ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Enhancing Learning Outcomes from Industry Engagement in Australian Engineering Education
Author: Male, Sally A.
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Outcomes of Education,Engineering Education,Foreign Countries,Student Placement,Education Work Relationship,Industry,Workplace Learning,Partnerships in Education,Universities,Student Attitudes,Employer Attitudes,Intervention,Guidelines,Educational Change,Computer Simulation,Accreditation (Institutions)

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 engineering employment and contextualise the final phase of academic study. Changes in the composition of Australia's engineering industries have made it progressively harder to source such placements. In-curriculum exposure to engineering practice has also been expected, but has been delivered with considerable variability. In 2014 the authors completed a national project, led by the Australian Council of Engineering Deans (ACED), with peak industry bodies and several partner universities, funded from the Commonwealth Department of Industry Workplace Innovation Program, to explore how improving industry engagement could contribute further to engineering graduates' learning outcomes and employability. The data collected from the engineering students and employers, reported in this paper, can now be regarded as baseline data on industry engagement, against which subsequent developments can be referenced. For the first time, students' ratings of the value of different methods for industry engagement are shown to be related to their 'authenticity'. Several industry-inspired in-curriculum interventions were also trialled at partner universities. Guidelines for good practice were developed from melding the experiential findings with theoretical perspectives. In the years since completing the project, the accreditation body, Engineers Australia, has updated and intensified its focus on engagement with practice (including changing its language from 'exposure' to 'engagement'), and many engineering faculties have significantly enhanced their models and requirements for work integrated learning and industry engagement. This paper outlines these changes and examples of new implementations, including virtual and electronically-mediated methods that also reflect ongoing changes in engineering industry practice.
Does University Prepare Students for Employment? Alignment between Graduate Attributes, Accreditation Requirements and Industry Employability Criteria
Author: Oraison, Humberto
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Employment Potential,College Graduates,Student Characteristics,Accreditation (Institutions),Nursing Education,Alignment (Education),Psychology,Education,Employer Attitudes,Job Skills,21st Century Skills,Problem Solving,Communication Skills,Career Readiness

One of the primary goals of tertiary education is to prepare students for employment. There is debate as to whether university courses adequately provide students with 21st century workplace skills (Kaminski, Switzer, &amp; Gloeckner, 2009; Kivunja, 2014). In a rapidly changing workforce, institutions must constantly adapt to maintain the practical utility of their courses. A thematic analysis was conducted to explore the degree of alignment between graduate attributes, accreditation requirements and industry employability criteria in nursing, psychology and education courses at an Australian University. Graduate attributes were obtained from the Course Approval and Management System. Relevant accreditation requirements were sourced from the respective bodies. A search of advertised job positions for the three discipline fields was conducted from a popular job-search engine (SEEK) to ascertain employability criteria. This analysis identified clear alignment between the university's graduate attributes and the standards articulated by accreditation bodies for psychology, nursing and education. However, there were differences between graduate attributes and the employability criteria identified by job searches across the three disciplines. Analysis of the employability criteria suggest that employers seek and prioritise graduates who possess practical competencies and 21st century skills such as problem solving and communication. However, there was little to no mention of cultural understandings and attitudes towards inclusion and diversity, both a core graduate attribute and an aspect of professional accreditation. The findings of this study may inform the development of future graduate attributes that better reflect preparedness for the workforce. Alternatively, a reflection on graduate attributes and professional accreditation criteria might produce job advertisements that better reflect work contexts in an increasingly diverse society.
A School-University Teacher Education Partnership: Reconceptualising Reciprocity of Learning
Author: Clarke, Deb
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Partnerships in Education,College School Cooperation,Teacher Education Programs,Cooperative Planning,Teamwork,Bachelors Degrees,Program Effectiveness,Teacher Collaboration,Workshops,Teaching Skills,Mentors,Secondary Education,Foreign Countries,Teacher Competencies,Self Efficacy,Readiness

