Chronicles of architectural internships : student experiences versus practitioner expectations

This paper presents preliminary analysis and data gathered for a master of architecture by research study which seeks to explore the value of student work experience in architecture. It describes the theoretical framework upon which internships provide certain technical and professional knowledge and are regarded as an integral element of professional education. Until the last decade, internship in the architecture profession has received surprisingly little attention from researchers. Structural constraints unique to the architectural profession present challenges to how student work experience/internships can be sustained and it is pertinent to examine its precise relevance for the future. Vignettes of student learning experiences are presented and discussed against vignettes of practitioner expectations. The data in this study have been collected using combined methods of semistructured and open interviews and a qualitative approach to analysis of data. The opportunity to test the results in the architectural practice experience unit currently offered as a one credit earning elective for the architecture degree program at Deakin University will be discussed. It expects to prompt exploration into the potentially potent and broader pedagogical outcomes of a form of work-integrated learning (WIL) framework for students of built environment professions in the future.

Traversing the international rainbow of academia and architectural practice

In the context of contemporary tertiary education immersed as such in internationalisation strategies and internationalised curricula, the cultivation and promotion of international awareness in Australian graduates can be expected to lead to desirable lifelong attributes. Consideration of the need to be prepared for a globalised professional and cultural climate is integral to sustaining and growing the future and the fortunes of many. For the architectural community, the combined phenomena of globalisation and internationalisation strategies herald implications for the education and professional preparation of architects which traverse academia and architectural practice. This paper presents the case for exploring potential benefits of establishing closer links between academia and architecture practice, discusses the relevance of international student practice experience for the twenty first century and looks at its role within an intemationalised curriculum in preparing graduates for the future. Analysis of a survey of work experience as a component of Australian architecture courses is used to gauge the extent of current programs that seek to integrate the academic curriculum with practice experience, and the Deakin study (a work in progress) of architecture students in international practice contexts is presented as a vehicle for exploring the degree to which the combination of professional practice education and cultural experience may be beneficial to architecture students, academia and the profession more generally.

Why do women like working in building conservation?

There is a perception that Building Conservation as a career is different from the mainstream, and it appears to be more attractive to women - at whatever level - than many other careers in the construction industry. Whilst recruitment and publicity can be targeted, the culture within the construction industry can be a barrier to entry for anyone that is "different." As Clara Greed (1999) discovered in her research "the traits, beliefs and lifestyle peculiar to the construction tribe" can inhibit the entry to the industry of a number of groups outside the traditional pool. The growth of women in the workforce generally (some 50% according to Turrell et al, 2000) is nowhere near being matched within the construction industry as a whole - the Construction Industry Board placed it at around 8.6% in 2000 across all positions. The various UK industry and professional bodies are actively supporting the need to attract women, with the CITB saying they want a 10% year on year increase in participation, the RICS have their own Raising the Ratio working group and the RIBA have carried out research to find out "why women leave architecture."

Of course the whole of the industry is not unfriendly to women - there are a number of us who have been in the industry for many years and recognise it as a fulfilling and exciting career - a number of women work as surveyors working on historic buildings. The initiatives that are working towards change might have something to learn from Building Conservation - while the shortage of skills is just as severe in work with historc buildings - this area of work holds an attraction to women, not found elsewhere. This paper draws on research carried out to explore some of the reasons for this.

The study involved sending a questionnaire to twenty women already working in Building Conservation (the response rate was over 100%) and arranging for questionnaires to be completed by school students (male and female) choosing university courses in one school (60 questionnaires sent out, with 35 returned at a response rate of 58%)

The research showed that the majority women working in Building Conservation did not agree that men heavily dominated their sector of the industry, whereas within other areas of the construction industry men make up approximately 90% of the workforce. The research found that women often perceived the Construction Industry to be 'cut-throat', 'egotistical' and 'financially beneficial', whereas they thought Building Conservation required 'patience', 'care' and 'attention to detail'.

