More than experiential learning or volunteering : a case study of community service learning within the Australian context

Community service learning is the integration of experiential learning and community service into coursework such that community needs are met and students gain both professional skills and a sense of civic responsibility. A critical component is student reflection. This paper provides an example of the application of community service learning within an undergraduate health unit at the Queensland University of Technology. Based on survey data from 36 program participants, it demonstrates the impact of CSL on student outcomes. Results show that students benefited by developing autonomy through real world experiences, through increased self-assurance and achievement of personal growth, through gaining new insights into the operations of community service organisations and through moving towards becoming responsible citizens. Students expect their CSL experience to have long-lasting impact on their lives, with two-thirds of participants noting that they would like to continue volunteering as part of their future development.

Patterns of engagement in workplace learning amongst employees from social sectors

Continuous learning and development has become increasingly important in the information age. However, employees with limited formal education in lower status occupations may be disadvantaged in their opportunities for development, as their jobs tend to require more limited knowledge and skills. In mature age, such workers may be subject to cumulative disadvantage with respect to work related learning and development, as well as negative stereotyping. This thesis concerns work related learning and development from a lifespan development psychology perspective. Development across the lifespan is grounded in biocultural co-constructivism. That is, the reciprocal influences of the individual and environment produce change in the individual. Existing theories and models of adaptive development attempt to explain how developmental resources are allocated across the lifespan. These included the Meta- theory of Selective Optimisation with Compensation, Dual Process Model of Self Regulation, and Developmental Regulation via Optimisation and Primary and Secondary Control. These models were integrated to create the Model of Adaptive Development for Work Related Learning. The Learning and Development Survey (LDS) was constructed to measure the hypothesised processes of adaptive development for work related learning, which were individual goal selection, individual goal engagement, individual goal disengagement, organisational opportunities (selection and engagement), and organisational constraints. Data collection was undertaken in two phases: the pilot study and the main study. The objective of the pilot study was to test the LDS on a target population of 112 employees from a local government organisation. Exploratory factor analysis reduced the pilot version of the survey to 38 items encompassing eight constructs which covered the processes of the model of adaptive development for work related learning. In the main study, the Revised Learning and Development Survey (R-LDS) was administered to another group of 137 employees from the local government organisation, as well as 110 employees from a private healthcare organisation. The purpose of the main study was to validate the R-LDS on two different groups to provide evidence of stability, and compare survey scores according to age and occupational status to determine construct validity. Findings from the main study indicated that only four constructs of the R-LDS were stable, which were organisational opportunities – selection, individual goal engagement, organisational constraints – disengagement and organisational opportunities – engagement. In addition, MANOVA studies revealed that the demographic variables affected organisational opportunities and constraints in the workplace, although individual goal engagement was not influenced by age. The findings from the pilot and main study partially supported the model of adaptive development for work related learning. Given that only four factors displayed adequate reliability in terms of internal consistency and stability, the findings suggest that individual goal selection and individual goal disengagement are less relevant to work related learning and development. Some recent research which emerged during the course of the current study has suggested that individual goal selection and individual goal disengagement are more relevant when goal achievement is impeded by biological constraints such as ageing. However, correlations between the retained factors support the model of adaptive development for work related learning, and represent the role of biocultural co-constructivism in development. Individual goal engagement was positively correlated with both opportunity factors (selection and engagement), while organisational constraints – disengagement was negatively correlated with organisational opportunities – selection. Demographic findings indicated that higher occupational status was associated with more opportunities for development. Age was associated with fewer opportunities or greater constraints for development, especially for lower status workers.