As initial teacher education students transition to the profession, the experiences offered by the university and partner institutions require intentional, careful, and strategic planning, to ensure positive relational, organisational, and pedagogical experiences for all stakeholders (Lynch &amp; Smith, 2012; Moss, 2008). To minimise the tensions between the theoretical positioning of the university and the practicality of the classroom, respectful and collaborative partnerships need to be central to the design and facilitation of professional experience programmes (Lynch &amp; Smith, 2012). The 'Hub' is a longitudinal research and practice partnership between a NSW regional university with Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes, and a local, multi-campus secondary College. This paper describes the outcomes of one collaboratively designed initiative of the project: evaluating a team teaching approach in the Bachelor of Education degree. Survey and interview data were gathered from all key stakeholders regarding the efficacy of the 'teaming' of academics and teachers to facilitate workshops in professional experience subjects. Survey data were statistically analysed, while thematic analysis was applied to qualitative artefacts. Results of the initial pilot indicate significant value-adding to the professional experience subjects, particularly flagging students increased readiness for employability. Reciprocally, the school teachers indicated their increased understandings of the preparedness of ITE students to engage in professional experience, their heightened capacity to reflect on practice, and enhancement of their leadership and mentoring skills.
A Pre-Post Evaluation of an Online Career Planning Module on University Students&apos; Career Adaptability
Author: Teychenne, Megan
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Undergraduate Students,Career Planning,Employment Potential,Electronic Learning,Decision Making,Problem Solving,Career Exploration,Career Choice,Self Efficacy,Web Based Instruction,Job Search Methods

Indecisiveness and negative thinking regarding career pathways can hinder university students' career planning, motivation, and mental health. Students intending to enter the workforce after graduation therefore need to develop skills related to career adaptability (i.e. career planning, decision-making, problem solving/confidence and exploration), particularly since career planning and construction is linked to gaining employment. This study aimed to test the effectiveness of an online career planning module on students' career adaptability. The career-focussed online module, based on the constructs of Savickas' (2005) theory of career construction, and tailored to students' skills and interests, was developed and embedded into the University curriculum of a second-year exercise and public health-related unit. In 2018, 80 students completed the online module, along with pre- and post-intervention questionnaires assessing career adaptability elements including career planning, decision making, problem solving/confidence, and exploration. Dependent t-tests were conducted to assess differences in these measures pre- and post-intervention. Post-intervention, significant increases in career-planning strategies used (t(69)=5.45, p&lt;0.001), career planning concern (t(69)=3.73, p&lt;0.001), decision making (i.e. career path identification) (t(70)=3.86, p&lt;0.001), decision making confidence (t(65)=2.69, p&lt;0.01), and problem solving/confidence (t(65) = 2.16, p=0.03) were observed. Further, 80% of participants identified jobs at post-intervention not previously identified pre-intervention (exploration) and 71% of participants perceived improvements in confidence regarding job ideas/making career choices. Findings from this research indicated that completing a brief online career education module, tailored to an individual's skills and interests, improved all dimensions of the participating students' career adaptability. Further research utilising longer-term follow-up and randomised controlled trial designs are required to confirm the reliability and transferability of the findings.
An Institutional Framework to Guide the Comparison of Work Integrated Learning Types
Author: Dollinger, Mollie
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Workplace Learning,Experiential Learning,Employment Qualifications,College Students,School Business Relationship,Industry,Student Role,Teacher Student Relationship,Partnerships in Education,Peer Teaching,Program Effectiveness,Barriers,Proximity,Foreign Countries

Work-based placements, site visits, field trips and embedded industry-informed curriculum are employability strategies frequently applied by universities, and clustered under the umbrella term -- work-integrated learning (WIL). Referring to each of these strategies as WIL can complicate comparisons (e.g. long-term placements vs. field trips) and can lead WIL related research to diverge in multiple directions. To support comparison and help guide institutional decision-making relating to WIL, the positioning of this article aligns with a recent stream of literature that attempts to outline, contrast and differentiate between various activities aimed at enhancing graduate employability. Four distinct WIL case studies from three Australian universities are described in this article: (a) students working in teams with industry partners (n=23), (b) students co-creating learning resources (n=7), (c) a student-staff partnership (n=2), and (d) students acting as peer-learning advisors (n=5). The cases were considered across five key factors: 1) ease of implementation, 2) barriers, 3) scalability, 4) authenticity, and 5) proximity. Using empirical data, the findings within the article contribute an institutional framework that highlights the benefits and drawbacks associated with differences across WIL types, intended to support good WIL practice among administrators, teachers and staff.
Assessment-Led Reform: Creating a Sustainable Culture for WIL
Author: Young, Karen
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Experiential Learning,Science Education,Barriers,Performance Based Assessment,Employment Qualifications,Job Skills,Industry,Evaluation Methods,Change Strategies,Scaffolding (Teaching Technique),STEM Education,Curriculum,Student Attitudes,Undergraduate Students,Value Judgment,College Faculty,School Business Relationship,Employers,Employer Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes

This paper describes a process of assessment reform designed to enhance Work Integrated Learning (WIL) approaches for two science courses at an Australian university. The project used a mixed-method approach involving online surveys, interviews, focus groups and workshops to gather student, industry and course team knowledge and understanding of WIL approaches to curricula. The investigation centred on the perceived value of collaborating with industry to facilitate enhancements in authentic assessment and on the barriers to, and challenges in, achieving successful outcomes. The action-research project, WIL-on-Campus (WoC), found that assessments oriented toward the inclusion of authentic tasks and processes, that contribute to the employability learning and job-readiness of students, is deemed important to students, industry and academics. However, reforms to assessment practice and process are required. For greatest impact, this study found that assessment reform processes require two critical interdependent factors: the socialisation of the shared institutional value of embedded WIL approaches to assessment, and the provision of top-down support to enable academic course teams to implement the 'imposed' changes. Further to this, while academics viewed the changes in approach to assessment design as challenging, they also noted that a shift is timely and believed that a course-wide WIL approach is possible and advantageous.
Instructional Strategies in Differentiated Instruction for Systemic Change
Author: Bogen, Elisa Cruz
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teaching Methods,Correlation,Kindergarten,Elementary School Teachers,Individualized Instruction,Cognitive Style,Public Schools,Teacher Attitudes,Faculty Development,Self Efficacy,Educational Strategies,Lesson Plans,Curriculum Development,Educational Change,Pedagogical Content Knowledge

The major purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between training in differentiated instruction and the comfort level of teachers in helping to plan for systemic change for differentiated instruction to become a standard teaching practice. We also examine the relationship between knowledge of the various strategies of implementation of differentiated instruction and comfort level of teachers. A survey was used to collect data from 116 teachers of kindergarten through sixth grade from seven public schools on Long Island, New York. Spearman's correlational statistics has shown that there is a positive relationship between whether teachers received any training in differentiated instruction and the teacher's comfort level. A survey of nine strategies were all shown to be significant, however, five were found to have an effect size 20% larger. Correlation data showed a significance in the following five strategies: providing steps to help address the many learning styles in the classroom, develop individualized plans for educating students, planning daily lessons that incorporate differentiated instruction techniques, differentiate instruction according to the student's previous mastery, and finally, developing a long-range curriculum plan for each student in the classroom. In conclusion, these strategies should be included when planning professional development for teachers in differentiation.
Building a Pathway to Engineering: The Influence of Family and Teachers among Mexican-Origin Undergraduate Engineering Students
Author: Mein, Erika
Date: 2020-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Undergraduate Students,Mexican Americans,Engineering Education,Occupational Aspiration,Sociocultural Patterns,Student Recruitment,Ethnography,Student Attitudes,Decision Making,Family Role,Teacher Student Relationship,Discourse Analysis,Self Concept,Program Descriptions,Leadership Training,College Students,Spanish,English (Second Language),Language Usage,Student Characteristics

This study draws on sociocultural perspectives of identity to understand the ways in which Mexican-origin undergraduate students are recruited into the &quot;figured world&quot; of engineering. The analysis of in-depth, ethnographically situated interviews with 14 participants revealed three sets of recurrent discourses in students' accounts of their pathways to engineering: discourses about the family and the &quot;choice&quot; to study engineering, discourses about childhood activities tied to engineering aspirations, and discourses about teacher support to become an engineer.
Improved Levels of Critical Reflection in Pharmacy Technician Student Work-Placement Assessments through Emphasising Graduate Attributes
Author: Dunne, Julie
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Pharmacy,Technical Education,Reflection,Job Placement,Electronic Publishing,Graduates,Comparative Analysis,Individual Development,Allied Health Occupations,Work Experience Programs,Education Work Relationship,Foreign Countries,Student Attitudes,Undergraduate Students,Program Descriptions,Allied Health Occupations Education

