Exploring the challenge of applied learning reform

Post compulsory education in Australia has changed significantly since the early 1990s. For many young people in their later years of schooling, learning now involves a blending of experiences derived from education and training institutions once historically separated and defined by distinctly different approaches to pedagogy and assessment. It is also increasingly common for students to include formalised workbased learning arrangements in their learning program, adding further to the students’ experiences of learning and exposure to different learning contexts. Added to this new mosaic of learning experiences, increased participation rates in schooling have contributed to greater diversity in post compulsory students’ learning temperaments. This paper draws on five case studies to explore the new pedagogical challenges presented by these students’ exposure to different systems of learning and examines the emergence of applied learning in Victoria as a pedagogical response to these challenges. It proposes that effective pedagogical change aiming to address these challenges must overcome the tendency to be marginalised in schools and labelled as an alternative approach to learning. The paper concludes by exploring the possible future of applied learning emerging from the current context of pedagogical change.

Student expectations of teaching and learning

Higher education aims to develop students as life-long learners. Facilitative, learning-centred approaches are more likely to develop independent learners. However, these learning methods may challenge students’ conceptions of “good teaching” developed from their previous learning experiences. Student beliefs and expectations about teaching were examined through interviews of a small number of students as part of a wider study looking at developing techniques to assist students to become more aware, engaged and appreciative of their learning experience. The analysis of the interviews offer some useful suggestions for lecturers engaged in teaching professional disciplines wishing to use facilitative, student-centred teaching approaches.

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.

Library learning space design : a good student fit

We are seeing a renewed interest nationally and internationally in the design and development of new learning environments. There is, at Deakin and more generally in the higher education sector, recognition that the students' experience of a flexible and supportive educational environment is central to excellent teaching and fosters student success. Recent Carrick Institute (now the Australian Learning and Teaching Council) grants have supported the need for a greater understanding of good practice, with workshops being held around the country.

The student experience is integral to planning the re-purposing of Library spaces at Deakin's two larger campuses, Waurn Ponds and Burwood. The physical spaces within the Library will be flexible and provide support for individual learning and study, group learning and discussion, with ubiquitous ICT access and assistance services readily accessible. The improvement to the amenities, including contemporary, wired casual spaces, will encourage students to come on to campus and stay, strengthening opportunities to build a learning community. This learning community can extend through opportunities for social networking to students studying online and off-campus.

Library services and spaces will align with the new pedagogical needs of the university, providing holistic support for students' flexible learning experiences.
"We know that space can have a significant impact on teaching and learning . . . What we know about how people learn has changed our ideas about learning space. There is value from bumping into someone and having a casual conversation. There is value from hands on, active learning as well as from discussion and reflection. There is value in being able to receive immediate support when needed and from being able to integrate multiple activities [and multiple information sources] to complete a project." (Diane Oblinger, Learning Spaces, EDUCAUSE, 2006).

Examining the significance of different conceptions of learning

Since the 1990s the system-wide introduction of vocational learning programs into schools has now created the need for students to blend their learning experiences gained from previously discretely organised institutions such as schools, TAFEs, and workplaces. This paper explores the significance of differing institutional conceptions of learning for the students who undertake these pathways. It examines potentially conflicting messages about learning that students must overcome if they are to be successful.

Online delivery and learning in regional Australia : benefits and barriers

The potential for online learning to enhance learning opportunities of those living in regional Australia cannot be over-emphasised. This chapter* describes a study where online delivery was mapped to determine ‘what’ is happening and ‘why’. This enabled the benefits, barriers and ‘promoters’ of online learning to be identified. However, an important conclusion of this study is that there is a lack of consistent, comparable enrolment data relating to online learning, which obviously affects funding allocation decisions. To ensure high-quality learning experiences and appropriate support for students and staff, institutions require adequate funding and resources based on models which reflect the reality of online delivery and learning.