Students’ conceptual knowledge about workplace pedagogies and applications to learning in the workplace

The development of effective workplace pedagogies is integral to work-integrated and work-based learning. The workplace pedagogies that facilitate and support learning include: activities in which individuals engage such as daily work practices, questioning; observing, and listening; interactions with more experienced workers through coaching and modelling; and referencing documented procedures. Each of these dimensions is significant in enhancing processes of workplace learning. Learning can be optimised when these pedagogies are appropriately embedded in the context of and process of participating in normal work activities. Yet learners need to understand the nature of these pedagogies, and how and for what purposes to use these to achieve a range of learning outcomes. This is because it is the worker-learners who play the key roles in the process and outcomes of learning through work. A pilot study was conducted on students’ conceptions of how each of these dimensions of workplace pedagogy help their learning, by providing examples of learning from these sources; and stating their preferences for learning in the workplace. A sample of seventeen students, enrolled in the second year of a Diploma in Nursing course at a Technical and Further Education institution, participated in a survey intended to capture these conceptions and the importance attached to each of them. The findings indicate that these students have basic understanding of how each of seven workplace pedagogic practices can contribute to their learning. They reported relying mostly on daily practices, observing and listening to others, modelling, coaching, and other workers. Their selection of these contributions emphasise significant opportunities for guided learning by others, yet suggest fewer student-initiated interactions, less intensity in interactions, and likelihood that learning is more passive. The data also suggests that these students rely mostly on using academic learning skill, and limited workplace learning skills. It is proposed, therefore, that the knowledge and understandings about workplace learning and pedagogies might be best embedded in the full curriculum and not become add-on shortly before students go on work placement. This approach will allow students to appreciate the significance and use of workplace pedagogies for learning.

Developing creativity and innovation in management education : an artful event for transformative learning

This paper argues that management education needs to consider a trend in learning design which advances more creative learning through an alliance with art-based pedagogical processes. A shift is required from skills training to facilitating transformational learning through experiences that expand human potential, facilitated by artistic processes. In this paper the authors discuss the necessity for creativity and innovation in the workplace and the need to develop better leaders and managers. The inclusion of arts-based processes enhances artful behaviour, aesthetics and creativity within management and organisational behaviour, generating important implications for business innovation. This creative learning focus stems from an analysis of an arts-based intervention for management development. Entitled Management Jazz the program was conducted over three years at a large Australian University. The paper reviews some of the salient literature in the field. It considers four stages of the learning process: capacity, artful event, increased capability, and application/action to produce product. One illustrative example of an arts-based learning process is provided from the Management Jazz program. Research findings indicate that artful learning opportunities enhance capacity for awareness of creativity in one’s self and in others. This capacity correlates positively with a perception that engaging in artful learning enhances the capability of managers in changing collaborative relationships and habitat constraint. The authors conclude that it is through engagement and creative alliance with the arts that management education can explore and discover artful approaches to building creativity and innovation. The illustration presented in this paper will be delivered as a brief workshop at the Fourth Art of Management Conference. The process of bricolage and articles at hand will be used to explore creative constraints and prototypes while generating group collaboration. The mini-workshop will conclude with discussion of the arts-based process and capability enhancement outcomes.

Discovering, applying and integrating self-knowledge : a grounded theory study of learning in life coaching

Professional coaching is a rapidly expanding field with interdisciplinary roots and broad application. However, despite abundant prescriptive literature, research into the process of coaching, and especially life coaching, is minimal. Similarly, although learning is inherently recognised in the process of coaching, and coaching is increasingly being recognised as a means of enhancing teaching and learning, the process of learning in coaching is little understood, and learning theory makes up only a small part of the evidence-based coaching literature. In this grounded theory study of life coaches and their clients, the process of learning in life coaching across a range of coaching models is examined and explained. The findings demonstrate how learning in life coaching emerged as a process of discovering, applying and integrating self-knowledge, which culminated in the development of self. This process occurred through eight key coaching processes shared between coaches and clients and combined a multitude of learning theory.

Bridging the gap between tertiary education and work : a model of situated learning in accountancy

In professions such as teaching, health sciences (medicine, nursing, allied health), and built environment (engineering), significant work-based learning through practica is an essential element before graduation. However, there is no such requirement in Accountancy. This thesis reports the findings of a qualitative case study of the development and implementation of a Workplace Learning Experience Program in Accountancy at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Australia. The case study of this intervention, based on sociocultural learning theory, provides the grounds for the development of a new model of teaching and learning for accounting education. The survey and interview-based study documents the responses of two cohorts of university students and a group of employers to a work placement program. The study demonstrates that a 100 hour work placement in Accountancy has elements that enhance student learning. It demonstrates the potential value of the application of sociocultural theories of learning, especially the concept of situated learning involving legitimate peripheral participation (Lave & Wenger, 1991). This research establishes the theoretical base for a paradigm shift for the Accountancy profession to acknowledge work placements prior to graduation as a major element of learning. It is argued that the current model of accounting education requires reform to better align university and workplace learning.

