Education Commons^™

Opportunities To Identify And Develop People Skills: What University Students Need Early In Their Degree Journey, Ros Sambell, Lesley Andrew, Amanda Devine, Jill Darby, Shelley Beatty, Stephanie Godrich

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Employability skills can be categorised as ‘people’ or ‘soft skills’ and ‘technical’ or ‘industry specific’ skills. Australian employers are increasingly seeking to employ university graduates with well-developed people skills. Evidence from industry suggests these skills, in particular communication skills are lacking in today’s graduates. The aim of this study was to raise student awareness of the importance of people skills, assess their perception of personal competence across a range of these skills and support them to develop plans that will help them strengthen these skills in preparation for graduation. An online survey was emailed to 222 first year undergraduate students; …

Evaluation Of Work-Integrated Learning: A Realist Synthesis And Toolkit To Enhance University Evaluative Practices, Elizabeth J. Cook

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Situated in the context of work-integrated learning (WIL), this paper aims to build the evaluative capacity of universities in response to an increasing need for evaluation in higher education. It contributes a realist synthesis of international peer-reviewed literature on university evaluation of WIL, which revealed no use of evaluation theory or approaches by the authors. In response, to support the enhancement of university evaluative practices, this paper offers a toolkit of evaluation theory and approaches, with examples relating to WIL, featuring an evaluation planning tool (RUFDATAE). RUFDATAE is demonstrated using a study from the realist synthesis, to highlight its relevance, …

Enabling The Development Of Enterprise Capabilities Among Higher Education Students Through Work-Integrated Learning In Coworking Spaces, Denise Jackson, Hairong Shan, Susan Meek

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This project trialled an innovative, scalable model of work-integrated learning (WIL) in micro-businesses in a coworking space. WIL embeds industry and/or community engagement into the curriculum through authentic learning and assessment activities. This project focused on workplace-based WIL, specifically, business students undertaking internships in a cluster of coworking spaces—under the umbrella of ‘Spacecubed’—in Perth CBD, Australia.

The project aims were broadly 1) to trial and evaluate ways to enhance enterprise capabilities among business students through WIL and 2) to introduce a model of WIL that overcomes some of the barriers that have previously prevented smaller organisations from participating in WIL. …

Impact Of Positive Education Psychology On The First-Year Student Experience, Anna Golab, Denise Gengatharen, Ferry Jie, Reza Kiani Mavi, Catherine Moore, Magdalena Korecki

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Positive Psychological Interventions (Positive Education) uses a multidimensional approach that includes fostering beliefs and developing a growth mindset to reduce anxiety and psychological distress and improve well-being. Positive education has been shown to improve secondary students’ engagement, well-being and self-efficacy, impacting achievement. Seligman’s (2011) PERMA framework with its elements of positive emotions, engagement, relationship, meaning and accomplishment has been successfully used to assess positive education strategies in schools. However, the model has not been tested at the tertiary level. We used the PERMA model framework to create a survey that was suitable for the tertiary level and implemented positive education …

Academic Reading Format Preferences And Behaviors Among University Students Worldwide: A Comparative Survey Analysis, Diane Mizrachi, Alicia M. Salaz, Sereap Kurbanoglu, Joumana Boustany, Afris Research Group

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This study reports the descriptive and inferential statistical findings of a survey of academic reading format preferences and behaviors of 10,293 tertiary students worldwide. The study hypothesized that country-based differences in schooling systems, socioeconomic development, culture or other factors might have an influence on preferred formats, print or electronic, for academic reading, as well as the learning engagement behaviors of students. The main findings are that country of origin has little to no relationship with or effect on reading format preferences of university students, and that the broad majority of students worldwide prefer to read academic course materials in print. …

Working Together To Achieve Better Work Integrated Learning Outcomes: Improving Productivity Through Better Employer Involvement, Denise Jackson, Sonia Ferns, David Rowbottom, Diane Mclaren

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The overarching aim of this twelve-month project, funded by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was to develop industry understanding of Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) and assess the support needed by employers to better engage in WIL. Data gathered in a survey of Western Australian employers and industry focus groups prompted the establishment of a WIL Advisory Service (WAS). The service was founded by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia (CCIWA) to broker relationships between employers and universities, and provide support to improve WIL outcomes. In this study, student and employer users of WAS were asked to …

Student Perceptions Of Online Interactive Versus Traditional Lectures; Or How I Managed Not To Fall Asleep With My Eyes Open, John A. O'Rourke, Susan J. Main, Martin G. Cooper

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Universities are increasingly experimenting with the online domain to connect with busy and digital-savvy students and counter the decline in face-to-face lecture attendance More often than not universities are offering videoed lectures or PowerPoints with lecturer voice-overs as a way of delivering content. Evidence suggests that while these techniques may provide the flexibility required, some content needs more personalised delivery. In this article the authors explore the development and delivery of an online lecture format. Using a combination of video, text and interactive cell technology, this online offering was trialed in a unit focused on the education of students with …