Exploring the pedagogies used in work integrated learning

This paper focuses on the pedagogical approaches used in New Zealand WIL programs in terms of integration of student knowledge, and what impact these have on student learning. A collective case study methodology was used involving three areas of tertiary education science and engineering; business and management; and sport studies. The study involved researchers working collaboratively conducting focus group interviews with a selection of WIL students, academic supervisors, and employers from the relevant discipline about their teaching and learning experiences at both the academic institution and in the workplace. Relevant documentation (e.g., course/paper outlines, graduate profiles, etc.) was analyzed to afford data triangulation. The findings indicated that the WIL experience is a point of difference that students and employers value. Student learning (soft and hard skills, personal and professional development) occurs from a variety of sources (self-directed, supervisors, and peers) and a variety of modes (on campus, on placement). The findings reinforce what can be achieved through WIL programs, and through dissemination of the findings raise awareness amongst tertiary education institutions (TEIs) of the future possibilities available
via this pedagogy.

Perceptions of the value of site visits in assisting undergraduate learning

This study evaluates the usefulness of site visits in assisting the learning experience of undergraduate students. The research is based on a survey of undergraduates students enrolled in built-environment courses in property and construction. Past research has shown that it is becoming more difficult to provide students with access to building sites to provide learning experiences. While students were positive about the benefits of real site visits, universities have been encouraged to develop virtual approaches to teaching construction technology using photographs, movies and computer simulations.

This strategic research investigates the perceptions of students towards a number of different site visits each with particular characteristics. This was done to examine the most effective use of real site visits within an undergraduate course. The results identified that some aspects of construction technology could be easily replaced by computer simulations and the like. However, other aspects of the curriculum are more effectively taught by retaining real site visits. The research was intended to provide a more structured approach to determining the value of site-based learning in construction related courses.

Learning the role : through the eyes of beginning principals

This study examines how first year principals learn their roles and provides the picture through their eyes. As there is no formal preparation requirement to become a principal in Victorian government schools, new principals must seek out and direct their own learning for the role. The study describes the informal and formal sources of learning that are sought by beginning principals to help them learn about their new role. The focus is on identifying what sources of learning were used through different phases of the study and how some became more critical than others in shaping and developing the role of a principal in the school. This thesis is a story of continuous professional socialization and learning of a group of seven beginning principals using case studies and interviews over four phases of learning in their first year in the role as they proceed from appointment, entry, establishment through to consolidation of the role. The process of socialization underpins the study and is conceived as a process of learning in which the participants actively direct and participate in their own socialization. However, greater emphasis is placed on the developing nature and reliance on learning in role development. Previous studies of professional socialization of beginning principals have identified licensure programs as significant in the preparation and ongoing development process, whereas this is not the case in Victoria where no such requirements exist. This study adds to existing studies through the finding that there are similarities in the stages of professional socialization process in the Australian context, but also explores new aspects about professional learning by identifying various phases and sources of learning for Victorian principals. These ranged from dependence upon an apprenticeship arrangement, through self-directed task learning, to that of becoming an independent learner within a professional community of equals. Some of the themes identified and explored in this study included examining phases of learning, sources of learning, and their effect on role development. The study was initially based on identifying and exploring some of the key issues and the significance of learning experiences suggested by the beginning principals rather than researching predetermined hypotheses. This grounded and qualitative approach involved data collection over four different time phases in the first year in the role and allowed flexibility in the construction of case studies and the cumulative development of data through the study. The greater part of the data were collected through interviews in each of the four phases of the study along with the collection of survey data for comparison and contrast in the first and final study phases. The research raises many issues that can serve as a basis for further exploration of the complexity of the role of learning within professional socialization for beginning principals. As well, it suggests a number of implications for the organization of professional learning and socialization in beginning principal socialization for the first year in the role.

Reflective positioning : the impact of conversations in the social and cultural environment of midwifery practice settings on professional learning for students

Literature reviews on the topic of reflection and reflective practice encompassed midwifery, nursing, medicine, allied health, education and professional education. This investigation also included socio-psychological theories by leading authors such as Benner (nursing), Schön (professional education) and positioning theory by Harré and others. Positioning is a psycho-sociological ontology in which individuals metaphorically position themselves within three entities: people, institutions, and societies, where conversations are constructed and make an impact upon the social world. The social and cultural structures and interactions developed in Archer’s morphogenesis were examined in terms of the impact of possible encounters and the transformational effects of learning experiences in practice settings. These bodies of work provided the theoretical framework for the author’s research of students’ experiences in midwifery education for postgraduate students from which selected excerpts with three participating students and their supervising midwives are presented. These excerpts are related to reflective practices and the professional conversations conducted between students and midwives. It was found that reflective positioning applied in midwifery education by students can serve as an analytical tool in explaining social and cultural elements of clinical placements to influence and transform their learning. The potency of conversations that occur in everyday moment-to-moment interactions do contribute to students’ induction in professional midwifery practice and their identity formation as a midwife.

