Presentations by Rachael Hains-Wesson
Refereed Proceedings of the 23rd WACE World Conference on Cooperative and Work-Integrated Education, 2023
Higher Education has long focused on developing graduate work-readiness. More recently, “producin... more Higher Education has long focused on developing graduate work-readiness. More recently, “producing graduates with the required cognitive, affective and social capabilities to function effectively in the workforce has become increasingly explicit” (Jackson, 2018, p. 23). Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) is a critical means for achieving this goal. WIL experiences typically assist with skill acquisition and graduate job-readiness (McHugh, 2016), particularly in supporting the development of generic skills that can be applied across sectors (Kavanagh & Drennan, 2008; Freudenberg, Brimble & Cameron, 2011), along with increased self-confidence through providing opportunities for practice and feedback (Billett, 2011b; Jackson, 2015). Yet while placements assist with the development of skills and confidence in some areas, they may not be as effective in improving problem-solving skills and confidence specifically. In one study, for example, 30% of students indicated no change had taken place in the development of problem-solving skills following placements, while up to 74% of students indicated improvement in other technical skills (Bandaranaike & Willison, 2010).
WACE World Conference, 2023
When we feel safe and are smiling, laughing, and connected to people, we are likely to perform be... more When we feel safe and are smiling, laughing, and connected to people, we are likely to perform better (Frederickson, 2001), especially in team projects (Bang et al., 2010; Edmondson, 1999). In this paper, we posit that fun influences a research team's trust and willingness to seek open and honest feedback (Karakowsky et al., 2020) and improves group interconnections. We argue that work-integrated learning (WIL) research (and more broadly all research) processes, relationships and outputs can be enhanced when teams purposely introduce, monitor, and evaluate fun as an important element. We, therefore, explore "fun" as a critical ingredient to navigating successful team-based research projects. We present our experience, provide examples, and link our claims to relevant research on the benefits and challenges of introducing fun in work and research. We synthesize our learnings by presenting an evolving fun-in-research model based on our experiences, expanding the scholarship of teaching and learning. At the same time, we hope our story adds value to WIL group-based research and other team-based WIL practices more widely.
Western Australia Institute for Educational Research Annual Conference Proceedings, 2023
Authentic assessments have been promoted for some time to improve quality of learning including d... more Authentic assessments have been promoted for some time to improve quality of learning including deep learning (Kaider, Hains-Wesson, & Young, 2017). Following the current trends in AI and its implications for assessment, as well as the focus on graduate employability in a competitive job market, there is increased pressure on higher education institutions to create assessments that are "uncheatable" and assess skills in a way that translate to the working environment graduates will enter (Hains-Wesson, Ji, & Wu Berberich, 2021). Effectively supporting teachers to construct authentic assessment tasks requires a robust process, primarily due to differing definitions and context sensitivities. There are diverse perspectives, understandings, theories, expectations, and engagement levels to contend with. Assessments are the common denominator across faculties, disciplines, and content areas. Regardless of the different experience levels of educators or attitudes educators hold towards assessment, all educators engage with assessment in some form or another. This makes for a challenging task to design a tool that can be meaningfully employed across the board. In this round table discussion, the lead author describes the crafting of a teacher-support artefact in the form of an Authentic Assessment Rubric Tool (AART) that enables teachers to self- and peer-review authentic assessment tasks. Participants will have the opportunity to evaluate and test their own assessments to measure its authenticity, and to critique the AART model to improve it for future users.
ACEN (Vic/Tas) and HERDSA (Vic) branches completed a joint workshop event that showcased a variet... more ACEN (Vic/Tas) and HERDSA (Vic) branches completed a joint workshop event that showcased a variety of authentic non-placement WIL approaches and offered opportunities to discuss them and share experiences. It is increasingly challenging to find placements for our students to have intensive WIL experiences and prepare them for employability. The majority of students don’t have access to placements and these non-placement authentic WIL activities provide them with opportunities to engage with industry and community in work-related assignments. ACEN VIC/Tas and HERDSA (Vic) hosted the workshop on non-placement Work-Integrated Learning on May 15, 2015. The workshop concluded with opportunities to discuss WIL challenges and effective ways to implement non-placement WIL with experts in the field.
