.e. studies relevant to their work. Although a common term, there are many other terms in the area of work and learning which relate to the same or similar fields. This paper attempts to clarify this whole dynamic area.

In Australia it is well documented that teachers continue to struggle with implementing Aboriginal content, pedagogies and engaging with Aboriginal communities. This paper describes a research project analysing place-based learning for preservice teachers at an urban university led by Aboriginal community members. We argue that place-based learning is critical in developing preservice teacher's knowledge and confidence in Aboriginal education. Surveys, individual and group yarns provided in-depth data from 64 participants completing elective courses including place-based 'Learning from Country' (LFC) experiences. Three key findings emerge from the data. Firstly, the utility of an experiential 'learning by doing' approach, secondly, the profound shifts in participant understandings of the diversity of Aboriginal cultures, histories and communities and thirdly, how these experiences highlighted the strength and presence of the local urban Aboriginal community. These findings suggest that LFC holds promise as a pedagogical strategy to improve teacher capacity in Aboriginal education.

Feedback is powerful for learning in education, and the workplace. Work-integrated learning bridges these two settings, but how prepared students are to use feedback strategies as they enter the workplace remains unknown. This paper documents an exploratory, mixed-methods, study involving final-year occupational therapy students. The students were undertaking work-integrated learning to develop project management skills. The specific research questions addressed were; how feedback literate are final-year students; and, can feedback literacy (FL) education improve FL in preparation for the workplace? Likert scales, open response questions, and assessment rubrics were utilised. Opportunities for FL education were provided. Statistically significant differences between pre- and post-test survey responses were evident. Four qualitative themes were identified; enacting feedback, choice of feedback, emotional impact of feedback and value of the outsider perspective. Some students demonstrated sophisticated feedback capabilities. Others engaged tokenistically with feedback. Tentative support for the effectiveness of one FL intervention was demonstrated.

Urbanisation and industrialisation have contributed to significant and detrimental changes in the earth's natural environments. The concept of social-ecological resilience can assist this problem, by integrating the consideration of human and ecological systems in decision-making. An implication is that built environment professionals must be competent in social-ecological resilience knowledge and skills to ensure cities are well adapted to current environmental challenges, and do not further contribute to them. Yet the capabilities of built environment professionals to incorporate resilience thinking (theory and knowledge) into their work (skills and practice), is not well understood and is not well addressed in education theory. This paper contributes to this gap by: exploring the social-ecological resilience knowledge, skills, and practical experience of Australian built environment professionals, thereby identifying gaps to address in further and higher education. Results indicate that built environment professionals' know about social-ecological resilience, but they identify their practical experience is low. Additionally, respondents are more confident with their abilities, compared to colleagues, and their profession at large. The results indicate that further and higher education offerings (e.g. university education, continuing professional education, and practice) must assist built environment professionals to further develop social-ecological skills. As one respondent stated -- it will require 'rethinking the way we practice our professions'.

This paper considers how digital technologies contribute to awakening primary-school children's enchantment with local places. We draw upon Bennett and Thoreau to theorize enchantment and adopt "enchantment as method" from Stainova to guide the research process. We analyze the contrasting digital artifacts produced by three children through video-walks in their backyards. In one case, Kay, the digital artifact reveals how her enchantment was produced through the video-walk. Accessing data beyond the video-walk, we show that the other cases, Connor and Leila, had experienced enchantment and this experience evoked ethical concern and moral action. The implications of our analysis of these cases for a pedagogy of enchantment are critically considered.

Internship as part of work-integrated learning (WIL) is a critical curriculum component in higher education to better prepare for the future workforce. To assess WIL, educators typically select authentic assessments such as reflective journals and managerial reports to solve existing workplace problems. Despite the academic discourse supporting the use of internships, a paucity of studies has investigated the role of formal assessments embedded into internship subjects. In this paper, we evaluate the perceptions of hospitality and tourism undergraduates towards the effectiveness of assessments as part of their WIL internship programme. Focus group sessions were conducted with internship university students (n = 29) in Australia over a cross-sectional longitudinal period of 3 years. Our thematic analysis revealed three key themes: authenticity of assessment design, challenges with work-study-life balance, and the level of industry involvement in assessment. This study contributes to the body of knowledge in relation to how compulsory assessment tasks can be effectively integrated into WIL internships to positively influence the experiential learning outcomes of students.

