Suchergebnisse

Work-integrated learning (WIL) is playing a key role in the Australian higher education environment. Industry groups, education networks and tertiary institutions are collaborating to provide students with learning pathways during their undergraduate degrees with the aim of bridging the theory-practice divide and helping to ensure students are better prepared to enter the workforce. This article reports on how the Bachelor of Communication (BComn) program at the University of Newcastle (UON) in Australia embeds WIL throughout its program to ensure students are prepared for a rapidly changing and increasingly competitive work environment. The UON program offers majors in journalism, public relations, media production and media studies. It embeds authentic learning experiences throughout the degree while satisfying key learning outcomes, and achieves this by embedding innovative approaches in course design and assessment. While there is a formal placement course that undergraduate students can elect to undertake during their final year, academic staff have embedded assessable learning experiences where students, from their first to their final year, work on 'real-world' projects and engage with industry, community groups and government organisations. In-class activities are structured to simulate professional environments, and both learning activities and assessments attempt to focus student learning to realise the connections between theory and practice. This approach ensures that the students receive authentic learning experiences where they construct contextual meaning rather than simply receiving information. This approach to learning encourages students to engage with the processes, concepts and procedures of their chosen professions rather than isolated curriculum material. In this article, the authors are reporting on how UON's BComn program includes integrated experiential learning to provide students with a learning experience that contains numerous innovative approaches aimed at preparing students for work beyond the university.