Taking professional practice seriously : implications for deliberate course design

Much rhetoric is deployed on arguing that university courses should prepare students for the world of work. Indeed, the main rationale for courses for the professions is that they contribute to preparing students to become effective practitioners. Some professions recognise that there is a transitional period following graduation needed in this process. There is a basic assumption though that, whatever additional elements may also be needed to aid transition, the course itself is the main foundation. There is no shortage of features of courses claimed to prepare students for practice: various kinds of work-integrated learning, placements and practical work, authentic tasks and assessment activities, and indeed entire approaches to the curriculum that focus students’ attention on the kinds of issues that practitioners deal with (e.g. problem-based learning). But can it be reasonably claimed that such approaches recognise the nature of practice? This chapter suggests that courses tend to be poor exemplars of good educational practice for the professions. They have a poorly conceptualised view of what it is that professionals do. They are governed by what is involved in teaching within academic disciplines. They trap students in current knowledge without the capacity to move beyond it. And they do not have a strong sense that courses need to be actively designed and redesigned to produce graduates that will be deliberate professionals. The chapter provides, not a prescription of what is needed for a new curriculum, but an argument for how it might be developed and applied. That is, what educators themselves need to do to become deliberate professionals.

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.

Challenges to providing work integrated learning to international business students at Australian universities

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on a three-year Australian study of international business and accounting students and the transition to employment. For international students seeking to differentiate themselves in a highly competitive global labour market, foreign work experience is now an integral part of the overseas study “package”. Work-integrated learning (WIL) is seen to provide critical “employability” knowledge and skills, however, international students have low participation rates. The high value placed on WIL among international students poses challenges for Australia as well as opportunities. Understanding the issues surrounding international students and WIL is closely linked to Australia’s continued success in the international education sector which has broad, long-term, social and economic implications.Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws on 59 interviews with a range of stakeholders including international students, universities, government, employers and professional bodies. Central to the paper is an in-depth case study of WIL in the business and accounting discipline at one Australian university.Findings – Providing international students with access to discipline-related work experience has emerged as a critical issue for Australian universities. The study finds that enhancing the employability skills of internationals students via integrated career education, a focus on English language proficiency and “soft skills” development are central to success in WIL. Meeting the growing demand for WIL among international students requires a multipronged approach which hinges on cooperation between international students, universities, employers and government.Originality/value – This project aims to fill a critical knowledge gap by advancing theories in relation to international students and WIL. While there is a significant body of research in the fields of international education and WIL, there is an absence of research exploring the intersection between the two fields. The study will contribute to the advancement of knowledge in both fields by exploring the emerging issue of WIL and international students.

Exploring the integration of social media within integrated marketing communication frameworks: perspectives of services marketers

Purpose – At present no frameworks exist for services marketers to incorporate social media (SM) within marketing communications planning. The majority of integrated marketing communications (IMC) frameworks were developed prior to the development of the widespread use of digital and SM for information seeking, sales and service. The purpose of this paper is to investigate this issue for services marketers specifically as they differ from FMCG, industrial and durable marketers in terms of marketing messages, branding, media and channels. Furthermore, as they are less reliant on outsourced sale channels they have more potential than other industries to integrate social and digital media to build awareness, brands and sales.

Design/methodology/approach – Depth interviews were conducted with eight senior services marketing executives to identify the impact of SM on marketing communications planning, implementation and measurement.

Findings – The findings revealed that the unique characteristics of SM (such as interactivity and individualisation, integration of communication and distribution channels, immediacy and information collection) impact traditional marketing communications frameworks. These impacts manifested in 12 modifications specific to services and SM to traditional generic IMC frameworks encompassed by the themes of reach, service channel, word-of-mouth advocacy, consumer generated messages, listening and behavioural measurement.

Practical implications – The rapidly evolving nature of SM means senior services marketers need to educate organisational stakeholders regarding implementation issues, which may be a barrier to effective integration of SM within marketing communications.

Originality/value – With digital marketing communications budgets reaching 30 per cent within some organisations, it is timely to put forward a marketing communication decision-making framework that first incorporates SM and second is suitable for services marketers.

An integrated workplace mental health intervention in a policing context: protocol for a cluster randomised control trial

BACKGROUND: In this paper, we present the protocol for a cluster-randomised trial to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of a workplace mental health intervention in the state-wide police department of the south-eastern Australian state of Victoria. n. The primary aims of the intervention are to improve psychosocial working conditions and mental health literacy, and secondarily to improve mental health and organisational outcomes.

METHODS/DESIGN: The intervention was designed collaboratively with Victoria Police based on a mixed methods pilot study, and combines multi-session leadership coaching for the senior officers within stations (e.g., Sergeants, Senior Sergeants) with tailored mental health literacy training for lower and upper ranks. Intervention effectiveness will be evaluated using a two-arm cluster-randomised trial design, with 12 police stations randomly assigned to the intervention and 12 to the non-intervention/usual care control condition. Data will be collected from all police members in each station (estimated at >20 per station). Psychosocial working conditions (e.g., supervisory support, job control, job demands), mental health literacy (e.g., knowledge, confidence in assisting someone who may have a mental health problem), and mental health will be assessed using validated measures. Organisational outcomes will include organisational depression disclosure norms, organisational cynicism, and station-level sickness absence rates. The trial will be conducted following CONSORT guidelines. Identifying data will not be collected in order to protect participant privacy and to optimise participation, hence changes in primary and secondary outcomes will be assessed using a two-sample t-test comparing summary measures by arm, with weighting by cluster size.

