Practices and Perspectives of First-Year WIL Activities

2021 ◽  
pp. 233-255
Author(s):  
Hannah Milliken ◽  
Michelle J. Eady ◽  
Bonnie Amelia Dean
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Primary Education ◽  
First Year ◽  
Generation Z ◽  
Theory To Practice ◽  
Apply Theory ◽  
Work Integrated Learning ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Tertiary Study ◽  
Gaining Insight

Work-integrated learning (WIL) experiences are in demand as higher education (HE) institutions endeavour to develop profession-ready graduates. However, Generation Z has reported a lack of preparedness and uncertainty entering the workforce. Designing WIL experiences across a degree engages these students in meaningful opportunities to apply theory to practice. Despite the support of degree-wide approaches, little is known about the prevalence of WIL opportunities within the first year of tertiary study. This chapter reports the findings from 10 interviews with first-year subject coordinators in the Bachelor of Primary Education (BPrimEd) degree, gaining insight into subject coordinators' roles and their perceived purpose of WIL in the first year of HE. Findings suggest subject coordinators recognise the value of and use WIL activities, yet a number of internal and external constraints also limit embedding WIL within first-year curricula. The research in this chapter is student-led and includes reflective insights from the lead student author.

scholarly journals Examining the UK higher education sector through the network of institutional accounts on Twitter

First Monday ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katy Jordan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Education Sector ◽  
University Rankings ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Network Metrics ◽  
Uk Higher Education ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Gaining Insight

Web link mining has been previously used as a way of gaining insight into how the Internet may be replicating or reshaping connections between institutions within the higher education sector. Institutions are increasingly active on social media platforms, and these connections have not been studied. This paper presents an exploratory analysis of the network of UK higher education institutional accounts on Twitter. All U.K. institutions have a presence. Standing in recent university rankings is found to be a significant predictor of several network metrics. In examining the communities present within the network, a combination of ranking and geolocation play a role. Analysis of a sample of tweets which mention more than one U.K. higher education institution provides an indication of why the topics of tweets would reinforce prestige and location in the network structure.

Designing Meaningful Learning Environments in a Work-Integrated-Learning Course Using a DOCC Design

2016 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Kathy Jordan ◽  
Jennifer Elsden-Clifton
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Teacher Education Program ◽  
Space And Place ◽  
First Year ◽  
Integrated Learning ◽  
Distributed Framework ◽  
Bachelor Of Education ◽  
Work Integrated Learning

As Higher Education increasingly moving towards a plethora of blended and fully online learning, questions are raised around the space and place of Work-Integrated Learning (WIL). This chapter reports on one institution's efforts to design and deliver a WIL course in a Teacher Education program adopting an open and distributed framework. The redesigned course, Orientation to Teaching, was a first year course in a Bachelor of Education (Primary) program at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. The redesign of the course was underpinned by a Distributed Open Collaborative Course (DOCC) design and as the workplace also became the site of learning, the theory of effective WIL curriculum (Orrell, 2011) also informed the design. This chapter examines the complexity of DOCC design in WIL contexts and uses Khan's 8 dimensions to frame the discussion.

FEUP peer mentoring: Promoting integration through support and experience sharing

2021 ◽  
pp. 030641902110259
Author(s):  
IM Ribeiro ◽  
TP Duarte ◽  
MMSM Bastos ◽  
AA Sousa ◽  
LFA Martins
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Peer Mentoring ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Integration Program ◽  
Social And Academic Integration ◽  
Degree Of Satisfaction ◽  
New Type ◽  
The University ◽  
Insight Into

Admission to higher education is a milestone in the lives of young people. This can be accompanied by several changes in the student’s life such as a new place of residence, a new group of friends, and a new type of education. This entry into higher education can provide a new series of experiences, challenges, and newfound independence. However, it might also expose problems and difficulties, possibly hampering the student's personal and academic development. In order to ease the integration into higher education, the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP) has developed a Peer Mentoring Programme promoted by students already attending different FEUP courses (mentors) which intends to support the first-year students (mentees) in this phase of their life, coordinated by some teachers from each course. This social and academic integration program is supported by 4 core ideas: Integration, Support, Experience, and Sharing. This work provides insight into the way in which this program is organized at FEUP, highlighting the students’ participation (mentees and mentors), the main contributions that each of them values, their degree of satisfaction and involvement, activities that were developed, and some testimonies.

scholarly journals Reflections on the Impact of Social Technologies on Lecturers in a Pathway Institution

2015 ◽  
pp. 131-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna M Velliaris ◽  
Craig R Willis ◽  
Paul B Breen
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
New Technology ◽  
First Year ◽  
Professional Lives ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Social Technologies ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Over Time