Presented here is a novel engineering degree initiative established at Charles Sturt University (CSU), Australia. This program embodies emerging trends and prospects in engineering education, aspiring to nurture adept engineers well-prepared for practical application. Furthermore, this paper delves into the application of this program for training the next generation of water engineers, equipping them with indispensable skills to confront novel challenges. The CSU Engineering program incorporates several attributes commonly found in progressive engineering curricula. It places significance on work-based learning and encompasses an extensive 6000-hour industrial work placement. This emphasizes student self-reflection, engineering design, robust academic leadership, the integration of educational innovation and novel tools for scholastic exploration, and comprehensive student assessment. Gaining robust industry support, the CSU Engineering program garners recognition as an exemplar for future education. The adaptability, professionalism, responsibility, and leadership exhibited by CSU cadets are highly regarded by their industrial partners. Feedback highlights the consistent advancement of cadets' soft skills, spanning teamwork, communication, leadership, community engagement, and interpersonal relations. Notably, CSU cadets receive substantial remuneration from their industrial engagements. Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19 restrictions, the CSU Engineering program continues to operate seamlessly with minimal disruption.

This paper explains Feeling and Hearing Country as an Australian Indigenous practice whereby water is life, Country is responsive, and Elders generate wisdom for a communicative order of things. The authors ask, as a society of Indigenous people and those no longer Indigenous to place, can we walk together in the task of collectively healing Country? The "research method" uses experiential, creative, propositional, and practical ways of knowing and being in and with local places. Evidence may take many forms based upon engagement with an animate, sentient world. The research method can generate new meanings, implications and insights, and regenerate practical knowledge of Country. As an Indigenous tradition, Feeling and Hearing Country can enable the regeneration of healing life energies. It can help freshen up stories, knowledges, and help link ancestral wisdom to the present while co-creating healthy futures. Feeling and Hearing Country can enliven the human spirit, landscapes, and all beings "via" a participative, creative process that is helpful for the planet at this climate time, when many humans have forgotten their place in the world. As a research method, Feeling and Hearing Country can support the unlearning of epistemological errors for reinstating vitality in things.

A number of commentators have recently called for a re-examination of the purpose and value of undergraduate education, arguing that change is required if universities are to deliver the value in educational outcomes that students and communities now require for a changing and challenging world (for example, Aoun, 2017; Bok, 2020; Davidson, 2017; Fischman & Gardner, 2022). Indeed, some have argued that such change is necessary to stem an emerging crisis in universities' 'social license to operate' (Bok, 2020). In this paper, we review the case for undergraduate curriculum change and present a case study of one Australian university's engagement with this challenge, describing the reasons for change, the desired outcomes, and some early impacts on students' study patterns. The change took place at the University of Sydney over the period from 2014 to 2021 with a new undergraduate curriculum introduced for commencing students from 2018. Intended to prepare students for a changing world, the new curriculum sought a balance between graduates' expertise in a primary field of study and a set of broader capabilities that would support their capacity for future learning and for creative and effective engagement in life and career, including an understanding of broader intellectual landscapes; the skills for collaboration, invention, and influence; and the integration of knowledge with professional and personal ethics and values. The aspiration to develop such capabilities is shared with many universities around the world, and we describe here how the available evidence base was used to guide whole-of-University curriculum redesign in this case. We also identify areas where further research would be of value.