Where: Deakin University's City Centre
Level 3, 550 Bourke Street, Melbourne 3000
Presenters: Karen Le Rossignol (Deakin), Sally Parrot (RMIT) & Dr Viet Le (Swinburne)
ACEN conference 2014, Oct 3, 2014
A showcase presentation at the ACEN National Conference (2014), Queensland, Australia.
The que... more A showcase presentation at the ACEN National Conference (2014), Queensland, Australia.
The quest to provide WIL experiences to increasing numbers of students is the aspiration of most universities in recognition of demand by employers for work-ready graduates. Co-op years, internships, or other types of placements which have been the hallmark of traditional WIL experiences are increasingly difficult to secure. Therefore other types of WIL have come to the fore as alternative work-related experiential learning activities. At Deakin University, a major course renewal process has provided the impetus and resources to develop a course-wide range of such alternative, but equally rich, WIL learning activities and assessments.
A case in point is a course in humanitarian assistance in which students begin their WIL activity by developing a response plan to an online simulated emergency humanitarian scenario. This is then followed by a live simulation of a different scenario in which students and sector representatives role-play operational and strategic functions. Students also interview personnel, conduct a press conference, facilitate funder and response team meetings and reflect on the development of their graduate and leadership capabilities.
This example, among others at Deakin, offers students authentic, professionally-based, integrated and scaffolded WIL learning experiences that are an alternative and complement to placements. The sharing of these initiatives may serve as a stimulus for expanding WIL offerings.
Learning and Teaching Symposium, Dec 2013
A presentation about a small mixed method research project being undertaken at a rural dual secto... more A presentation about a small mixed method research project being undertaken at a rural dual sector university. The project investigates a curricular renewal process that utilises a WIL framework in order to evaluate the assessment tasks for students' job readiness. The presentation focused on some of the findings and outcomes to date.
Learning and Teaching Conference, Nov 2013
A panel of teachers discussed how they utilise a WIL framework to assist them to create authentic... more A panel of teachers discussed how they utilise a WIL framework to assist them to create authentic assessment tasks that mirrored what students would do in the workplace to increase students' job readiness.
A WIL workshop for teachers at Deakin University. Cloud Based Work Integrated & Career Developmen... more A WIL workshop for teachers at Deakin University. Cloud Based Work Integrated & Career Development Learning is a 2 hour workshop that will enable participants to design and develop practical cloud-based work integrated and career development learning activities to enable students to develop skills and abilities required for starting their careers. Topics covered included:
1. How online simulations can be designed to represent authentic work-Integrated Learning
2. What other learning activities can be offered as work-integrated and career development learning
3. How work-integrated and career development learning can be assessed.
Capacity Building, Deakin Learning Futures, Mar 20, 2013
An activity-based workshop about how teachers can assist students to use reflective practice to m... more An activity-based workshop about how teachers can assist students to use reflective practice to meet a changing world and to become confident global citizens.
What the participants had to say about the workshop:
"The workshop was highly experiential and interactive, and I couldn’t pretend to be able to fill you in properly"
"It was a great experience"
"Many thanks Rachael
I enjoyed the session"
"Thanks very much for an interesting session Rachael"
"Today I attended an excellent workshop on reflective practice run by Rachael.""
A series of 2.2 workshop as part of the Sandpit process at Deakin Learning Futures, Deakin Univer... more A series of 2.2 workshop as part of the Sandpit process at Deakin Learning Futures, Deakin University.
Each 2.2 workshop is a discipline specific seminar that assists academics/teachers to review CLOs and to map them across the Course at Unit level. The workshop also focuses on understanding CloudConcepts and how to enhance a unit to incorporate reimagined assessment items that engage students and delight them.
Workshops that have been completed:
March 2013: B.ComFinance
March 2013: B.ComMgt
"
The presentation is based on a university-wide ePortfolio project that went from “test to product... more The presentation is based on a university-wide ePortfolio project that went from “test to production” and was “rolled out” using a benchmarking strategy in order to meet national standards. The ePortfolio initiative was an important element of the University’s Learning and Teaching Plan 2012-2014. The ePortfolio initiative was incorporated into the students’ learning experience to address graduate attributes and professional skills via a teacher "by-in” approach. The ePortfolio project was also used to help students implement effective reflective practice techniques within various units, courses and programs as well as to encourage lifelong learning.
