Practical placements in real work environments are a requirement for successful completion of many professional learning programs. Indeed, this activity may account for half of the learning hours within such curricula. Recent research examining the practicum experiences of nursing students in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, as well as those of…

The purpose of this study was to establish whether application of the four states of relatedness (connectedness, disconnectedness, enmeshment, and parallelism) and four processes or social competencies (belonging, reciprocity, mutuality, and synchrony) within the theory of human relatedness may have relevance and transferability to the practicum…

Signature pedagogies have been identified for medicine and nursing, however are not yet resolved for allied health. This paper explores feedback as part of the signature pedagogy for health professions clinical placements. It adopts a Theory of Practice Architectures perspective to understand feedback practices, within the context of placements…

High-quality student placements in rural areas can provide students with the opportunity to learn about, and become immersed in, a rural community and associated health service delivery. As long-term placements are often resource-intensive, the learning potential of short-term placements in rural areas deserves greater examination. This research…

The misalignment between the skills learned in tertiary education and the skills demanded by industry is well documented. One of the ways this misalignment can be reduced is through the introduction of an internship phase in degrees. This article identifies the perceived benefits and challenges that internship programmes offer academic staff in a…

Industrial attachments were added to the engineering academic curriculum at the Polytechnic to ensure students are industry-ready when they graduate. The question that arises is how effective are these industrial attachments to the students. Present study seeks to address this question through a survey questionnaire utilizing a Likert Scale with…

This study uses a Foucault-inspired discourse analysis to examine two ideas about learning which reinforce the terminology whereby theory means campus-based training and practice means work placements. The purpose is to problematise this theory-practice terminology and provide scope for a non-dualistic alternative. The ideas examined are the idea…

This exploratory study seeks to obtain the views of strategic decision-makers surrounding the implementation of Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) Accountancy programs in Australian universities. Using an online questionnaire with mainly open-ended questions, the results showed most respondents perceived WIL programs as important and should be offered…

Placement or work-based learning is an integral component of many HE programmes and mentors can play a pivotal role in a student's learning experience. Studies have explored the characteristics of 'good' mentors or mentees, but there is limited research that fully considers the interpersonal dynamics within such relationships. The notion of 'gift…

Change Laboratories are a methodology to deal with complex problems in society in order to both better understand these problems as well as to find potential solutions. They typically involve collaborative problem solving and solution seeking from practitioner's perspectives, conducted in a series of successive, structured workshops informed by…

Purpose: Situated and experiential learning methodologies are largely underresearched in relation to student experience and satisfaction. The purpose of this paper is to illuminate the perspectives of students studying on a BSc (Hons) Podiatry degree programme to establish perceptions of their experience in practice. Design/methodology/approach:…

An employment contract between the student and the host organization may be the unintended consequence of a work-integrated learning (WIL) placement. The student, as an 'inadvertent employee' of the host organization, can expose the university to risk. A case study involving thirteen Australian university lawyers identifies the legal and…

The aim of this study was to investigate the work-based internship experiences of eight student-coaches. This was particularly in terms of what precisely such coaches learned within the practical context, and how they engaged with unexpected situational events. The methods employed within the project included focus group interviews and participant…

Work Integrated Learning (WIL) is embraced in Australian higher education (HE) and is a feature of most Australian HE 'entry to profession' engineering education programs accredited by Engineers Australia. Accreditation guidelines articulate the need for curriculum-integrated engagement with professional practice (EPP) and encourage EPP in a…

Industry engagement, commonly implemented as a 12 week industry placement during a vacation towards the end of the degree, has traditionally been a provider-mandated component of externally accredited professional engineering degrees in Australia. Such placements are intended to bridge knowledge and capability gaps between academic study and…