At James Cook University, a core first-year subject within the Bachelor of Education, Foundations of Sustainability in Education (FSE), sees students investigate the underlying science and complexity of socioecological challenges through inquiry, place-based learning, experimentation and consideration of classroom practice. Given that this subject is delivered across modes, a blended learning approach that encompasses an innovative use of learning technologies and careful consideration of pedagogy provides opportunity for both on-campus and online students to engage in active, learner-centred, collaborative, experiential and praxis-oriented learning experiences (Wals & Jickling, 2002). In this paper, we draw upon Pittaway's (2012) engagement framework and Herrington, Herrington, Oliver, Stoney and Willis's (2001) guidelines for quality online courses to explore students' perceptions and experiences of FSE. We investigate how a blended learning design can support the development of a robust foundational knowledge base in science and sustainability education, and engagement in active, experiential and praxis-oriented learning experiences for first year online students. This paper furthers the discussion around best pedagogical practice and blended learning design for science and sustainability education in online preservice teacher education, and in other disciplines in teacher education that call for hands-on learning experiences in an online environment.

Australia has a long-standing interest in fostering innovation capabilities to drive its future prosperity. However, it has only been in recent years that an emphasis on developing these capabilities has been formally extended into the classroom through the introduction of the Australian Curriculum Technologies. In 2017, the State Government of Victoria implemented its version of this national curriculum for the Technologies domain. For educators, this recent implementation could be considered problematic, for unlike the traditions of literacy and numeracy, methods to assist classroom teachers in diagnosing developmental indicators, for applied spatial problem-solving among children appears to be lacking in the Technologies area. Without such methods of diagnosis, it can be argued that teachers may struggle to develop appropriately targeted lessons, that demand of the student, the ability to comprehend applied spatial problem-solving, such as with hands-on engineering activities. Our research aims to investigate how a child's applied spatial inferential reasoning capabilities, vary by developmental age. To answer this question, we have adopted a two-stage process. Stage One involves a pilot study testing and refining the key research instruments. Stage Two incorporates the main study involving a larger number of participants. This paper summarises early insights from a mixed-method pilot study involving 15 students (9 boys, 6 girls) from Years 3-12. Students enrolled in this study undertook one of three hands-on problem-based engineering activities categorised as simple, complicated or complex; working in small groups of three. We noted that gender makeup of the group, and age levels of participating students appeared to be variables that impacted on organisation, communication and the solution produced. These preliminary observations assisted to refine the key indicators for observing students in preparation for the main study. Key interests in this study include the student's capacity for inference-making and abstraction with respect to spatial problem-solving. A review of the relevant literature and the need for further research in spatial reasoning is discussed.

Mixed reality (MR) and mobile visualisation methods have been identified as important technologies that could reimagine spatial information delivery and enhance higher education practice. However, there is limited research on the impact of mobile MR (MMR) within construction education and improvement of the learners' experience. With new building information modelling (BIM) workflows being adopted within the architecture, engineering and construction industry, innovative MMR pedagogical delivery methods should be explored to enhance this information-rich spatial technology workflow. This paper outlines qualitative results derived through thematic analysis of learner reflections from two technology-enhanced lessons involving a lecture and a hands-on workshop focussed on MMR-BIM delivered within postgraduate construction education. Seventy participants across the two lessons recruited from an Australian university participated to answer the research question: 'Does applied mobile mixed reality create an enhanced learning environment for students?' The results of the analysis suggest that using MMR-BIM can result in an enhanced learning environment that facilitates unique learning experiences, engagement and motivation. However, the study outcome suggests that to understand the processes leading to these learning aspects, further empirical research on the topic is required.

This paper describes the design, implementation and impact of a non-placement WIL project, focusing on the development of students' responsible leadership competencies through a third-year undergraduate unit -- Responsible Leadership. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic the WIL project pivoted from face to face delivery to online. The WIL project was designed to provide engagement with a local non-government organization and enable the co-development of authentic learning experiences with the industry partner. Findings from the comparison of pre- and post-semester CARL (Competency Assessment of Responsible Leadership) online surveys of 107 students showed increases in the development of ethics and values; self-awareness and systems understanding as well as an increase in their knowledge and attitude action domains. With industry support to implement a systems approach to a non-placement WIL project, an impactful transition to the online environment was achieved.