The rationale behind the project was to gain insight from previous university-wide ePortfolio (nationally and internationally) initiatives and to use the findings in order to adapt learnt discoveries into a rural multi-sector University-wide ePortfolio program. The benchmarking process assisted the ePortfolio Project Officer to plan, develop and implement pertinent blended support resources as well as to determine potential pre- and post- rollout challenges and issues.
The presentation confirms the requirement for a more personal, flexible and collaborative technological and pedagogical support program that incorporates a blended and collegial approach to ePortfolio making. Recommendations are made for the careful implementation and integration of pre- and post- rollout evaluation and benchmarking processes at a rural multi-sector University that aims to meet national standards.
Highlights of the desired focus of the presentation are: the good and the bad: what will work? How to develop an integrated and effective ePortfolio platform as an eLearning tool, and ease of use to enable student and teacher adoption at a rural dual sector setting."
A seminar for staff who work with performing arts students. The presentation discussed and invest... more A seminar for staff who work with performing arts students. The presentation discussed and investigated ways in which to implement ePortfolios into the curricular in order to address graduate attributes and employability skills for performing arts students
A Professional Development workshop for VET teachers on ePortfolios as an alternative assessment ... more A Professional Development workshop for VET teachers on ePortfolios as an alternative assessment practice for Industry placement and work-skill recording.
A Professional Development workshop for VET teachers (in the Human Services Faculty) which invest... more A Professional Development workshop for VET teachers (in the Human Services Faculty) which investigated how to support VET teachers with students moving into Higher Education. This workshop offered additional support resources for the dual sector in Learning and Teaching such as Reflective Practice techniques.
A Professional Development workshop for VET apprentice teachers and students on ePortfolio making... more A Professional Development workshop for VET apprentice teachers and students on ePortfolio making as part of an eLearning project grant.
The opportunity for postgraduate candidates and early career academics to develop an ePortfolio i... more The opportunity for postgraduate candidates and early career academics to develop an ePortfolio is occurring all over the world and in numerous educational settings. This presentation acknowledges and illustrates the benefits of creating and sustaining an ePortfolio, resources for the novice ePortfolio designer and showcases examples of "Good Practice" ePortfolios. Additionally, the presentation concludes by focusing on any concerns that participants might have associated with the University of Ballarat's ePortfolio system as well as inviting feedback in order to address the postgraduate students' ePortfolio experience.
ABSTRACT: One way in which teachers can sustain and improve student led teaching and learning pro... more ABSTRACT: One way in which teachers can sustain and improve student led teaching and learning projects is to use extrinsic and intrinsic motivational techniques. However, the balance between successfully implementing these techniques simultaneously and separately and at the “right” moment is never easy. Investigating the impact of certain types of extrinsic and intrinsic motivational techniques on students’ attitudes towards an online learning experience can help better understand the relevance of such techniques. This research presentation outlines a project which: i) produced an online creative arts journal at The University of Western Australia for the first time, 2) identified four main types of extrinsic and intrinsic motivational techniques that assisted in sustaining the student led project; 3) investigated which extrinsic and intrinsic motivational techniques are “best” employed regarding the future growth of the online teaching and learning project, and in order for the project to evolve successfully into the future, and 4) surveyed students and interviewed lecturers associated with the previous three points. The results suggest that students appreciate lecturers providing opportunities concerning online, industry linked and student led teaching and learning projects. In addition, lecturers who implement certain extrinsic and intrinsic motivation techniques are viewed by students as showing passion towards the student learning outcomes which in turn encourages participation. Recommendations are made regarding ways to encourage a wider use of extrinsic and intrinsic techniques and especially within an online, industry linked teaching and learning project at the university level.
