The aim of this project is to promote the educational worth of higher education students’ experiences in practice or workplace settings, through identifying, trialling and evaluating educational interventions (i.e. teaching and learning strategies) enacted after these students have completed elements of those experiences. That is, post-practicum.

The concern is to identify how different kinds of interventions (i.e. teaching and learning strategies) can be enacted to secure a range of learning outcomes for these students and then appraise their application across a wide range of disciplines and programs. The initial trialling and evaluation of these strategies was undertaken within healthcare disciplines at Monash, Melbourne, Griffith, Notre Dame Universities and UTS. The healthcare sector was selected because of long-standing traditions and practices associated with the provision of practice-based experiences and attempts to integrate them within their educational programs. The educational goals, processes and outcomes from this sector are seen as a platform through which those teaching in universities from other disciplines can come to engage, evaluate and implement the strategies within their disciplines in an informed way.

This symposium will provide a brief overview of the project and outcomes of the initial trialling and evaluation, and reports from nurse, medical and inter-professional projects undertaken through Monash, University of Melbourne and Griffith University.

Professor Stephen Billett

Professor Stephen Billett has a long history of research and practice in work-based and work-integrated learning and is one of the leading international researchers in this area.

Stephen Billett is Professor of Adult and Vocational Education in the School of Education and Professional Studies at Griffith University. Stephen has worked as a vocational educator, educational administrator, teacher educator, professional development practitioner and policy developer within the Australian vocational education system and as a teacher and researcher at Griffith University.

In June 2011, he commenced a four-year Australian Research Council Future Fellowship on learning through practice, which aimed to develop a curriculum and pedagogy of practice. More recently he was awarded an OLT Development Grant examining students’ post-practicum experiences.

At the ACEN National Conference, Stephen spoke to his recent work, emerging from his OLT Development Grant, around innovation, learning and work-integrated education, providing challenging insights into current practice and the future opportunities of WIL.