DISCUSSION: This intervention is novel in its integration of stressor-reduction and mental health literacy-enhancing strategies. Effectiveness will be rigorously evaluated, and if positive results are observed, the intervention will be adapted across Victoria Police (total employees ~16,500) as well as possibly in other policing contexts, both nationally and internationally.

Toward a skin-material interface with vacuum-integrated capped macroporous scaffolds

Avulsion, epidermal marsupialization, and infection cause failure at the skin-material interface. A robust interface would permit implantable robotics, prosthetics, and other medical devices; reconstruction of surgical defects, and long-term access to blood vessels and body cavities. Torus-shaped cap-scaffold structures were designed to work in conjunction with negative pressure to address the three causes of failure. Six wounds were made on the backs of each of four 3-month old pigs. Four unmodified (no caps) scaffolds were implanted along with 20 cap-scaffolds. Collagen type 4 was attached to 21 implants. Negative pressure then was applied. Structures were explanted and assessed histologically at day 7 and day 28. At day 28, there was close tissue apposition to scaffolds, without detectable reactions from defensive or interfering cells. Three cap-scaffolds explanted at day 28 showed likely attachment of epidermis to the cap or cap-scaffold junction, without deeper marsupialization. The combination of toric-shaped cap-scaffolds with negative pressure appears to be an intrinsically biocompatible system, enabling a robust skin-material interface. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 2016.

Supporting business intelligence usage: an integrated framework with automatic weighting

This paper presents an integrated framework that comprises an automatic weighting method for assessing data quality (DQ) of the framework so as to better support the business intelligence (BI) usage. Specifically, we utilize business process modeling (BPM) notation and information product map and frame them into a hierarchical mapping structure. Furthermore, we develop and demonstrate an automatic weight-assignment method for evaluating critical dimensions (i.e., completeness and accuracy) of DQ of the integrated framework. Through a design science paradigm, the effectiveness of the framework and the associated DQ weighting method has been rigorously validated by faculty management users of a university. The framework together with the DQ weighting method builds user confidence by enhancing the traceability of a BI product. The automatic DQ weight assignment also provides better time efficiency because the weight of each data attribute is determined automatically based on its usage on the BI dashboard.

User centric design, data analysis and performance of snowboard bindings

This study focuses on soft boot snowboard bindings by looking at how users interact with their binding and proposes a possible solution to overcome such issues. Snowboarding is a multibillion-dollar sport that has only reached mainstream in the last 30 years its levels of progression in technology have evolved in that time. However, snowboard bindings for the most part still consist of the same basic architecture in the last 20 years. This study was aimed at taking a user centric point of view and using additive manufacturing technologies to be able to generate a new snowboard binding that is completely adaptable to the user. The initial part of the study was a survey of 280 snowboarders focussing on preferences, style and habits. This survey was generated from over 15 nations with the vast majority of boarders on the snow for five to fifty days a year. Significant emphasis was placed on the relationship between boarder binding set-up and occurrence of pain and/or injury. From the detailed survey it was found that boarder's experienced pain in the front foot/toe area as a result from the toe strap being too tight. However boarders wanted tighter bindings to increase responsiveness. Survey data was compared to ankle and foot biomechanics to build a relationship to assess the problem of pain versus responsiveness. The design stage of the study was to develop a binding that overcame the over-tightening of the binding but still maintain equivalent or better responsiveness compared to traditional bindings. The resulting design integrated the snowboard boot much more into the design, by using the sole as a "semi-rigid" platform and locking it in laterally between the heel cup and the new toe strap arrangement. The new design developed using additive manufacturing techniques was tested via qualitative and quantitative measures in the snow and in the lab. It was found that using the new arrangement in a system resulted in no loss of performance or responsiveness to the user. Due to the design and manufacturing approach users have the ability to customise the design to their specific needs.

Painterface: an integrated responsive architectural interface

Interface design is one of the main research areas in human-computer interaction (HCI). In computer science, many HCI re-searchers and designers explore novel interface designs with cutting-edge technology, but few investigate alternative interfaces for existing built environments, especially in the area of architecture. In this pa-per, we investigate alternative interface designs for existing architectural elements—such as walls, floors, and ceilings—that can be created with off-the-shelf materials. Instead of merely serving as discrete sensing and display devices integrated to an existing building’s surface, these liquid and thin materials act as interventions that can be ‘painted’ on a surface, transforming it into an architectural interface. This interface, Painterface, is a responsive material intervention that serves as an analogue, wall-type media interface that senses and responds to people’s actions. Painterface is equipped with three sensing and responsive capacities: touch, sound, and light. While the inter-face’s touch capacity performs tactile sensing, its sound-production and illumination capacities emit notes and light respectively. The out-comes of this research suggest the possibility of a simple, inexpensive, replaceable, and even disposable interface that could serve as an architectural intervention applicable to existing building surfaces.

Using digital devices in a first year classroom : a focus on the design and use of phonics software applications

When integrated within a holistic literacy program, phonics applications can be used in classrooms to facilitate students’ self-directed learning of letter-sound knowledge; but are they designed to allow for such a purpose? With most phonics software applications making heavy use of image cues, this project has more specifically investigated whether the design of the images used in such applications may impact on the effectiveness of their self-directed use in classrooms. Using a quasi-experimental study, we compared two types of pictorial mnemonics used in tablet applications, along with teacher-led activity in three first-year classrooms from the one school. The difference between teacher-led activity and integrated picture cues was significant, with teacher-led activity proving more effective. The difference between teacher-led activity and form-taking picture cues, however, was not statistically significant. Given that the outcomes of this small-scale study suggest that image design may be a significant design feature contributing to the educational value of using phonics applications in the classroom, we recommend that the design features of phonics software applications attract further research.