This presentation was based on a a case study that examines a theatre-in-education production The... more This presentation was based on a a case study that examines a theatre-in-education production The Small Poppies (1989) and its expression, making connections between some of the strands of research regarding the role of the imaginary companion in early childhood studies and performance theory. The premise of the presentation is that the creative work of The Small Poppies provides an alternative gateway to extend the analysis associated with the imaginary character in early childhood studies. This will be achieved by exploring the role of the imaginary character in a theatre-in-education playtext as a textual framing device as well as an opportunity for the actor to perform the invisible. Conclusions are made, revealing that The Small Poppies has not only assisted in introducing young people to a theatre-attending habit enjoyed into adulthood, but has reinforced the importance of the imaginary companion as a positive journey of discovery and not something of which to be ashamed.
Between 2 and 4 March 2011, the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis held a conference at the U... more Between 2 and 4 March 2011, the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis held a conference at the University of Amsterdam. Titled ‘Practicing Theory: Imagining, Resisting, Remembering’, the conference aimed to investigate how ‘theory’ and ‘practice’ overlap, influence and construct one another. The conference also sought to shed light on the productive intersections that arise when the boundaries between theory and practice are considered porous and the gap which lies between them is reinvented as a constructive space of opportunity. Because the conference revolved around the interrogation of the boundaries between conceptual objects of theory and practice, participants from a wide variety of disciplines were invited to submit articles and essays from the fields of science, art and politics. The conference and accompanying workshops werestructured along three central themes in which participants were asked to think and/or work through the practicing of theory and the theorising of practice. As outlined in the conference title, these three themes were ‘imagining’, ‘resisting’ and ‘remembering’.
One way to assist in transforming a lecture experience into an occasion that can attract and enga... more One way to assist in transforming a lecture experience into an occasion that can attract and engage students is with the use of acting skills. However, very few university academics have experience employing such techniques. Investigating the impact of certain types of performance skills on students' attitudes towards the learning experience can help better understand the relevance of such techniques. This presentation outlines a project which: i) surveyed students about their attitudes to face to face and online recorded lectures, ii) surveyed students about their attitudes towards performance techniques, in particular, spatial awareness, vocalisation, eye contact and passion and iii) interviewed lecturers about the potential benefits to student learning regarding performance techniques in the lecture theatre and their personal frequency of use. The results suggest that students and lecturers value face to face delivery of content, recognising the benefits of certain performance techniques in the lecture theatre. Recommendations are made regarding ways to encourage a wider use and evaluation of performance techniques in teaching and learning at the university level.
Keywords: performance techniques in the classroom, student engagement, performance-centred approach to learning
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Presentations by Rachael Hains-Wesson
Where: Deakin University's City Centre
Level 3, 550 Bourke Street, Melbourne 3000
Presenters: Karen Le Rossignol (Deakin), Sally Parrot (RMIT) & Dr Viet Le (Swinburne)
The quest to provide WIL experiences to increasing numbers of students is the aspiration of most universities in recognition of demand by employers for work-ready graduates. Co-op years, internships, or other types of placements which have been the hallmark of traditional WIL experiences are increasingly difficult to secure. Therefore other types of WIL have come to the fore as alternative work-related experiential learning activities. At Deakin University, a major course renewal process has provided the impetus and resources to develop a course-wide range of such alternative, but equally rich, WIL learning activities and assessments.
A case in point is a course in humanitarian assistance in which students begin their WIL activity by developing a response plan to an online simulated emergency humanitarian scenario. This is then followed by a live simulation of a different scenario in which students and sector representatives role-play operational and strategic functions. Students also interview personnel, conduct a press conference, facilitate funder and response team meetings and reflect on the development of their graduate and leadership capabilities.
This example, among others at Deakin, offers students authentic, professionally-based, integrated and scaffolded WIL learning experiences that are an alternative and complement to placements. The sharing of these initiatives may serve as a stimulus for expanding WIL offerings.
1. How online simulations can be designed to represent authentic work-Integrated Learning
2. What other learning activities can be offered as work-integrated and career development learning
3. How work-integrated and career development learning can be assessed.
What the participants had to say about the workshop:
"The workshop was highly experiential and interactive, and I couldn’t pretend to be able to fill you in properly"
"It was a great experience"
"Many thanks Rachael
I enjoyed the session"
"Thanks very much for an interesting session Rachael"
"Today I attended an excellent workshop on reflective practice run by Rachael.""
Each 2.2 workshop is a discipline specific seminar that assists academics/teachers to review CLOs and to map them across the Course at Unit level. The workshop also focuses on understanding CloudConcepts and how to enhance a unit to incorporate reimagined assessment items that engage students and delight them.