Of the women who took part in the research, 87% were working in Building Conservation because of a personal interest , and the main aspect of that attarction was history and architecture. The study examined attitudes of school students choosing careers and the research shows that when male and female sixth form students were told what Building Conservation was about and what it involved, 43% would consider a career in it and 49% would be interested in talking part in a work experience placement working with historic buildings. The shortage of people working in Building Conservation could be reduced if more people were educated about the profession in a way relevant to their skills and interests. In order to assist this action, the study examined ways to introduce Building Conservation careers to school girls and drew on the initiatives that the university is doing to promote careers in the built environment to schoolgirls.

Comparison of the work of psychologists in rural and urban settings : implications for professional training

To compare the work practices and training needs of rural and urban psychologists, 774 surveys were sent to psychologists throughout Australia. The psychologists were selected from the Australian Psychological Society (APS) Directory of Psychologists, 1992- 1993. A total of 86 rural psychologists and 282 urban psychologists responded to the survey. The survey comprised of four sections with questions asking respondents their demographic and employment background, past and current training activities, work experience, and relations with community. Results showed that the decision to practice and remain in a rural area was influenced by psychologists’ childhood experience and professional training in a rural setting, A substantial proportion of rural psychologists (28%) had been working in rural practice for five years or less. These rural psychologists were identified as a group that had a demographic and training profile more similar to urban psychologists than their rural colleagues. The employment conditions and training background of rural and urban psychologists were similar, though rural psychologists were more likely to be working in private practice and have undertaken their studies in a rural setting. Rural and urban psychologists rated their undergraduate and postgraduate training in psychology as only somewhat adequate. Training in rural health and community issues received the lowest ratings from both groups of psychologists. The work practices of rural and urban psychologists were also similar. There were some differences in the demographic profile of the client groups seen by the two groups. Rural psychologists reported the type of relations with their communities that are conducive to rural practice. The main evidence of this was that rural psychologists were collaborating with the natural helpers of their communities, and expressed willingness to formally train natural helpers to assist in the provision of psychological services. There were several conclusions drawn from this study. The first conclusion was that rural psychologists with urban demographic and training backgrounds are a group that is likely to migrate from rural practice to urban practice, Secondly, training needs to be specialised for rural practice if there is to be an improvement in the number of psychologists practicing in rural settings. Thirdly, rural psychologists were conducting the type of relations with their communities that are important to the requirements of rural practice.

Piecing together the puzzle of graduate employment : factors that shape the graduate work expectations of human resource management students

Providing graduates with a set of skills and attributes relevant to their future employment remains a key topic in both higher education policy and research. This paper reports findings from a pilot study of human resource management (HRM) students' perceptions of the graduate work experience. Specifically, it focuses on how these perceptions are shaped, driven by a concern for the uncertainty - and even fear - expressed by the study's participants in relation to their future workplace experiences. The influences of three key factors in shaping participants' expectations are discussed: the graduate recruitment experience, previous work experiences and 'graduate work folklore' from the stories of family and friends. With these influences not always providing students with a realistic picture of their future work experience, we conclude that educators need to improve the opportunities for practical experience and industry knowledge through work placements, stronger links with industry and increased exposure to the practicalities of work within the curriculum.

The effect of the work environment on accounting students' moral reasoning and development

Puxty et al. (1994) claim that professional accountants are induced to act ethically through two aspects of their socialisation, the education process, and the influence of work experience and role models who show what it means to be ethical. The education of accountants is not simply a matter of becoming technically competent, it is also a process of internalising accepted norms of professional conduct. Student accountants learn acceptable behaviour by learning the principles of good conduct in their education, and receiving advice and observing what significant others do in the workplace. The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of the work environment on accounting students moral reasoning and development by comparing the DIT P-scores of accounting students pre and post cooperative education. Cooperative eduction is an industry placement program where students are required to work in commerce and industry for one year. Findings indicate that DIT P-scores decrease during cooperative education suggesting that accounting students, whilst in the work environment, do not reason according to their capability as measured by their pre-test scores.

