Designing blended spaces to maximise student learning in work integrated learning programs

This paper describes a case study at a large metropolitan university in Australia where a range of technology-enabled blended spaces are used for interaction, communication and reflection between the work and university environments to enrich students' learning experiences during their work placement year. Blended space design requirements to maximise the learning experience of students undertaking work integrated learning are identified. © 2009 Friederika Kaider, Kathy Henschke, Joan Richardson and Mary Paulette Kelly.

The impact of an authentic, simulated learning activity on student preparedness for work-integrated learning

Student preparation for work-integrated learning using simulated learning experiences is an under researched field in occupational therapy. In 2013 the Deakin University occupational therapy degree introduced a simulated learning experience for students aimed at preparing them for work-integrated learning experiences. The session gave students an opportunity to practice fundamental skills of the discipline. A Likert scale survey was written and critically reviewed by the authors. Students rated the extent to which they felt that they could communicate effectively, build rapport, safely transfer clients, apply occupational health and safety principles and write case notes, prior to and after participation in the simulated learning experience. A statistically significant improvement was found for all outcomes measured. Students also reported improved confidence and valued opportunities to practice and receive feedback on skills. The results demonstrate that participation in a simulated learning activity improves confidence and skills in a range of areas that are relevant to work-integrated learning placement.

Tackling disadvantage through student-centred learning - exploring 'Worlds of Work' in the Melbourne CBD

As the educational landscape increasingly mirrors deepening socio-economic cleavages within Australian society, the disparity in educational outcomes has been identified as one of the biggest challenges confronting secondary schooling. In contrast with most OECD countries, family background remains the most important determinant of educational achievement in Australia. More and more, schools are defined by location, reinforcing what has been dubbed the 'circular pattern of disadvantage'. At the same time, recognition of strong links between outcomes, socio economic status and location has elicited growing calls for systematic redefining of learning experiences and the public education framework. Focus on flexible, rigorous, community-oriented, person-centred learning opportunities has predicated multiple mentoring and youth schemes and has guided policy. Recognition of the need to re-engage Year 9 and 10 students underpinned development of VELS, for instance; it has also directed the programming priorities of Education Foundation Australia (EFA). This paper will discuss first, how schools perceive the programs have made a difference to both individual students and the curriculum offered in the schools, and second, how the experiences and activities provided through the program have changed the expectations and aspirations that many of the participants have in regard to how they perceive their future, their engagement with school and their careers. Both City Centre and Worlds of Work (WOW) program have received a very positive student response to real world activities that have demonstrably enhanced the development of reflective processes, interpersonal and social skills and social networks. Practical outcomes have included self-organised work experience, the development of mentor relationships and the re-engagement of some students with the schooling process. Interview data confirmed EFA's assessment that its programs have greatest impact when integrated into a school's curriculum rather than as "stand alone" electives.

Blended learning and art education: student participation in a collaborative, authentic assessment project

This paper reports on higher education student engagement with blended learning experiences incorporating located (on campus), cloud based (online e-learning ) and graphically built, socially networked 3D multi user virtual environments (MUVES). Immersion in this environment enabled collaboration between two groups of students enrolled in separate undergraduate art education and public relations units, to identify, develop and participate in an integrated, authentic assessment project. It is contended that immersive blended learning experiences support creative problem solving and encourages synchronous and asynchronous student participation in authentic problem solving and collaborative practice. Interacting with co-learners, students gain knowledge and skills through situated learning, defined as the application of knowledge, learned in one setting and transferred to another and where immersion in a virtual learning experience leads to higher level engagement on the transfer task in a real world setting. In this project, collaborative blended learning involved the creation of a collection of digital artworks by art education students using computer software located in a real world environment. These artworks were curated and exhibited by the students in a virtual gallery they designed and built on Deakin Arts Education island in Second Life. For public relations students, the virtual art exhibition was the focus of a virtual campaign, designed, researched and developed by them to promote the Deakin Virtual Art Gallery on Deakin island in Second Life. The final promotion for the Virtual Gallery was presented by the students at a symposium in both real world and virtual world environments.

Does student engagement improve when 1:1 device technologies are used and adapted to cater for individual learning styles during online delivery of engineering courses?