Workshops that have been completed:
March 2013: B.ComFinance
March 2013: B.ComMgt
"
The rationale behind the project was to gain insight from previous university-wide ePortfolio (nationally and internationally) initiatives and to use the findings in order to adapt learnt discoveries into a rural multi-sector University-wide ePortfolio program. The benchmarking process assisted the ePortfolio Project Officer to plan, develop and implement pertinent blended support resources as well as to determine potential pre- and post- rollout challenges and issues.
The presentation confirms the requirement for a more personal, flexible and collaborative technological and pedagogical support program that incorporates a blended and collegial approach to ePortfolio making. Recommendations are made for the careful implementation and integration of pre- and post- rollout evaluation and benchmarking processes at a rural multi-sector University that aims to meet national standards.
Highlights of the desired focus of the presentation are: the good and the bad: what will work? How to develop an integrated and effective ePortfolio platform as an eLearning tool, and ease of use to enable student and teacher adoption at a rural dual sector setting."
Keywords: performance techniques in the classroom, student engagement, performance-centred approach to learning
Where: Deakin University's City Centre
Level 3, 550 Bourke Street, Melbourne 3000
Presenters: Karen Le Rossignol (Deakin), Sally Parrot (RMIT) & Dr Viet Le (Swinburne)
The quest to provide WIL experiences to increasing numbers of students is the aspiration of most universities in recognition of demand by employers for work-ready graduates. Co-op years, internships, or other types of placements which have been the hallmark of traditional WIL experiences are increasingly difficult to secure. Therefore other types of WIL have come to the fore as alternative work-related experiential learning activities. At Deakin University, a major course renewal process has provided the impetus and resources to develop a course-wide range of such alternative, but equally rich, WIL learning activities and assessments.
A case in point is a course in humanitarian assistance in which students begin their WIL activity by developing a response plan to an online simulated emergency humanitarian scenario. This is then followed by a live simulation of a different scenario in which students and sector representatives role-play operational and strategic functions. Students also interview personnel, conduct a press conference, facilitate funder and response team meetings and reflect on the development of their graduate and leadership capabilities.
This example, among others at Deakin, offers students authentic, professionally-based, integrated and scaffolded WIL learning experiences that are an alternative and complement to placements. The sharing of these initiatives may serve as a stimulus for expanding WIL offerings.
1. How online simulations can be designed to represent authentic work-Integrated Learning
2. What other learning activities can be offered as work-integrated and career development learning
3. How work-integrated and career development learning can be assessed.
What the participants had to say about the workshop:
"The workshop was highly experiential and interactive, and I couldn’t pretend to be able to fill you in properly"
"It was a great experience"
"Many thanks Rachael
I enjoyed the session"
"Thanks very much for an interesting session Rachael"
"Today I attended an excellent workshop on reflective practice run by Rachael.""
Each 2.2 workshop is a discipline specific seminar that assists academics/teachers to review CLOs and to map them across the Course at Unit level. The workshop also focuses on understanding CloudConcepts and how to enhance a unit to incorporate reimagined assessment items that engage students and delight them.
Workshops that have been completed:
March 2013: B.ComFinance
March 2013: B.ComMgt
"
The rationale behind the project was to gain insight from previous university-wide ePortfolio (nationally and internationally) initiatives and to use the findings in order to adapt learnt discoveries into a rural multi-sector University-wide ePortfolio program. The benchmarking process assisted the ePortfolio Project Officer to plan, develop and implement pertinent blended support resources as well as to determine potential pre- and post- rollout challenges and issues.
The presentation confirms the requirement for a more personal, flexible and collaborative technological and pedagogical support program that incorporates a blended and collegial approach to ePortfolio making. Recommendations are made for the careful implementation and integration of pre- and post- rollout evaluation and benchmarking processes at a rural multi-sector University that aims to meet national standards.
Highlights of the desired focus of the presentation are: the good and the bad: what will work? How to develop an integrated and effective ePortfolio platform as an eLearning tool, and ease of use to enable student and teacher adoption at a rural dual sector setting."