Measuring work-study engagement in built environment undergraduate education in Australia

The cost of accessing higher education is expensive causing students to juggle the demands of paid work with study responsibilities. Whilst some work can be beneficial to student leaning this research seeks a more accurate understanding of why students undertake paid experience work to the level that they do. This paper examines the extent of work and study during an undergraduate program in construction at RMIT University Australia. Students responded to a questionnaire on the duration and nature of their work and study times. The results indicate that students who were involved in paid work do in excess of 20 hours per week, whist also enrolled as full-time undergraduates. The results of the study show that students in the early years of the program seem to be more engaged with study and spent slightly less time at work. This is contrasted with students in the final two years of the course spend considerable more time in paid work and less time undertaking study.
The paper concludes by suggesting that the results are partly the result of the unstructured work-experience requirements that occur from about year 3 of the program. Students who were encouraged by the university to undertake paid work-experience appeared to be increasingly disinterested in connecting with the broader university experience.

Diversity and architecture

Architecture can be defined as the art and tectonics of place making. The discipline of architecture involves a broad set of practices including design of the built environment, development of architectural projects either community~ based or oriented towards a (private) client, and advisory work for governments. Architecture also involves a wide spectrum of knowledge including urban design and urban planning, and a variety of architectural ideas, theories and movements. Various dominant ideologies have manifested themselves in built form, whereas other, marginal cultural parameters have emerged in the vernacular or traditional architecture. Architecture is considered the medium through which society is organised and materialised. It resonates with symbolic meaning as well as pragmatic order through built places.

Souveniring the Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House attracts over four million visitors each year to experience its architecture, events and cultural narratives. This experience consciously engages tourists in a constructed spatial encounter, in which the tourist has the opportunity to experience the architecture of this canonical modernist building. This experience often culminates with the purchase of a souvenir, a seemingly innocuous act, but one that is highly revealing of the interrelation between the tourist's experience, the architecture and the souvenir. There has already been much scholarly work on the Sydney Opera House, discussing its architecture, the historical and political context of its commission and its symbolic meaning within the City of Sydney. Less attention however has been paid to the relationship between architecture, experience and memory, as embodied by the souvenir. The tea towels, snow domes, table lights and key rings which depict the Sydney Opera House are, as Celeste Olalquiaga states "static and idealized blueprint... of an experience." This raises debate over what exactly is souvenired; is it the building? The experience? Cultural cachet? What can be revealed about the architecture of the Sydney Opera House, through its souvenirs? Architecture, like souvenirs is party to questions of representation, abstraction and scale. By drawing upon the work of Stewart and Olalquiaga, on the experience of souvenirs, the essay takes an architectural position from which to discuss the way models as objects of architecture and souvenir miniatures are the material representations which commemorate and facilitate a dynamic and ephemeral experience of this building. In this way revealing souvenirs as more than markers of travel, but as Stewart asserts, containers of the cultural narratives, desires and myths, which surround such an iconic architectural destination

Preparing health professionals to work in diabetes education and care: a situation analysis

Worldwide, the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases places enormous expectations of and responsibility on health systems. Preparing the health workforce to adequately respond to these increasing demands is a challenge of critical importance. The aim of this study was to provide an overview of how health professionals (HPs) are prepared to work in diabetes care and education. A one shot cross-sectional study was undertaken to collect the data using self-completed anonymous on-line questionnaires. The invitation to complete the questionnaire was sent to more than 3745 HPs. One thousand one hundred and sixteen responses were collected, 68% were from highincome countries and 32% from middle- and low-income countries (LMIC). Most HPs developed their knowledge and skills through work experience and self-study: very few attended a formal education program as part of their training. Thirty-six percent of LMIC respondents did not have a credential/certification in diabetes and 72% reported their organizations support them to learn about diabetes education/care. Moreover, 80% referred to the International Diabetes Federation publications when making clinical decisions or planning diabetes care. Results provide insight into how HPs are educationally prepared to work in diabetes education and care and could serve as a foundation for future research. These findings emphasize the emerging necessity to develop certified/credentialing programs for HPs, especially in LMIC.