Janice Orrell

Work Integrated Learning: A Guide to Effective Practice

Acknowledgements The Authors Introduction 1. The New Higher Education Enterprise 2. A Conceptual Framework For Work Integrated Learning 3. Working To Learn, Learning To Work 4. Teaching In Work Integrated Learning 5. Assessing Work Integrated Learning 6. Supervision 7. Managing Difficult Situations 8. The Work Integrated Learning Process Appendix 1: Workplace Literacies - Knowledge, Skills And Attributes Appendix 2: Specific Risks And Difficulties Encountered In The Workplace Glossary References

Feedback on learning achievement: rhetoric and reality

Assessment theorists and academics alike espouse the importance of feedback on performance assessment tasks for supporting improvement and progress in student learning achievement. Despite these espoused ideals, students claim a lack of adequate, timely feedback and their teachers claim that students fail to heed the advice given. This paper reports observations of experienced academics’ thinking while they assess their students’ learning products. It focuses in particular academics’ written feedback on their students’ written assignments, and compares this ‘actual practice’ with the same academics’ personal practical ‘espoused theories and practice’ about feedback. This snapshot of ‘everyday’ academic practice is considered in the theoretical context of what constitutes feedback that promotes learning.

Leading and managing learning and teaching in higher education

This paper outlines the findings of a study that examined the conceptions of academics regarding the nature of ‘leading’ and ‘managing’ learning and teaching in six Australian universities. These data were considered in the light of institutional systems and documentation regarding the leadership and management of learning and teaching and the contemporary literature on leadership and management, particularly in higher education. The research found that there was congruence between academic conceptions of the roles of leaders and managers in HE and those found in other contexts. In contrast, there was considerable variance and significant gaps between these conceptions and HR and professional development practices. The paper reports findings that have significant implications for more systematic and explicit professional development for University leaders and managers of teaching and learning. In addition, it argues that changes are required to the prevailing approaches in the current HR systems and policies in order to effectively develop, support and recognize effective leadership and management practices as they relate to learning and teaching.

Strategies for effective dissemination of the outcomes of teaching and learning projects

This paper describes an empirical study that addresses the question of how higher education institutions can disseminate effectively the outcomes of projects that seek to achieve large-scale change in teaching and learning. Traditionally, dissemination of innovation and good practice is strongly advocated within universities, but little consideration is given to developing enabling strategies and processes. Most current models of dissemination focus on sponsored workshops, seminars and courses; upgrading infrastructure; journal articles and scholarly publications; resource websites; some form of ‘teaching excellence’ awards; and showcases of good practice. Although these are useful and do constitute a degree of dissemination, they are not sufficient for leading widespread changes in practice or implementation across an institution or discipline. A central task of this study has been to unravel the hitherto contested and unclear terms to explore the complex relationships between ideas and innovations and their dissemination better.

Social and Political Change

The nature of the relationship between universities and their societies has long been the subject of discussion and scholarly debate. This chapter takes this relationship as its starting point in order to examine the implications of social and political changes for those responsible for professional and practice-based education. Implicit in the positioning of university education for professional practice is that there is an interdependent relationship between higher education and practice, theory and work.

Enhancing Educational Quality in an Indonesian Islamic University

Universities worldwide claim to aspire to quality. What quality actually represents for each university is influenced significantly by government agendas, local market forces and universities’ own internal constituents, namely administrative leaders and academic teachers. This chapter describes the generation of a framework for systematically enhancing and ensuring the quality of learning and teaching in Indonesian Islamic universities.

Acting Within and Against Hegemonic Practices and Discourses

This chapter presents an abbreviated story of a health practitioner and a client, as they attempt to address the pain that brings the patient in for therapy. The choice to use a therapeutic narrative as an illustrative device in this chapter is based on a recognition of the richness and authenticity that is gained in understanding the lived experiences within a life drama (Mattingly, 1998).

Refocusing Academia in the 21st Century

This chapter examines the changing discourses regarding the fundamental mission of universities and the diverse and competing social, economic, political and technical forces of the 21st century that they now face. Of particular interest is the identification of the ways academia itself is being forced to refocus its practices to respond to the 21st century milieu.

University and Community Engagement: Towards a Partnership Based on Deliberate Reciprocity

This chapter considers quality of university-community engagement as a significant factor in educating the deliberate professional. Partnerships between universities and community organisations are increasingly based on provision of professional placements, enabling students to meet professional registration requirements and facilitating future employment. When these partnerships are based upon constructive and reciprocal engagement, they have the potential to be powerful mechanisms in achieving university and community goals and enhancing education of deliberate professionals. A problem lies, however, in the unevenness in the quality of these partnerships. At their best, mutual benefit is often fortuitous. At their worst, there is one-sided benefit, largely for the university. It is argued in this chapter that universities should approach the establishment and management of these partnerships with greater deliberateness of intent with focus on the interests of the community. Deep engagement and constructive reciprocity between universities and community facilitates intersection of a theoretical orientation to practice with ethical, economic, political, cultural or technological issues facing professional practice in the community.

Integrating Graduate Attributes Into Islamic Higher Education Curricula in Aceh, Indonesia

One of the most significant current discussions in higher education is refining the concept of graduate attributes or generic skills in undergraduate student curricula. In most universities in Australia and the UK, there is an established set of graduate attributes that undergraduate students are expected to acquire as a result of their course of studies (Barrie, 2007; Chalmers & Partridge, 2013). However, in the context of Islamic higher education, especially in Aceh, Indonesia, graduate attributes are often a novel concept. What have been referred to as graduate attributes in Australian and UK universities are largely not identified within curriculum intentions in Islamic universities in Aceh. This chapter is motivated by the implementation of new policy developments in Indonesia for higher education in Aceh that call for greater integration of Islamic values, general education and attention to local community needs. In coming to some practical solutions regarding the integration of graduate attributes into the curriculum, this paper draws upon a study that sought the views and lived educational experiences of students and teachers in an English Education Department in an Islamic university in Aceh.