Keywords: performance techniques in the classroom, student engagement, performance-centred approach to learning
"Secrets" is ever changing. The work begins with an essay that explores the nature of blended writing before continuing with a story about a peculiar relationship between a Death Adder snake and a girl who is shipwrecked off the coast of New South Wales, Australia in the late eighteen hundreds. A parallel story is then re-told in 'Killing me Softly', but with an alternative viewpoint that has been influenced by Henry Lawson's timeless short story "The Drover's Wife". The reader then meets the girl again, but this time she is trying to figure out the meaning of first love in contemporary times. However, her Doctor seems more lost than she is. The reader encounters various other crisp-like prose pieces where images, everyday objects and where characters set a fast-paced narrative to uncover mysteries of the land and mind. A selection of poetry is peppered throughout the work before the reader is brought face-to-face with a bird's life, a baby, the nature of dreams, passion, and erotic revenge that has a twist at the end.
"Refreshing theatrical experience marked by crisp direction and a keen sense of rhythm." [Canberra Times July, 2001].
"The author utilises metaphor, movement and various theatrical devices to present content which is notoriously 'difficult' in a highly original, engaging way. This is thought provoking, profound work" (Santha Press, 2000).
Design/methodology/approach: The study uses a self-study methodology, using a series of self-recorded video diaries focused on preparation learning. The video diaries serve as visual and auditory self-reflective stimuli, providing insights into preparation practices that may benefit novice STSA teachers.
Findings: The findings highlight the importance of understanding both the “self” and ensuring early expectations through video reflections, which can enhance traditional methods in STSA professional development.
Originality/value: This study presents an alternative STSA professional development approach using self-recorded teacher video diaries to advance practice and share insights.
version of the Theory of Change framework by Hart, Diercks-O’Brien, & Powell, (2009). ([Hart, et al., (2009). Exploring stakeholder engagement in impact evaluations planning in educational development work. Evaluation, 15(3), 285–306.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1356389009105882]) to better acknowledge, understand and prepare for failure. Even with careful planning to execute a purposefully designed collaborative research project, success cannot be guaranteed. When failure happens, something has gone terribly wrong. However, something has also transpired that was meaningful.
combination of online interactive activities with face-to-face learnings. This includes a mixture of different types of teaching and learning techniques, and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) tools. In this study, we undertook an experiment to ascertain what constituted a practitioner-based approach to team-teaching for blended learning. The experiment occurred during one teaching period (11 weeks) at an Australian University where the classroom teaching experience was accessed by students and teachers across different geographical locations, using ICT. During the experiment, we completed individual and collaborative reflections, utilised an online survey to elicit students’ perceptions about our team-teaching practice and critiqued the literature on blended learning. Qualitative analysis was conducted for each data source, revealing several key themes, which were: (1) skills, (2) student, team-teaching and teacher roles and (3) the role of ICT. This study explored these themes in detail, showing that when using ICT, specific communication processes build student and teachers’ confidence as well as facilitating trust between those involved in providing a blended classroom experience. This in turn, contributes to the flexible use of ICT tools, offering opportunities for teacher and students to participate in variety of class roles, interacting via online, face-to-face or blended methods. Overall we found that to assist with setting-up and facilitating teachteaching for blended learning, it was important to provide role clarity, an agreed-to approach for classroom communications and purposeful integration of ICT for the teaching team and students when failure occurred.
document and analyze authentic work-related assessment types for a
university-wide major course review (Kaider, F., and R. Hains-Wesson.
2016. Enhancing Courses for Employability. Melbourne: Australian
Collaborative Education Network. Report.). This study provides further
insights into Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics (STEM)
teachers’ experiences in undertaking authentic assessment-led reform.
STEM teachers participated in an online survey and a recorded interview
to elicit their perceptions of authentic assessment-led activities. A mixed
methods approach was used with two key themes emerging: (1)
purpose and approach, which highlighted the importance of introducing
a shared understanding for effective authentic assessment-led reform
and (2) working with industry, which illustrated the requirement to
provide teachers with additional support options when working with
industry. In this paper, we discuss the implications of the findings along
with the presentation of a set of key recommendations for supporting
teachers when renewing STEM education.