Education has evolved over time from face-to-face teaching to computer-supported learning, and now to even more sophisticated electronic tools. In particular, social technologies are being used to supplement the classroom experience and to ensure that students are becoming increasingly engaged in ways that appeal to them. No matter how educationally beneficial, however, new technology is affected by its users. To investigate this, lecturers at the Eynesbury Institute of Business and Technology (EIBT)—a Higher Education pathway provider—were surveyed to determine their perception and application of social technolog(ies) in their personal, but predominantly ‘professional' lives. Utilising a qualitative and autoethnographic approach, one author provides an insight into their own attitude toward social technologies, coupled with responses to three open-ended questions. Thereafter, the same questions were posed to EIBT academic staff to understand their willingness or reluctance to use social technologies in their practice as part of their first-year pathway course(s).

scholarly journals Government-Sponsored Bursaries: Examining Financial Support for Residents to Study at Home

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-60
Author(s):  
Melissa Anne James-MacEachern
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Financial Aid ◽  
High School Graduation ◽  
First Year ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Resident Students ◽  
School Graduation ◽  
Policy Direction ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
At Home

This study examines the George Coles bursary program—a financial aid plan designed to “keep residents at home” so they can attend university, by providing a bursary in their first year of university following high school graduation. The study offers insight into higher education students’ financial circumstances, thereby suggesting policy direction for governments and higher education institutions wishing to retain talent and support student financing. The findings show that the resident students considered in the study appeared to value the bursary. However, none of the key metrics related to participation in or conversion to the home institution indicated that the bursary impacted enrolment or participation. This research highlights the importance of utilizing financial aid in combination with other policies to help students access higher education.  

Lessons on ways to develop self-empowerment

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-84
Author(s):  
Bradley James Mays ◽  
Melissa Anne Brevetti
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Physical Disabilities ◽  
Traditional Students ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Non Traditional Students ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Gaining Insight

Purpose Researchers examine the new landscape of higher education, which is changing and evolving in the twenty-first century, as many non-traditional students, especially learners with physical disabilities, are “knocking on the door of higher education” (Harbour and Madaus, 2011, p. 1). Students with physical disabilities must decide how they desire to become engaged (or not) in campus life. This study also provides a theoretical lens of the moral responsibility of the multicultural academic community. Thus, the purpose of this study is to present findings that indicate gaining insight into the isolation, stigma and advocacy of these students’ lived experiences will require openness for inclusive practices to uplift all students with goals of graduation and employment. Design/methodology/approach This research investigation includes the process of discovery being analyzed and interpreted through participants’ narratives as a rigorous act of coding, imagination and logic to aggregate findings. To elicit the findings most effectively, transcendental phenomenology is the specific qualitative approach chosen for this study. Findings This study includes critical findings that indicate gaining insight into the isolation, stigma and advocacy of these students’ lived educative experiences. Concerns regarding communication and support are emphasized through the participants in the findings. Research limitations/implications A core limitation would be that this study takes places without regard for historical lived experiences. Social implications Implications exist for this new landscape of Higher Education, as we work beyond the gates of higher education for real-change and social progress. We need to learn about others (non-traditional students) while working toward multicultural competence that should be modeled in academic spaces to impart this knowledge to students to impart into broad society. Let us remember the growth that happens when social support exists, because each person has a value and role in society so that we live together and support each other in lessons of self-empowerment Originality/value This is an original study about learners with physical disabilities and the moral issues of how to create an inclusive, multicultural environment in higher education.

scholarly journals Co-researching co-creation of the curriculum: Reflections on arts-based methods in education and connections to healthcare co-production

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanya Michelle Lubicz-Nawrocka ◽  
Hermina Simoni
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
First Year ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Theory To Practice ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
Learning Through Experience ◽  
Traditional Roles

Learning through experience is an important, creative, and fulfilling way to apply theory to practice. In this essay, we explore our experiences of co-researching how students and staff conceptualise co-creation of the curriculum. We each have multi-faceted roles in higher education as we study, work, and contribute to formal student representation processes. At the time of this project, I (Tanya) was working at the Edinburgh University Students’ Association, supporting student representation, and I (Hermina) was a first-year student representative from the School of Health in Social Science. It was through a University of Edinburgh Innovative Initiative Grant project related to Tanya’s PhD research (focusing on co-creation of the curriculum) that we began to work together closely. We are both passionate about becoming involved in collaborative initiatives that improve the student experience and the wider university community. We were interested in exploring how our individual experiences as co-researchers could bridge boundaries between the traditional roles of postgraduate and undergraduate students, staff and students, and researchers and participants. Our aim was to blur the lines between these roles by working collaboratively with students-as-partners, facilitating open dialogue about best practices in learning and teaching, and redistributing power to create new synergies. Below, we focus on these topics and the little-explored connections between our academic disciplines in which co-creation of higher education curricula and co-production of health care are each beginning to play important roles. We reflect on our experiences of engaging in collaborative research using deliberative-democratic and arts-based methods, and we aim to provide an informative account of our experiences while drawing new connections.

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