BACKGROUND OR CONTEXT: A developing international engineering industry is dependent on competition and innovation, creating a market for highly skilled graduates from respected overseas and Australian Engineering universities. The delivery of engineering teaching and learning via blended faceto-face, problem based, research focused and online collaborative learning will continue to be the foundation of future engineering education, however, it will be those institutions who can reshape its learning spaces within a culture of innovation using 1:1 devices that will continue to attract the brightest minds. Investing in educational research that explores the preferred learning styles of learners and matching this to specifically designed 1:1 personalized web applications may be the ‘value add’ to improve student engagement. In this paper, a survey of Australian engineering education is presented and contrasted against a backdrop of internationally recognised educational pedagogy to demonstrate how engineering teaching and learning has changed over time. This paper draws on research and identifies a gap where a necessity to question the validity of 1:1 devices as the next step in the evolution of engineering education needs to be undertaken. How will teaching and learning look using 1:1 devices and will it drive student demand into engineering higher
education courses. Will this lead to improving professional standards within a dynamic engineering education context? How will current and future teaching and learning be influenced by constructivism using 1:1 device technologies? How will the engineering industry benefit from higher education investment in individualised engineering education
using 1:1 devices for teaching and learning?
PURPOSE OR GOAL: To review the current academic thinking around the topic of 1:1 devices within higher education engineering teaching and learning context in Australia. To identify any gaps in the current understandings and use of 1:1 devices within engineering courses in Australia. To generate discussion and better understanding about how the use of 1:1 devices may hinder and/or improve teaching and learning and student engagement.
APPROACH: A review covering the development of engineering education in Australia and a broader international review of engineering teaching methodology. To identify the extent of research into the use and effectiveness of online strategies within engineering education utilising 1:1 devices for teaching and learning. i.e. “Students must feel that they are part of a learning community and derive motivation to engage in the study material from the lecturer.’ (Lloyd et al., 2001) It is proposed to add to the current body of understandings and explore the effectiveness of a constructiveness teaching approach using course material specifically designed to cater for individual learning styles and delivered via the use of 1:1 devices in the classroom. It is anticipated the research will contrast current engineering teaching and learning practices and identify factors that will facilitate a greater understanding about student connectedness and engagement with the teaching and learning experience; where a constructiveness environment is supported with the use of 1:1 devices. Also, it is anticipated that the constructed learning environment will foster a culture of innovation and students will be empowered to take control of their own learning and be encouraged to contribute back to the discussion initiated by the lecture and/or course material with the aid of 1:1 device technologies. A gap has been identified in the academic literature that show there is a need to understand the relationship between engineering teaching, learning, students engagement and the use of 1:1 devices.
DISCUSSION: A review covering the development of engineering education in Australia and a broader international review of engineering teaching methodology. To identify the extent of research into the use and effectiveness of online strategies within engineering education utilising 1:1 devices for teaching and learning. i.e. “Students must feel that they are part of a learning community and derive motivation to engage in the study material from the lecturer.’ (Lloyd et al., 2001) It is proposed to add to the current body of understandings and explore the effectiveness of a constructiveness teaching approach using course material specifically designed to cater for individual learning styles and delivered via the use of 1:1 devices in the classroom.
ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES: It is anticipated the research will contrast current engineering teaching and learning practices and identify factors that will facilitate a greater understanding about student connectedness and engagement with the teaching and learning experience; where a constructiveness environment is supported with the use of 1:1 devices. Also, it is anticipated that the constructed learning environment will foster a culture of innovation and students will be empowered to take control of their own learning and be encouraged to contribute back to the discussion initiated by the lecture and/or course material with the aid of 1:1 device technologies. A gap has been identified in the academic literature that show there is a need to understand the relationship between engineering teaching, learning, students engagement and the use of 1:1 devices.
RECOMMENDATIONS/IMPLICATIONS/CONCLUSION: A gap exists in the current research about the effectiveness and use of 1:1 devices in engineering education; therefore, it is necessary to undertake further research in the area. It is proposed to hypothesize and conduct field research to identify any shortcomings and possible benefits for engineering educators and learners within a constructivist-teaching
context that explores the relationship between the use of personalized 1:1 devices for teaching and learning, adapting for individual learning styles, and identification and application of appropriate teaching and learning strategies within a constructiveness engineering course approach. Research is required to clarify the following research questions;
• What education teaching and learning strategies best facilitate the use of 1:1 devices for online teaching and learning?
• Does student engagement improve when 1:1 device technologies are used and adapted to cater for individual learning styles during online delivery of engineering courses?
• What are the factors within a university engineering faculty that may hinder and/or support the use of 1:1 devices for online teaching and learning?
• To what extent do 1:1 devices assist engineering educators and students to foster a culture of innovation? The study results will offer engineering educators and students an opportunity to reflect on
their current teaching and learning practice, and contextualise the use of 1:1 devices as a tool to improve student engagement. It is expected the learning benefits will outweigh the implementation costs and derive a unique learning experience that will empower engineering educators and students to inspire a culture of innovation.