Background
ACEN aims to foster research and scholarship initiatives in Work Integrated Learning (WIL) by endorsing research and scholarship proposals and identifying and advancing WIL research and scholarship in priority areas.
In 2013 ACEN is offering funding for two research grants to conduct an investigation into an area of Work Integrated Learning that address a theme identified through consultation with ACEN membership as part of the 2012 ACEN National Research Symposium. These themes are:
Meeting the expectations of employers/tired workforce and limited placements.
Assessing WIL outcomes/WIL and e portfolio (gathering evidence, documentation etc.)
Measurement/impact/evidence
Widening participation/equity and social inclusion/social transformative effects of WIL
Costs associated with WIL
Employability as a marketable feature of education.
Scheme Objectives
The grants are intended to: Build the capacity for members of ACEN to undertake research into aspects of work integrated learning promote and supporting scholarship in work integrated learning develop effective mechanisms for identifying, developing, disseminating and embedding researched based practice in work integrated learning programs leverage opportunities for collaboration in research into the practices of work integrated learning.
best used as a discussion prompt only. Throughout the white paper, we share ideas about WIL practice and how to best support and improve Australian and Chinese business students’ WIL learning outcomes for job readiness.
The concept of fun in professional settings might be met with scepticism, especially in academic environments where the stakes are high and the work is serious (Wright et al., 2021). However, integrating fun into higher education is not just a trivial pursuit; it’s a critical strategy for fostering creativity (Yang, 2020), enhancing teamwork (Michel et al., 2019), employees’ well-being (Renee Baptiste, 2009), and ultimately achieving success.
To help achieve this, we have undertaken a three-year research project, supported by the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia via a small grant to explore how we can test a Fun Model first penned by Hains-Wesson et al., (2023) and how it impacts teamwork. The research took the form of group-based autoethnography where we carved out dedicated time to pursue fun as a key element in team meetings, observing, reflecting, and critiquing fun. We used our experiences to create a Fun Quick Guide for leaders, managers and people passionate about teams, which we share here and for the wider community to consider introducing fun into their higher education work lives.
Funding
The authors gratefully acknowledge the grant received from the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) to fund this research.
Using live streaming with blended learning helps engage off- and on-campus students in real time and enhances the off-campus experience by incorporating synchronous activities in addition to the usual asynchronous interactions.
Research into the effective use of blended learning frameworks offers opportunities to create course experiences that are personal, relevant, and engaging.
Challenges include integrating appropriate technology and managing it effectively throughout the course.
Results from practical experiments will likely guide future learning and teaching endeavors using technology for inclusive, interactive, and collaborative learning for on- and off-campus students.
Shaun Tan’s award winning children’s book The Red Tree is visually rich, however textually scarce. Nevertheless, Sheedy has skillfully directed an aesthetically rich and emotionally drenched experience for children and their families.
"
Shakespeare wrote most of his known works between 1589 and 1613, however there will always be scholarly debate surrounding the question ‘was Shakespeare the only writer of all his known plays?’ Nevertheless, Shakespeare’s plays are still alluring audiences and A Mid Summer Night’s Dream is no exception."
My Darling Patricia’s Africa presents no obvious solutions to the ongoing predicaments that do not cease once the lights go down. The puppet-children in Africa relate to a contaminated world made by adult culture and subterfuge and must find ways to survive adult enhanced situations that are problematic. The young people who view this production will relate to Africa in diverse ways. This is mainly due to the production intentionally raising questions rather than answering them.
The measure of any theatre movement is usually illustrated by its production narrative and the vision of its earlier pioneers and practitioners.
Trove aims to: support, nurture and provide on-going feedback to beginning, developing and emerging creative arts students in a university context. To provide students with opportunities to present their work for an online publication.
Trove endeavours to provide students with an editing experience that resembles a professional industry environment and helps them to gain future employment.
Kristie Michelle Chiew
Berakah Ho
Lachlan Keeley
Minh Ngo
Jen Perry
Rachael Hains-Wesson
Carol Ryles
Trove aims to: support, nurture and provide on-going feedback to beginning, developing and emerging creative arts students in a university context and provide students with opportunities to present their work for an online publication.
Trove endeavours to provide students with an editing experience that resembles a professional industry environment and helps student to gain graduate attributes."