Personalising teacher professional development : strategies enabling effective learning for educators of 21st century students

In the Knowledge Society, new demands are placed on teachers as they strive to empower young people to be global citizens, ready for the 21st century. Systemic shifts need to be made, however, to build capacity across the workforce to practise new ways of teaching and learning, including the personalisation of teacher professional development. This article argues new strategies and approaches for effective adult learning, including an individualised focus, context-based learning and an empowerment of teachers to develop their own personal learning networks. This article concludes with an analysis of the challenges facing professional development leaders in moving towards personalised teacher learning.

Enhancing the use of Internet and Web services for quality learning : an action research

Internet and Web services have been used in both teaching and learning and are gaining popularity in today’s world. E-Learning is becoming popular and considered the latest advance in technology based learning. Despite the potential advantages for learning in a small country like Bhutan, there is lack of eServices at the Paro College of Education. This study investigated students’ attitudes towards online communities and frequency of access to the Internet, and how students locate and use different sources of information in their project tasks. Since improvement was at the heart of this research, an action research approach was used. Based on the idea of purposeful sampling, a semi-structured interview and observations were used as data collection instruments. 10 randomly selected students (5 girls and 5 boys) participated in this research as the controlled group. The study findings indicated that there is a lack of educational information technology services, such as e-learning at the college. Internet connection being very slow was the main barrier to learning using e-learning or accessing Internet resources. There is a strong relationship between the quality of written task and the source of the information, and between Web searching and learning. The source of information used in assignments and project work is limited to books in the library which are often outdated and of poor quality. Project tasks submitted by most of the students were of poor quality.

Departures from tradition : the early years learning framework for Australia

In 2009, the Commonwealth Government of Australia published the first national learning framework for use with children aged birth to five years. The framework marks a departure from tradition in that it emphasizes intentional teaching, learning as well as child development, a particular type of play-based learning, outcomes, and equity. This article analyzes aspects of the document that depart from well established approaches to early childhood education in Australia and identifies challenges for educators who are required to use the document. It concludes that ongoing and supportive professional learning opportunities must accompany the introduction and enactment of the document.

Design education online : learning delivery and evaluation

Online learning has been recognised as an effective pedagogical method and tool, and is broadly integrated into various types of teaching and learning strategies in higher education. In practice, the use of Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) in higher education has become an integral strategy for quality education. The field of design education however has not been researched extensively in regard to online learning, delivery and evaluation. This paper discusses design education from an online learning perspective. It proposes an integrated framework with three key components for online learning via VLE including an interactive delivery structure, communication channels, and learning evaluation. Additionally, the paper describes and evaluates how VLE sites for two design units were built based on an integrated framework and student learning experiences. The results indicate that online design education should be integrated with various educational values and functional features in a systematic manner, and requires designing learning evaluation protocols as part of learning activities and communicative forms within online-based learning sites.

Assurance of learning : the role of work integrated learning and industry partners

In the partnering with students and industry it is important for universities to recognize and value the nature of knowledge and learning that emanates from work integrated learning experiences is different to formal university based learning. Learning is not a by-product of work rather learning is fundamental to engaging in work practice. Work integrated learning experiences provide unique opportunities for students to integrate theory and practice through the solving of real world problems. This paper reports findings to date of a project that sought to identify key issues and practices faced by academics, industry partners and students engaged in the provision and experience of work integrated learning within an undergraduate creative industries program at a major metropolitan university. In this paper, those findings are focused on some of the particular qualities and issues related to the assessment of learning at and through the work integrated experience. The findings suggest that the assessment strategies needed to better value the knowledges and practices of the Creative Industries. The paper also makes recommendations about how industry partners might best contribute to the assessment of students’ developing capabilities and to continuous reflection on courses and the assurance of learning agenda.