In the current context of COVID-19 restrictions, the perceived infection risk in healthcare facilities has resulted in limited opportunities for clinical placements. This paper aims to demonstrate how virtual WIL clinics (virtual simulated general practice clinics), provide an authentic clinical experience and to ascertain whether these virtual clinics allow the practice of generic WIL competencies. The clinics provide students with WIL experience without the face-to-face contact of a physical clinic via telehealth. The practice of WIL through virtual WIL clinics at James Cook University, Australia, is assessed using the Work Skill Development (WSD) framework via GoSoapBox surveys. Students surveyed (N=66) expressed a high level of motivation to engage, reflect and learn through this medium. The survey also highlighted some possible areas of improvement in time management and communication. Virtual WIL clinics are a suitable substitution for WIL clinical activity and ideally suited to the COVID-19 context.

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.

This paper discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic can shift the conversation of paid and unpaid placements from an economic to a pedagogical and goodwill perspective. During the pandemic lockdown many placements were cancelled or postponed. Some continued as agreed but with students working from home, while other placements became unpaid. We build on the pertinent literature that raises legal, ethical, economic and pedagogical implications of paid versus unpaid placement models and what motivates placement organizations to offer placements. Four interdisciplinary trans-Tasman case studies are discussed to better understand the complex situations for placement organizations and universities to sustain WIL placements during this pandemic. Conclusions include recommendations to be vigilant and ensure goodwill is not used to mask the exploitation of students, but rather, positively influence the motivation behind offering placements during these trying times and beyond.

Faced with broad scale cancellation of allied health student placements due to COVID-19, placement coordinators at The University of Melbourne Department of Rural Health established remote, online work-integrated learning placements across a range of settings, including a primary school, specialist school, kindergarten association and a homelessness sector organization. To ensure safe and high-quality placements, the evidence for telepractice and placement innovation was reviewed and integrated with existing knowledge of developing quality service-learning placements and COVID-safe guidelines from professional associations. This paper describes how placements were established, how student learning needs were aligned with host site objectives, and critically analyses the benefits and challenges of the online placement format. Partnerships, communication, and planning with all stakeholders were critical in placement redesign. The outcome is that students have enhanced their clinical and professional skills and provided community services to clients that would otherwise not have been provided during a pandemic.

This study explores the utility of employing a student-created experiential narrative ePortfolio as a multimodal tool for reflective practice in WIL. It does so by examining a case study situated within the performing arts, where WIL discourses are rarely adopted, and few examples are present in the literature. This paper introduces a circular mentoring framework that extends Kolb's experiential learning model, whereby learning is facilitated through the interchange of roles through rehearsal and reflection. In this study, participants prepared and performed an opera in a professional venue over a five-day period of intense creative studio work. The 2017 and 2018 "Inclusion Project" is an innovative teaching and learning opportunity that offered authentic industry-based experience to undergraduate music students in a closely monitored, non-placement WIL setting. Participants (n=18) undertaking a semester long elective, reported their experience through online journaling in an ePortfolio allowing them to create narrative responses. A qualitative analysis using narrative inquiry on the ePortfolio reflections indicated a direct benefit for student's career readiness as creative artists.

This Position Paper explores some of the assumptions that underpin the dependence on physical WIL placements. The authors focus on the fundamental question of what exactly we are preparing students for -- is it the workplace, or should we think more broadly about preparing students for the workforce? This raises other questions around the necessity of students undertaking placements in a physical workplace to learn what they need, as well as analysing what aspects of work trigger learning. Workplaces in many organisations are quite different to those of a decade ago, requiring different skills of their workers, and for some, there is no single physical workplace at all. Preparing students for this new paradigm requires us to rethink what kind of WIL experience will be most efficacious and potentially opens space for consideration of other options such as virtual WIL, project-based WIL, studio learning, and student designed start-ups. It is hoped that our thoughts and recommendations might challenge how academics and practitioners currently think about and deliver WIL, with a view to advancing new approaches to non-placement WIL.

Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) is an important pedagogical strategy for developing employability skills by immersing students in real-world understandings, applications and practices. Increasingly, universities are focusing on how WIL can be scaffolded across a degree, to involve students in a variety of WIL activities in order to apply disciplinary knowledge and skills. While placement models appear to be the dominant mode of WIL that are easily recognised within a degree structure, non-placement forms of WIL while emerging, remain less visible. This conceptual paper presents an institutional framework that accounts for a range of placement and non-placement WIL activities, to make WIL practices overt across a degree. It introduces the Work-Integrated Learning Curriculum Classification (WILCC) Framework that supports a university-wide approach for developing, mapping and reporting WIL. The WILCC Framework promotes the visibility of WIL across the institution, offers a common language for WIL across disciplines, and provides a tool to scaffold WIL experiences throughout degree programs.

Service-learning is used by universities to promote community engagement thatbenefits both the students and the recipient community; however, evidence largely demonstrates only the shortterm effects of such experiences. This paper presents ananalysis of the transformational learning of a group of Australian students who travelled to Fiji in an organised service-learing project. Using Kiely's model oftransformational learning, this case study describes the dissonance felt by a sub-groupof three (n = 3) students, from a cohort of thirteen (n = 13), who subsequently used this transformational learning to make major changes in their career and life goals. Rather than being adversely affected by the dissonance they experienced, these students used this learning as an opportunity for personal and professional growth. These findings support the notion that service-learning has the potential to provide students with challenging, life-changing opportunities that can have long-lasting effects.

Creating authentic learning experiences that prepare students for their future work in an ever-changing workforce represents a key challenge in higher education. One key way to enable the integration of learning and work is to foster students' capacity for critical reflection and reflexive thinking. This paper seeks to contribute to knowledge of how to foster the integration of learning and work and presents a case-study of a work integrated learning curriculum intervention within the discipline of project management. We explore how to authentically integrate learning and work by creating learning for students that deepens and broadens their critical understandings of their future profession and role as professional practitioners. We apply thematic analysis to students' reflective journals to explore their shifting perceptions of professional practice, and discuss how these findings may be applied to more authentically foster students' preparation for professional practice. [Papers included in this "Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education" ("APJCE") Special Issue stem from selected manuscripts from the 2014 Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN) Conference Proceedings.]

This paper examines higher education quality policy developments internationally (U.K., U.S.) and in Australia with respect to the role of learning standards and assessment in work-integrated learning. Whilst remaining located primarily within the Australian higher education context, the paper briefly identifies some of the more influential global drivers and identifies how they play a significant role in shaping national agendas. The second part of this paper traces the development of quality policy in Australian higher education with respect to learning standards, and in particular it focuses on the policy intention to develop 'direct measures' of learning, which, it is argued, is potentially detrimental to work-integrated learning (WIL). The third part of this paper analyses key tensions associated with learning standards in terms of the assessment practices used to warrant them, identifying specific challenges in the context of WIL. The final section of the paper draws together these issues, identifying a number of implications and opportunities for the assessment of WIL in the current Australian quality policy environment.

Some of the key challenges in teaching intercultural communication (IC) are to engage learners in activities which develop their critical intercultural awareness and to prepare them for communication in superdiverse (Vertovec, 2007) contexts. This paper discusses linguistic landscapes (LL) as an innovative method for teaching intercultural competence. Undergraduate linguistics students conducted a LL project to explore linguistic diversity in their chosen suburb of Sydney and reflected on their own intercultural learning experience. Student reflections revealed that the project had a strong impact on their perceptions of diversity and their attitudes towards other languages and cultures. Students increased their critical awareness of how identity, ideology and attitudes influence language choices and intercultural interactions. The experiential learning project also made them reflect on their own identity as intercultural citizens. The findings of this study highlight the usefulness of the project in developing intercultural competence (ICC). The paper discusses methodological implications for teaching IC in the context of increasingly multilingual and multicultural learning communities.

