Purpose: Australian physiotherapy programs incorporate work-integrated learning within curriculum, with the aim to produce work-ready graduates. Recent research in physiotherapy has identified six domains of work readiness. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between university performance, paid work and work readiness, and…

This support document accompanies the research report, "Understanding the Value of Pre-Apprenticeships," which examines the effect of pre-apprenticeship programs on apprenticeship completions and the value that both students and employers place on pre-apprenticeship programs in helping students to obtain successful apprenticeship…

This support document accompanies the research report, "Understanding the Value of Pre-Apprenticeships," which examines the effect of pre-apprenticeship programs on apprenticeship completions and the value that both students and employers place on pre-apprenticeship programs in helping students to obtain successful apprenticeship…

Governments and organisations across Australia have invested in pre-apprenticeship programs with the aim of improving apprenticeship commencement, completion, and satisfaction. Understanding the value of pre-apprenticeships is essential for informing government funding decisions and ensuring that the most appropriate student and industry supports…

It is widely acknowledged that graduates need to develop skills and competences beyond the theoretical knowledge nurtured within higher education curricula. In the last twenty years there has been an increased interest in supporting learners with work-based learning (WBL) (e.g. apprenticeships, practice-based lab sessions, project-based learning).…

Health professionals require specific knowledge and a broad range of skills and attributes to work and reside in rural environments. It is important students are offered the opportunity to undertake a rural professional experience placement (PEP) to ensure they develop a breadth of understanding of healthcare practice with opportunities to apply…

We describe a space industry work experience program and report on the design, implementation, and evaluation of this program, including its purposes, organisation, participants -- hosts and students -- and its outcomes. The program was a collaboration between the South Australian Department for Education, the South Australian Space Industry…

Extensive evidence demonstrates a trend of positive outcomes related to learning in the workplace. Despite this, no examination of the outcomes has been undertaken using the available Australian vocational education and training (VET) data. This publication uses VET administrative data to examine trends in the delivery of workplace-based training,…

Supervisors are often reluctant to make an adverse assessment of the student's performance during work placements, which leads to a phenomenon known as "failure to fail". This Australian study evaluated resources designed to enhance the management of students who fail to meet the required standard of performance during work placements.…

Reflection, reflective thinking and reflexivity have received significant attention in the scholarly literature on higher education yet there is limited research that explores these concepts in relation to international students. This paper consequently explores what reflection and reflective thinking might look and feel like for international…

"Research Messages 2020" highlights the diverse range of research activities undertaken over the past year by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). Research published during 2019 encompasses a range of themes and topics categorised according to three broad areas: (1) structures and systems for skilling and…

Embedded Work Integrated Learning (EWIL) is a specific model of Work Integrated Learning (WIL); students work with industry in small blocks of time at regular intervals throughout semester focussing on reflective learning in authentic work environments. This study highlights benefits and challenges experienced when incorporating EWIL into a…

Traineeships have been shown to be successful in generating improved labour market outcomes and are often recommended as a policy option for disadvantaged youth. Regretfully data indicate that one such target group, Indigenous Australians, continues to have lower traineeship completion rates than the non-Indigenous. To address this issue, a…

Australia entered the COVID-19 pandemic with a youth (15 to 24-year-old) unemployment rate of 11.6% in December 2019, three times higher than the 25 to 64-year-old unemployment rate of 3.6%. The strategies taken by governments to minimise the spread of COVID-19 have had widespread economic impacts. By July 2020, youth unemployment had risen to…

Experiential learning approaches such as work-integrated learning (WIL) are an important international business (IB) educational tool yet can be challenging to implement. This exploratory research examines the value derived by regional Australian export companies from engagement with such programmes. The results suggest that firms perceive…