Work and study in construction education : practices of undergraduate students in Australia

Purpose of this paper The aim of this paper is to determine the amount of time construction management students spend engaged in paid work and study during semester time. Past research has shown that working long hours has a negative effect on the study patterns of undergraduate students.

Design/methodology/approach Students responded to a questionnaire on the nature of their paid work while enrolled in full-time study in a sample of universities across Australia.

Findings The results showed that students are working on average 18 hours per week during semester time. The results indicate that students in their first two years tend to undertake casual work that is not related to their degree. However, this pattern changes in the later two years of the course, where students switch to roles in construction that do relate to their coursework. The students start working on average 15 hours in the first year of their degree, and the time spent rises to 23 hours in their fourth year.

Practical implications Past research suggests that students may be working to an extent beyond what is considered beneficial to their studies. The implications of the amount of time working and the type of work are discussed.

Originality/value of paper The long-term impact of high levels of work and study on construction students are unknown. The paper concludes by suggesting that universities need a greater awareness of the impact of paid employment on engagement with their learning.

Developing robust assessment criteria for postgraduate research oriented papers

Assessment criteria designed to fully evaluate prescribed learning outcomes is a significant aid to both student and staff alike. For the student, it allows them to fully understand the requirements for a specific grade and for staff, it simplifies marking (grading) and minimises the likelihood of student appeals against assessment. Whilst criterion referencing is common place in the more traditional analytical type taught papers common in the Engineering degree curriculum it is perhaps less commonly utilised for research based papers. Presented here is a case study where both learning outcomes and achievement criteria have been proposed for a postgraduate research methodology paper which prepares students for their thesis. It has significant cross over to a descriptor for the thesis paper itself and is considered a template which could be equally applied to other subject domains where research methodology is taught.

Managing patient deterioration : a protocol for enhancing undergraduate nursing students’ competence through web-based simulation and feedback techniques

Aims: To describe a funded proposal for the development of an on-line evidence based educational program for the management of deteriorating patients.
Background: There are international concerns regarding the management of deteriorating patients with issues around the ‘failure to rescue’. The primary response to these issues has been the development of medical emergency teams with little focus on the education of primary first responders.
Design/Methods: A mixed methods triangulated convergent design. In this four phase proposal we plan to 1. examine nursing student team ability to manage deteriorating patients and based upon these findings 2. develop web based educational material, including interactive scenarios. This educational material will be tested and refined in the third Phase 3, prior to evaluation and dissemination in the final phase.
Conclusion: This project aims to enhance knowledge development for the management of deteriorating patients through rigorous assessment of team performance and to produce a contemporary evidence-based online training program.

Interconnectedness, multiplexity and the global student : the role of blogging and micro blogging in opening students horizons

The authors explore the world of blogging and micro blogging (twitter) as a means of mediating engagement with students, lawyers, academics and other interested and interesting people around the world. Through the use of auto-ethnographic case studies of their own experiences with blogging and micro blogging tools, the authors propose that far from being a distraction from student learning, these tools have the potential to open up an international professional collaborative space beyond the physical classroom, for both academics and our students, from their first year experience through to practical legal training and continuing professional development.

Re-positioning Australia's international education in global knowledge economies : implications of shifts in skilled migration policies for universities

In recent times, many key host nations have made it easier for foreign graduates to migrate after graduation. These students are often considered ideal migrants, possessing local qualifications along with a degree of acculturation, language skills and, in many cases, relevant local work experience. For the student, the opportunity to obtain international work experience adds to the appeal of the overseas study experience and enhances the graduate skills necessary to compete in the global labour market. This paper examines recent changes to migration policy in Australia affecting the post-study work entitlements of international students studying at Australian universities and explores the underlying rationale and consequences of the recent changes in policy direction. An examination of migration policies in the United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada indicates that recent changes to skilled migration policy in Australia, along with bleak economic conditions in a number of key host countries, has opened up opportunities for Australia to re-position itself favourably.

West meets East : examining the use of reflective journals in international study programs

This paper documents the learning of a sample of 15 MBA students who have participated in an experiential international study program to China, and have used a reflective journal as a learning activity. Kolb and Kolb’s (2005) experiential model is used to analyse the learning experiences of the MBA students. Students encountered a number of learning benefits from reflective journal writing, and this included deep reflection, enjoyment, and being able to link theory with reality. The study found that students were able to develop knowledge from their experiences in China by crystallising those experiences when writing a reflective journal. The students developed knowledge about China’s economic growth, reasons for why it is growing, and students were able to critically analyse the challenges China faces from a moral, fairness, and environmental perspective.