A trial of e-simulation of sudden patient deterioration (FIRST2ACT WEB) on student learning

BACKGROUND: High-fidelity simulation pedagogy is of increasing importance in health professional education; however, face-to-face simulation programs are resource intensive and impractical to implement across large numbers of students. OBJECTIVES: To investigate undergraduate nursing students' theoretical and applied learning in response to the e-simulation program-FIRST2ACT WEBTM, and explore predictors of virtual clinical performance. DESIGN AND SETTING: Multi-center trial of FIRST2ACT WEBTM accessible to students in five Australian universities and colleges, across 8 campuses. PARTICIPANTS: A population of 489 final-year nursing students in programs of study leading to license to practice. METHODS: Participants proceeded through three phases: (i) pre-simulation-briefing and assessment of clinical knowledge and experience; (ii) e-simulation-three interactive e-simulation clinical scenarios which included video recordings of patients with deteriorating conditions, interactive clinical tasks, pop up responses to tasks, and timed performance; and (iii) post-simulation feedback and evaluation. Descriptive statistics were followed by bivariate analysis to detect any associations, which were further tested using standard regression analysis. RESULTS: Of 409 students who commenced the program (83% response rate), 367 undergraduate nursing students completed the web-based program in its entirety, yielding a completion rate of 89.7%; 38.1% of students achieved passing clinical performance across three scenarios, and the proportion achieving passing clinical knowledge increased from 78.15% pre-simulation to 91.6% post-simulation. Knowledge was the main independent predictor of clinical performance in responding to a virtual deteriorating patient R(2)=0.090, F(7, 352)=4.962, p<0.001. DISCUSSION: The use of web-based technology allows simulation activities to be accessible to a large number of participants and completion rates indicate that 'Net Generation' nursing students were highly engaged with this mode of learning. CONCLUSION: The web-based e-simulation program FIRST2ACTTM effectively enhanced knowledge, virtual clinical performance, and self-assessed knowledge, skills, confidence, and competence in final-year nursing students.

Beyond curriculum, technology and transformation for an unknown future: towards a holistic model for understanding student resilience in education

Many views of fostering student resilience come from the perspective of a set of individual student traits, skill sets, or the lack of ability to "tough it out", rather than viewing resilience as a holistic entity which involves relationships, community and context. This belief, in turn, disconnects learners from the socio-cultural context in which their learning experience is embedded. These factors can play an equally pivotal role on participation and learning outcomes. This poster proposes a holistic model for understanding student resilience in a time of rapid change in education.

Understanding global student mobility: exploring new ways of capturing international experiences using in-county overseas students

Australian universities have large numbers of overseas students who do not engage meaningfully with local students about their international experience. The objective of this research, an initiative that was part of a project funded by Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT), entitled the Global Canopy, was to develop pedagogy to promote local students’ awareness about international study based on an in-country teaching program. The research study aimed to develop new knowledge about how domestic students understand global mobility through interacting with international students enrolled in the same university. The initiative included two workshops that brought together a number of project team members, three overseas students and academic staff mentors, representatives from Deakin Global Student Mobility office, and 31 undergraduate domestic students. Data was collected from a series of in-depth interviews with students involved in the program. Initial findings suggested that the workshops were successful, with 12 undergraduate students enrolled in winter schools in India after completion of the program. The paper concludes with lessons learned from the initiative and calls for exploring new ways of identifying international experiences that can be facilitated within discipline curriculum of the home university.

Collaborative learning experience of students in distance education

Educational institutions recognised that the distance education mode is a preferred way to combine study with life, family and work commitments for distance learners. Distance education has played an important role in the provision of educational equity for distance learners who live in remote Australian communities. Engaging students and academic staff will always enhance student-learning outcomes to ensure a positive experience in distance education. It can be effectively achieved through collaborative learning. In distance education, academic staff and students face a number of challenges such as lack of student motivation, high student attrition rates, and a sense of isolation from a university community. Collaborative learning experience will enhance learner-staff and learner-learner interactions in distance learning, which can be achieved through developing a learning process. The learning process for distance learners involves student-learning strategy, Staff interactive sessions, peer-to-peer support, e-assessment, and self-realization of graduate learning outcomes. This distance learning process is confined for Deakin University learning environment, however the expectations is that the distance learning will be more mainstream in future of learning and teaching in Australian institutions. The focus of this research is to analyse and share collaborative learning experience of distance learners (off-campus) students in project management unit. It helps to analyse the barriers in distance education and finding ways to initiate collaborative programs in future. It also helps to fulfil the distance learners’ expectations on program delivery.

