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There are many different forms that work-integrated learning (WIL) takes and variants go by a range of different names. Based on current literature, key dimensions, shared by the various and disparate forms of WIL curricula, were identified and operationalised in a measurement model. The key dimensions identified were: authenticity, integrated learning supports (both at university and the workplace), alignment (of teaching and learning activities and assessments with integrative learning outcomes), supervisor access and induction/preparation processes. It is suggested that variations in the way that WIL courses or subjects are designed within these dimensions are the basis for different expressions of the quality of such courses. A latent construct measurement model was developed and validated with a sample of Australian and UK students. This paper presents the model and discusses the results of the validation study. It is proposed that the measures validated in this study will be useful for evaluating a wide variety of WIL curricula. © 2012 HERDSA.

In recent years, using e-portfolios to assess student learning has become more popular. From the perspective of education, portfolios should encourage students to collect, reflect on, and present their own works to enhance learning. Yet, currently available e-portfolios seem to function mainly as repositories of artifacts without connecting to the real learning process. As a result, although e-portfolios create a much more convenient environment through their technology, they are still unable to fulfill the initial purpose of portfolios. This paper presents a conceptual framework for the design of uFolio, an idea for an all-purpose portfolio system that has never been introduced previously. Based on the core value of portfolio and the technologies of a visual object-oriented platform and ubiquitous communications system, the design framework lays out an innovative system that establishes three major components-MyFolio, MyClass and MyLog-and an instant awareness notification tool, uAware, to integrate an e-portfolio, a learning management system (LMS) and a multidimensional assessment system into one. This paper presents the design steps taken so far and indicates the development tasks and related studies that still need to be carried out.

Enhancing school-to-work transitions for youth is a policy focus of secondary schools in most OECD countries. This paper examines one organisation's efforts to encourage high school youth to consider careers in health care by providing them with summer internship opportunities. We adopt an embedded context approach to examine the effects on outcomes of trends in health care work, the institutional realities of schools and health services workplaces, and the behaviours of students, employers and educators engaged in the internship programme. Our analysis of interviews with youth and other partners suggests that different features of the programme within the broader context of changes in the health care workforce make it unlikely that it will fulfil its goal of addressing education-jobs mismatch. Part of the problem is that Canadian transition systems are characterised by a market approach that relies on employers to engage in long-term workforce planning and develop the capacities of a wide range of youth. Instead, we argue that more coordination and communication among partners is needed to ensure that a variety of youth are afforded opportunities to learn about as well as for work. © 2012 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the notion of designing and developing applied, industry-engaged learning environments that embrace ambiguity and uncertainty in overcoming pedagogical inertia in educating young entrepreneurs and innovators. The research reported on proposes a solution to the dual expectations of producing entrepreneurship graduates who can either hit the ground running in driving innovation for employers, or create, launch and sustain their own ventures. Design/methodology/approach: The research is longitudinal in nature, employing a mixed methods approach using both quantitative and qualitative instruments in measuring outcomes, along with development and validation of the proposed Create-Substantiate-Activate (CSA) scale. Findings: Significant triangulated evidence is provided that validates the proposed dynamic, industry-engaged learning model. The skill and capability development of the entrepreneurship students, as well as the positive impacts upon self-confidence and self-efficacy, support the approach adopted in moving beyond the business planning paradigm into rapid innovation prototyping. Research limitations/implications: The paper reports on one program within an undergraduate Entrepreneurship degree at one Australian university. Therefore, the suitability for adoption of the proposed model will be subject to factors germane to particular contexts. Practical implications: The research provides direction for designing and managing collaborative industry-engaged learning programs for students of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Critical elements of the learning process are identified that foster contexts for producing Entrepreneurship graduates that are both highly valued by employers and capable of launching and sustaining innovative new businesses. Originality/value: The Innovation Fastrack Program reported on in this paper is ground-breaking in the way it engages industry, promotes rapid and deep learning contextualised by creativity, curiousity, uncertainty and volatility and in the way it fosters social interaction in dealing with real-world problems and opportunities. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Purpose: The industrial training component in a university's curricula adds tremendous value to a degree programme by enhancing the employable skills of graduates. The purpose of this paper is to assess the perception of organisations that have trained construction students from the Department of Building Technology of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, as part of its industrial training programme. Design/methodology/approach: Through a structured questionnaire survey of 120 organisations which have offered industrial training to construction students in the Accra, Kumasi and Cape Coast metropolitan areas of Ghana, the paper assessed industry's views on issues relating to the nature and objectives of industrial training, preparation towards training, performance of students during training, effectiveness of the training and areas of improvement. Data collected through the survey were analysed using largely descriptive statistics and content analysis. Findings: In the opinion of the training organisations, industrial training exposes students to real work environment and helps them to apply theory to practice. During industrial training, the trainees showed high level of performance achievement in their ability to carry out instructions, ability to function as team players and ability to apply knowledge gained from the university among others. However, they showed a low level of performance achievement in negotiation skills, independence, social and multi-racial awareness and ability to make decisions. Major areas requiring improvement in the way industrial training is currently organised include: the need for learning institutions to provide guidelines for industrial training for use by host organisations and to monitor trainees during industrial training; training organisations should design training programmes which emphasise all competencies, appoint industrial supervisors and submit industrial feedback to learning institutions. Practical implications: The findings from the study will not only make industrial training programmes in Ghana and other developing countries more effective and successful towards the improvement of skills of trainees and thereby increase their chances of employment after graduation but also provide a reliable source of highly skilled and educated workers and an expanded pool of qualified future employees. Originality/value: The paper provides a basis for enhancing and developing effective IT practices as well as providing indicators for evaluating existing IT practices in Ghanaian and other universities in developing countries to positively influence future employees of the construction industry. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