A collaborative study abroad program (between one New Zealand and one U.S. university) on the theme of global health has been offered three times in Australia with 59 students registered to date. The course was developed because it is believed that higher education can play a role in improving global health through the fostering of global citizenship. A global citizen is one who is aware of global issues, socially responsible, and civically engaged. From this perspective, personal health is not solely an individual, self-serving act; rather, the consequences of an individual's lifestyle behaviors have deep and wide consequences extending to the community, national, and global contexts. Our paper provides a narrative on the framework used to develop the aforementioned global health study abroad course, including (1) an initial discussion on the intricate relationship between global citizenship and global health; (2) previous evidence demonstrating that short-term study abroad has the potential to foster global citizenship; and (3) the specific process used to develop the current short-term, faculty-led, interdisciplinary, experiential study abroad course.

Inclusive education remains a challenge for Australian tertiary education, particularly specialized pedagogical approaches like work-integrated learning (WIL) and service learning. Critiques of mainstream pedagogical approaches raise questions about the predominant models of educating students (Butin, 2010; Howard, 1998). There is a definitive need to recognize the diversity of the student population within course structures, rather than integrating diverse student needs into a static curriculum (Harrison & Ip, 2013) "Wise practice" takes WIL objectives--professional skills development and professional experience--and positions inclusion and transformation at the center of the learning experience. This paper explores inclusive education in WIL and service learning and examines how a wise practice approach can help all students equally benefit from the transformative potential of service learning

Reflection for learning is a common course requirement for many WIL subjects and when students are engaged in blended or online modes of delivery or in off-campus placements, reflective practice needs to be supported. It also needs to be better integrated with mobile technology. This paper reviews the three cycles of the iReflect project which aimed to address these needs by developing a mobile reflection app. The project was framed by an integrated theoretical approach that combined participatory action research (PAR), distributed leadership and agile development. A mixed method approach was adopted to collect data from literature reviews, student focus groups, surveys and research notes. A focus on the pedagogical, technological and institutional dimensions of the WIL ecology provides new insights into student use and perceptions of mobile technology. One key outcome is the identification of nine new user stories demonstrating the mobile technology needs of reflective WIL students and teachers.

This paper describes a process of assessment reform designed to enhance Work Integrated Learning (WIL) approaches for two science courses at an Australian university. The project used a mixed-method approach involving online surveys, interviews, focus groups and workshops to gather student, industry and course team knowledge and understanding of WIL approaches to curricula. The investigation centred on the perceived value of collaborating with industry to facilitate enhancements in authentic assessment and on the barriers to, and challenges in, achieving successful outcomes. The action-research project, WIL-on-Campus (WoC), found that assessments oriented toward the inclusion of authentic tasks and processes, that contribute to the employability learning and job-readiness of students, is deemed important to students, industry and academics. However, reforms to assessment practice and process are required. For greatest impact, this study found that assessment reform processes require two critical interdependent factors: the socialisation of the shared institutional value of embedded WIL approaches to assessment, and the provision of top-down support to enable academic course teams to implement the 'imposed' changes. Further to this, while academics viewed the changes in approach to assessment design as challenging, they also noted that a shift is timely and believed that a course-wide WIL approach is possible and advantageous.

This paper introduces an activity used in class to allow students to apply previously acquired information to a hands-on task. As the authors have previously shown active learning is a way to effectively facilitate and improve students' learning outcomes. As a result to improve learning outcomes we have overtime developed a series of learning activities reinforcing marketing theories. In this paper, we provide details of a marketing communications exercise which in addition to being a vehicle for active learning also allowed students to apply the results of their previous research thereby effectively aligning all learning and assessment tasks. The activity required students to take a previously completed environmental analysis of a foreign country and using that information develop a print advertisement for an Australian branded product unavailable in that country. Details are provided on the in-class activity including guidelines for conducting the practice-orientated exercise and information on the assessment tasks leading up to this activity. The paper provides academics with an example of how to apply concepts to real life examples in the classroom and give students hands on experience and further shows how learning can be scaffolded through assessment. We found that students actively engaged in the experience and improved their learning outcomes through application of their previous research and the concepts discussed in class.