International capstone exchange – the SUT and NDSU experience

We describe out experiences in running an “International Capstone Exchange” project between North Dakota State University (NDSU) in Fargo, ND in the USA and Swinburne University of Technology (SUT) inMelbourne, Australia. An NDSU-based student team worked on an industry capstone project with a Melbourne-based organization (National ICT Australia) and a Melbourne-based student team worked on anindustry capstone project with a Fargo-based organization (Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute). We describe the rationale behind the international capstone exchange, how we organized the projects and teams, how the projects and teams fared, lessons learned, and plans for expanding in the future.

Inequalities and agencies in workplace learning experiences: international student perspectives

National systems of vocational education and training around the globe are facing reform driven by quality, international mobility, and equity. Evidence suggests that there are qualitatively distinctive challenges in providing and sustaining workplace learning experiences to international students. However, despite growing conceptual and empirical work, there is little evidence of the experiences of these students undertaking workplace learning opportunities as part of vocational education courses. This paper draws on a four-year study funded by the Australian Research Council that involved 105 in depth interviews with international students undertaking work integrated learning placements as part of vocational education courses in Australia. The results indicate that international students can experience different forms of discrimination and deskilling, and that these were legitimised by students in relation to their understanding of themselves as being an ‘international student’ (with fewer rights). However, the results also demonstrated the ways in which international students exercised their agency towards navigating or even disrupting these circumstances, which often included developing their social and cultural capital. This study, therefore, calls for more proactively inclusive induction and support practices that promote reciprocal understandings and navigational capacities for all involved in the provision of work integrated learning. This, it is argued, would not only expand and enrich the learning opportunities for international students, their tutors, employers, and employees involved in the provision of workplace learning opportunities, but it could also be a catalyst to promote greater mutual appreciation of diversity in the workplace.

Experience with and attitudes toward psychotherapy and antidepressants among patients with inflammatory bowel disease and functional gastrointestinal disorders: an online patient survey to inform system design

This study aimed to explore and compare experiences with and attitudes toward psychotherapy and antidepressants of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGiDs). Patients from gastroenterology clinic databases were invited to an online survey. Student's t test, Mann-Whitney U test, chi-square test, and Fisher's test were used to compare patients with IBD and FGiD on demographics and variables of interest. Of 86 participants, 56 (65%) had IBD and 30 (35%) had FGiDs. Mean levels of anxiety, depressive, and stress symptoms were within the moderate to severe range. Psychological care and antidepressants were offered to significantly more FGiD than to IBD respondents (37% vs. 9%; p = .009). Although the symptoms were generally reduced after the prescription of antidepressants, only 30% of IBD respondents and 21% of FGiD respondents using antidepressants would recommend them to others. In contrast, 53% of IBD respondents and 69% of FGiD respondents who used psychotherapy would recommend it to others. Both these therapies were valued by recipients; however, neither was reported to improve gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. Given the high desire for and positive experiences of psychological care for these 2 common GI conditions, access to formal psychological support services within GI clinics would appear to be the most efficient model.

Student voice as risky praxis: democratising physical education teacher education

Background: Student voice agendas have been slow to permeate higher educational institutions. Curricula in universities, like those in primary and secondary education, are still usually made for students by teachers who, while they may have the best interests of the students in mind, rarely if ever engage students in curriculum decision-making. The need for more equitable, dialogic and democratic engagement by students is particularly relevant in the context of teacher education. It has been argued that pre-service teachers should experience democratic practices during their teacher education experiences in order to have the confidence, knowledge and skills to support democratic opportunities in schools.

Informal networked learning as teamwork in design studio Cmyview: using mobile digital technologies to connect with student's everyday experiences

CmyView is a research project that investigates how mobile technologies have the potential to facilitate new ways to share, experience and understand the connections that people have with places. The aim of the project is to theorise and develop a tool and a methodology that addresses the reception of architecture and the built environment using mobile digital technologies that harness ubiquitous everyday practices, such as photography and walking. While CmyView is primarily focused on evidencing the reception of places, this chapter argues that these activities can also make a contribution to the core pedagogy of architectural education, the design studio. This chapter presents findings of an initial pilot study with four students at an Australian university that demonstrates how CmyView offers a valuable contribution to the educational experience in the design studio.