This study used a sequential set-up to investigate the consecutive effects of timing of supportive information presentation (information before vs. information during the learning task clusters) in interactive digital learning materials (IDLMs) and type of collaboration (personal discussion vs. online discussion) in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) on student knowledge construction. students (N = 87) were first randomly assigned to the two information presentation conditions to work individually on a case-based assignment in IDLM. students who received information during learning task clusters tended to show better results on knowledge construction than those who received information only before each cluster. The students within the two separate information presentation conditions were then randomly assigned to pairs to discuss the outcomes of their assignments under either the personal discussion or online discussion condition in CSCL. When supportive information had been presented before each learning task cluster, online discussion led to better results than personal discussion. When supportive information had been presented during the learning task clusters, however, the online and personal discussion conditions had no differential effect on knowledge construction. Online discussion in CSCL appeared to compensate for suboptimal timing of presentation of supportive information before the learning task clusters in IDLM. © 2011 The Author(s).

This paper presents and discusses some of the findings from a qualitative study of identities in work-related learners. The theoretical framework of structural symbolic interactionism is outlined and the two identities of interest, that of student and practitioner, discussed. The aim of professional education is viewed as enabling the practitioner to better deal with ambiguity and change through critical examination of work practices and location of these within theoretical frameworks. It is argued that for knowledge and behaviour to transfer to the work setting, the student and worker identities need to be integrated rather than kept separate. Factors identified as influencing the integration and separation of the social identities of student and social care practitioner are discussed. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Blogging has been recommended as a suitable tool for learning during internship due to its associated usefulness in collaborative learning, reflection, communication, and social support. In this study, blogging was incorporated into the internship activities of two discipline-specific groups of interns: information management (n = 53) and nursing (n = 28). In examining the behavior, perceptions and processes of blogging among interns from the two disciplines, a mixed-methods design was used to obtain quantitative and qualitative data through structured interviews and blogging entries. Results revealed that the interns engaged regularly in the writing and reading of their own blogs, and commented on others' blog-writing. The interns perceived blogs to be useful during internship in providing an avenue for knowledge construction, problem solving, reflection, and communicating their emotions. Positive perceptions were not influenced by discipline background, frequency of use, or blogging platform. Qualitative analyses of blog contents indicated that the students engaged in cognitive, metacognitive-reflective, affective, and social-collaborative learning processes in blogging. Higher engagement was found in cognitive and metacognitive processes. Responses to open-ended probes suggest that pedagogical factors (e.g., grading system, supervision) may also have influenced students' blogging behaviors and perceptions. Overall, this study offers evidence to support the use of blogging during internship as computer-based support for learning. © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

For self-regulated learning to be effective, students need to be able to accurately assess their own performance on a learning task and use this assessment for the selection of a new learning task. Evidence suggests, however, that students have difficulties with accurate self-assessment and task selection, which may explain the poor learning outcomes often found with self-regulated learning. In experiment 1, the hypothesis was investigated and confirmed that observing a human model engaging in self-assessment, task selection, or both could be effective for secondary education students' (N = 80) acquisition of self-assessment and task-selection skills. Experiment 2 investigated and confirmed the hypothesis that secondary education students' (N = 90) acquisition of self-assessment and task-selection skills, either through examples or through practice, would enhance the effectiveness of self-regulated learning. It can be concluded that self-assessment and task-selection skills indeed play an important role in self-regulated learning and that training these skills can significantly increase the amount of knowledge students can gain from self-regulated learning in which they choose their own learning tasks. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Purpose - This paper seeks to explore the difficult territory of intersectionality as it relates to inequality and disadvantage in the labour market of the arts and cultural sector. It aims to first examine the way Acker's concept of inequality regimes is located in the extant literature. Then, it aims to study the dynamics of intersectionality in the arts and cultural sector, which offers an ideal setting with interesting and counter-intuitive outcomes of intersectionality. Design/methodology/approach - The paper draws on a qualitative study which generated interviews with students, employers and higher education institutions which are involved in industrial placements (internships) in the arts and cultural sector in Britain. Findings - In line with Acker, the paper also disputes a-contextual and cumulative formulations of intersecting inequalities that rely on multiplying the unequal outcomes on the basis of traditional categories of disadvantage. Instead, it argues that multiplicity of identities and forms of disadvantage introduce complexity and contextual depth into the analysis of inequality if we are to understand interplay between different forms of disadvantage. In addition, the paper maintains that intersectionality produces surprising outcomes which vary across industrial contexts, in particular across different sectors of employment. It uses the case of work undergraduate and postgraduate placement practices in the arts and cultural sector, in order to demonstrate the unexpected nature of intersectionality in producing disadvantage. Research limitations/implications - The study draws on a selection of students, employers and higher education staff from London. A larger selection of institutions outside London could reveal differences between London and other cities and regions in Britain. Practical implications - Intersectionality is an important concern for diversity and human resources management professionals. This paper provides an assessment of it in an unusual sectoral context. Social implications - There is need to develop an emic understanding of intersectionality in each sector. Originality/value - In the literature, intersectionality is problematised at workplace and individual levels. This paper's view of intersectionality is original in the sense that it explores how intersectionality operates at a sectoral level. In doing so, it demonstrates that salience of a strand of inequality in terms of producing intersectional disadvantage depends on the context. Copyright © 2012 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.