Learning context in Australian universities - perceptions of Chinese accounting students

The study concentrates on how Mainland Chinese students perceive and respond to the learning in Australian universities. Students' satisfaction with their educational experiences and the Australian learning context such as teaching, teacher/student relationship, assessment, workload and English language is explored in this study. Using focus groups, the results show that teaching, teacher/student relationships and English language are areas of concern.

Cross-cultural learning and international collaboration: evaluation of a study tour to Thailand

Purpose:
To evaluate cross-cultural learning among Thai staff and host students from the Faculty of Nursing, Mahidol University (MU) and Australian guest students from the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Deakin University (DU), who participated in a study tour.

Design:
Descriptive exploratory evaluation.

Methods:
Key stakeholders were invited to participate resulting in a convenience sample of seven MU staff, five MU and 22 DU students. Data were collected using mixed methods. Qualitative data were theme analysed and quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics.

Main findings:
The semi-structured interviews with MU staff, focus group with MU students and free response questions in the online survey with DU students indicated the themes of enhanced and valuable cross-cultural learning and relationship building, the challenges of different social behaviours and the importance of tolerance and acceptance. In the online survey, over 77% (n = 17) of DU students reported high satisfaction with their cross-cultural learning on the study tour. The online survey included the validated Miville-Guzman Universality-Diversity scale short form (M-GUD-S). All Australian students reported seeking diversity of contact (X ± SD = 23.1 ± 4.4), relativistic appreciation (X ± SD = 24.7 ± 3.9), and comfort with differences (X ± SD = 26.2 ± 3.0), indicating high levels of openness to cultural diversity and similarity on the M-GUD-S. 

Conclusion and recommendations:
This study provides an example of an evaluated study tour emphasising cross-cultural relationship building. Findings indicate that nursing education should include opportunities for intercultural exchange among nursing students. Nurses require excellent skills in cross-cultural nursing and relating to meet the future global challenges to health care over the next millennium.

Project-oriented design-based learning: aligning students’ views with industry needs

This paper focuses on the alignment of students' views on project-oriented design-based learning (PODBL) with today's industrial needs. A Collaborative relationship between academic institutions and industrial expectations is a significant process towards analytical thinking (linking the theory and practice). Improving students' knowledge as well as the students' transition into industry, requires efficient joint ventures by both learning institutions and industry partners. Project-based learning (PBL) is well developed and implemented in most engineering schools and departments around the world. What requires closer attention is the focus on design within this project-based learning framework. Today design projects have been used to motivate and teach science in elementary, middle, and high school classrooms. They are also used to assist students with possible science and engineering careers. For these reasons, design-based learning (DBL) is intended to be an effective approach to learning that is centered on a design problem-solving structure adopted for a problem-oriented project-based education. Based on an industry design forum, which the authors conducted in Melbourne, Australia in 2012, a research study was performed to investigate the industry and academic requirements for students focusing on achieving design skills. To transform the present situation in the academic teaching and learning environment and to fulfill industry needs, this research study also investigated the students' views on design skills.

Digital technology to support students’ socioscientific reasoning about environmental issues

Scientific expertise and outcomes often give rise to controversy. An educational response that equips students to take part in such discussions is the teaching of socially acute questions (SAQs). With SAQs, the understanding of uncertainty, risk and how knowledge is developed is central. This study explores the way in which students from different disciplines and different continents are brought together via a digital platform to explore SAQs about environmental issues (a green algae outbreak linked to release of fertilisers along the coast of Brittany; the construction of a desalination plant near Melbourne to produce freshwater; and changes in meat consumption on a global scale, with regard to population projections in 2050). We have developed frameworks for looking at the quality of the collective reasoning and at the nature of students’ interactions, so that we can analyse the organisation of the learning communities and the building of collegial expertise. The results show that interdisciplinary discussions, especially on an international scale, foster the understanding of complex situations. In this paper, we discuss the modalities of one didactic scenario to enhance critical thinking and collaborative work, and to provide space for learners to support argumentation.

International multi-perspective analyses of classroom activity

This editorial captures the essence of each of the papers in this journal and synthesises the findings to highlight the complexity of developing practices that enable students to develop mathematical understandings. Papers described and discussed come from sources internal and external to Australasia. They include new perspectives on analysis of classroom practices, analyses of mathematical registers and mathematical language in classroom activity, action research of a teacher developing new pedagogical understandings, and various analyses associated with teacher education (pre-service teacher programs, interactions between pre-service teachers and their mentors, and how limited content knowledge can affect teacher interpretation of classroom activity. The editorial captures many of the complexities highlighted in the papers and points to the enormity of the expertise required to optimise the teaching of mathematics..