Developing work-integrated learning opportunities for undergraduate psychology students

Ensuring equitable work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities for international students can be problematic. This position paper explores this challenge within the context of the Master of Public Health course (MPH) in Australian universities. The availability and accessibility of placement and nonplacement WIL for international students are examined through a desktop audit of MPH offerings across 27 public Australian universities. These findings, interpreted through the lens of cultural, social and financial capital suggest although international students stand to benefit more from WIL than their domestic peers, their opportunity to participate is lower. The paper argues a strength-based approach is needed to mitigate this issue of inequity. Suggestions are offered to improve equity in placement and nonplacement WIL for international students.

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Knowing me, Knowing you: Humanitas in work-integrated learning during adversity

Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice ◽

10.53761/1.18.7.10 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 159-176

Author(s):

Patricia Lucas ◽

◽

Helene Wilkinson ◽

Sally Rae ◽

Bonnie Dean ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Learning Opportunities ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Integrated Learning ◽

Theory To Practice ◽

Key Stakeholders ◽

Creative Solutions ◽

Multidisciplinary Group ◽

Work Integrated Learning ◽

Organisational Factors

Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) is a variety of learning opportunities that can extend beyond the application of theory to practice, to include complex situational, personal, material, and organisational factors. Central to forming successful WIL experiences is the partnership, support, and collaboration extended by all key stakeholders. The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted WIL experiences, with many developed partnerships and sustained practices being abruptly impacted. In 2020, a multidisciplinary group of Australasian WIL academics, administrators and students joined in weekly virtual coffee chats to share concerns and experiences during this rapidly changing educational landscape. These conversations led to establishing a Small Significant Online Network Group (SSONG) and became the basis for this article. We explored the lessons learned from WIL practitioners to be better informed of the practice of WIL and, generally, to examine the role of collaborations in higher education. Using a collaborative autoethnographic approach, this study incorporated written reflections on WIL experiences during COVID-19 lockdowns, followed by Zoom conversations to gain deeper insights. All data was aggregated and analysed thematically, both inductively and deductively, to interpret the practice experiences of individuals in their socio-cultural contexts. This article intends to demonstrate how creative solutions, such as adopting a HUMANE framework, become valuable paradigms. These enhance and nurture relationships between all WIL stakeholders, to enrich and sustain WIL experiences for all.

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Pivots, pirouettes and practicalities: Actions and reactions of work-integrated learning practitioners

Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice ◽

10.53761/1.18.5.2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (5) ◽

pp. 17-34

Author(s):

Melissa Connor ◽

◽

Beate Mueller ◽

Samuel Mann ◽

Martin Andrew ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Professional Practice ◽

Lived Experiences ◽

Learning Opportunities ◽

Practice Research ◽

Integrated Learning ◽

Global Pandemic ◽

Work Integrated Learning ◽

Sudden Transition ◽

Future Practice ◽

Rapid Shift

One impact of the global pandemic of 2020 was a rapid shift in the delivery of work-integrated learning (WIL) to remote activity among WIL practitioners, students and educators alike. Along with professional practice research in higher degrees, WIL practice, including placements and non-placements, responded actively and sometimes reactively to the challenges of sudden transition to online environments. What strategies - pivots and pirouettes - did WIL practitioners use to weather the storm of Covid-19? What does this tell us about the nature of WIL? This paper captures the seemingly overnight response to shifting work-based learning to online and other spaces. With change came the opportunity to reflect on the varying areas of WIL: from the practical processes of ensuring students are cared for to pivoting to the learning opportunities it presented in building digital literacies and adapting to the global future of work. This study is a Trans-Tasman collaboration of four WIL practitioners exploring their responsiveness to disruption in WIL contexts. We present collective autoethnographic responses to such themes as disruption, becoming resilient, pivoting to change, changing perceptions of WIL and the legacies of the pandemic. These themes apply to learners and educators alike, and our words embody the experiences of both groups. Our responses to phenomena highlighted this need for resilience and agility. Methodologically, the researchers’ micro-narrative responses to key themes structure themselves into a macro-narrative that demonstrates the lived experiences of the researchers as educators in the WIL space and explores implications for ongoing and future practice.

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