Scaffolding large units for small group collaborative learning : a case study.

Undergraduates working in teams can be a problematic endeavour, sometimes exacerbated for the student by poor prior experiences, a predisposition to an individual orientation of assessment, and simply the busyness that now typifies the life of a student. But effort in pedagogical design is worthwhile where team work is often a prerequisite in terms of graduate capabilities, robust learning, increased motivation, and indeed in terms of equipping individuals for emergent knowledge-age work practice, often epitomised by collaborative effort in both blended and virtual contexts. Through an iterative approach, based extensively on the established literature, we have developed a successful scaffold which is workable with a large cohort group (n >800), such that it affords students the lived experience of being a part of a learning network. Individuals within teams work together, to develop individual components that are subsequently aggregated and reified to an overall team knowledge artefact. We describe our case and propose a pedagogical model of scaffolding based on three perspectives: conceptual, rule-based and community-driven. This model provides designers with guidelines for producing and refining assessment tasks for team-based learning.

Learning the kernel matrix with semidefinite programming

Kernel-based learning algorithms work by embedding the data into a Euclidean space, and then searching for linear relations among the embedded data points. The embedding is performed implicitly, by specifying the inner products between each pair of points in the embedding space. This information is contained in the so-called kernel matrix, a symmetric and positive semidefinite matrix that encodes the relative positions of all points. Specifying this matrix amounts to specifying the geometry of the embedding space and inducing a notion of similarity in the input space - classical model selection problems in machine learning. In this paper we show how the kernel matrix can be learned from data via semidefinite programming (SDP) techniques. When applied to a kernel matrix associated with both training and test data this gives a powerful transductive algorithm -using the labeled part of the data one can learn an embedding also for the unlabeled part. The similarity between test points is inferred from training points and their labels. Importantly, these learning problems are convex, so we obtain a method for learning both the model class and the function without local minima. Furthermore, this approach leads directly to a convex method for learning the 2-norm soft margin parameter in support vector machines, solving an important open problem.

Learning the Kernel Matrix with Semi-Definite Programming

Kernel-based learning algorithms work by embedding the data into a Euclidean space, and then searching for linear relations among the embedded data points. The embedding is performed implicitly, by specifying the inner products between each pair of points in the embedding space. This information is contained in the so-called kernel matrix, a symmetric and positive definite matrix that encodes the relative positions of all points. Specifying this matrix amounts to specifying the geometry of the embedding space and inducing a notion of similarity in the input space -- classical model selection problems in machine learning. In this paper we show how the kernel matrix can be learned from data via semi-definite programming (SDP) techniques. When applied to a kernel matrix associated with both training and test data this gives a powerful transductive algorithm -- using the labelled part of the data one can learn an embedding also for the unlabelled part. The similarity between test points is inferred from training points and their labels. Importantly, these learning problems are convex, so we obtain a method for learning both the model class and the function without local minima. Furthermore, this approach leads directly to a convex method to learn the 2-norm soft margin parameter in support vector machines, solving another important open problem. Finally, the novel approach presented in the paper is supported by positive empirical results.

Scaffolding techniques : a teacher training for cooperative learning in Thailand primary education

In general, the benefits of using cooperative learning include academic achievement, communication skills, problem-solving, social skills and student motivation. Yet cooperative learning as a Western educational concept may be ineffective in a different learning system. The study aims to investigate scaffolding techniques for cooperative learning in Thailand primary education. The program was designed to foster Thai primary school teachers’ cooperative learning implementation that includes the basic tenets of cooperative learning and socio-cognitive based learning. Two teachers were invited to participate in this experimental teacher training program for one and a half weeks. Then the teachers implemented a cooperative learning in their mathematics class for six weeks. The data from teacher interview and classroom observation indicated that the both teachers are able to utilise questions to scaffold their students’ engagement in cooperative learning. This initiative study showed that difficulty or failure of implementing cooperative learning in Thailand education may not be derived from cultural difference. The paper discussed the techniques the participant teachers applied with proactive scaffolding, reactive scaffolding and scaffolding questions that can be used to facilitate the implementation of cooperative learning in Thai school.