Class size and its effect on learning in business education

This thesis explores the multi-dimensional nature of class size and how educational processes are shaped by different class size environments in four undergraduate business courses. Class size significantly influenced how curricula were structured and designed for learning and consequently students' course expectations and learning experiences in large and small classes.

The development of teaching skills to support active learning in university science (ALIUS)

This paper describes an Australian Learning and Teaching Council funded project for which Learning Design is encompassed in the broadest sense. ALIUS (Active Learning In University Science) takes the design of learning back to the learning experiences created for students. ALIUS is not about designing a particular activity, or subject, or course, but rather the development of a method, or process, by which we have re-designed the way in which learning occurs in large university classrooms world wide.

Continuous product innovation : learning behaviours and knowledge management

The research reported in this paper considers Product Innovation from a broader perspective than that of the isolated NPD (New Product Development) project commonly discussed in the literature. In this perspective, Product Innovation is a continuous and cross-functional process involving the sharing and transfer of knowledge within the many steps of the innovation process, and the integration of a growing number of different competencies inside and outside the organisational boundaries. This paper examines two in-depth case studies that were carried out to establish if and how learning occurred within companies developing new products. Based on a model developed as part of a joint Euro-Australian research project, the way in which the selected companies share and transfer knowledge and learning experiences during their product innovation processes have been examined and analysed. This model uses a number of interrelated variables including performance, behaviours and levers to stimulate improvement, contingencies, and learning/innovation capabilities to describe the learning and knowledge transfer in product innovation processes within the case studies. This paper discusses some of the skills the research has identified that managers need to enable their companies to gain a competitive advantage through improved product innovation. The ongoing research has developed, tested and disseminated a computer-based methodology to assess organisational knowledge capture and transfer in the new product development process. The research is part of the Euro-Australian co-operation project known as CIMA (Continuous Improvement and Product Innovation Management).

'Becoming a supervisor' : the impact of doctoral supervision on supervisors' learning

The doctorate is an educative process for students but what is its impact on supervisors' learning about the practice of doctoral supervision? Internationally, there is an increased emphasis on formal training, monitoring and accountability of doctoral supervisors. Yet there is a striking silence about what doctoral supervisors learn through supervising doctoral students, and how the impacts on supervisors might be theorised. The aim of this article is to begin to address this gap in the doctoral education literature, based on a thematic analysis of two complementary interview studies of a cross-disciplinary sample of experienced doctoral supervisors. The analysis illustrates the significant impact of doctoral supervision on the learning and knowledge of doctoral supervisors, particularly in relation to how supervisors engage with/in the social and political context of their university, understand themselves and their students, and how the contemporary context of supervision affects the sort of pedagogical relationships supervisors establish with their doctoral students. Regardless of supervisors' discipline, position in the academic hierarchy or supervisory experience, the analysis indicates that supervisors' learning experiences shape their subjectivities and identities, and that supervision is an ongoing ontological process of ‘becoming a supervisor’. The importance of integrating a theory of ‘becoming a supervisor’ into supervisor professional development is proposed.

The value of experiential learning for providing a contextual understanding of the construction process

This research investigates effectiveness of real site visits within an undergraduate course. Experiential learning is a process of providing education, based on the experiences and observations of real-world examples. Some of the theory of experiential learning has been used to examine whether site visits assist the students learning experience.

The results of the research show that students generally have a positive attitude towards site visits and see them as beneficial. Although the study identified that some aspects of construction technology could be easily replaced by computer simulations and the like, other aspects of the curriculum are more effectively taught by retaining real site visits. The research was intended to provide a more structured approach to determining the value of site-based learning in construction-related courses.