This study investigated the effect of activities to promote awareness of specific prioritised graduate attributes on the quality of reflection displayed in work-placement reflective blog assessments for Pharmacy-technician students. Previous related research showed an increased tendency to frame placement experiences in terms of graduate attributes when they are made more explicit in the curriculum. Now, a thematic analysis of reflective writing from control and research groups, using &quot;a priori&quot; codes of 'reflection' and 'graduate attributes' explored the impact on the depth of critical reflection, and its relationship to explicit discussion of graduate attributes. The findings show an improvement in the quality of reflection, with significantly higher levels of critical reflection in the research group (37%), compared to the control group (20%), and lower levels of the non-reflective categories of thinking such as thoughtful action. Furthermore, in 62% of research group cases, there is overlap between critical reflection references and explicit graduate attributes references. Overall, the quality of reflective writing has improved through framing experiences in terms both of graduate attributes, as well as core theoretical knowledge, leading to increased focus on personal development and consequences for future action.
Using Internship Placements to Road Test Threshold Learning Outcomes for Environment and Sustainability
Author: Whelan, Michael
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Internship Programs,Environmental Education,Educational Objectives,Employment Potential,Employer Attitudes,Expectation,Student Evaluation,Sustainable Development,Foreign Countries,Undergraduate Students,Career Readiness

In 2015 the threshold learning outcomes (TLOs) for Australian bachelor degree graduates in the discipline of Environment and Sustainability were released. This study road tested the Environment and Sustainability TLOs in the workplace via environmental science students' internship placement. The study, which incorporated surveys of host-supervisors, students and teaching staff, was conducted over four years. The surveys enabled comparisons between the performance expected of a new graduate by employers with the level of performance students achieved while on placement. Overall, hosts expect new graduates to be 'Capable' performers (2.8 on a 5 point scale). Host-supervisors also rated the overall performance of interns as 'Capable' (3.4/5). Expected performance of a new graduate for individual TLOs was compared with the performance of interns. Students exceeded the expectations of host-supervisors for all TLOs. In contrast, teaching staff rated the performance of students lower than students themselves and host-supervisors. Fundamental differences in the way students are assessed in the workplace and the classroom may account for the difference in perceived student performance. The results of the surveys can be used as evidence that the degree is meeting the needs of industry and for graduates to undertake professional work in the Environment and Sustainability discipline. The methodology has the potential to be used in any discipline that has published TLOs. The authors recommend that the Australian Qualifications Framework is reviewed and a rubric that describes student behaviour is used rather than vague terms such as 'well developed'.
Australian Employer Perceptions of Unprofessional Social Media Behaviour and Its Impact on Graduate Employability
Author: Sutherland, Karen
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Employer Attitudes,Social Media,Student Behavior,Employment Potential,Professionalism,Recruitment,Employees,College Graduates,Decision Making,Privacy

Social media has become a tool used for the process of employee recruitment in a range of industries. The technology is utilised by job candidates and by employers and job-recruiters to screen and source suitable staff for their organisations. Research has investigated issues relating to ethics, privacy and accuracy regarding employers' use of social media to screen prospective employees. Yet, limited research has been conducted to investigate employer perceptions of prospective/current employees' unprofessional social media behavior. Our study involved a survey of 396 Australian employers from a range of industries to explore the influence of job-candidates' social media presence on employer decision-making and the most unprofessional social media behaviors according to employers. Our investigation found 82% of employers are influenced by a job candidate's social media presence and using social media to intentionally cause harm to others was perceived by employers as the most unprofessional social media behavior. The findings from this study will assist educators in guiding university students and graduates to meet industry expectations as professionals and provide scholars with new knowledge as to what is deemed to be unacceptable behavior in a professional context at this point in the evolution of social media.