Fruit of the Vine: Change, Challenge, and Opportunity for Learning

Registration and networking with old friends.

Official welcome to this year’s conference, special announcements and lunch to start the day.

Conference planning, schedule announcements, dinner information, and other important notes. Welcome the keynote speaker.

The story of the food is the story of the people: The value of identity in the foold world and beyond. Robert’s career as a chef has seen him publish cookbooks, host television series and work with farmers and chefs in the Pacific, and in doing so bring the cuisine of the Pacific Islands to the world stage. He sees his work as the activation of indigenous knowledge and attributes his achievements to the authentic leadership he received from a group of Pacific Island women, and from his father. Explore with him the value of identity, in his case through food, as an inspirational and delicious agent of meaningful change.

Oh goodness! Who are you again and what do you do? Field educator, practice teacher, supervisor, mentor … who are these people and what are they supposed to do? Social work practicum have been a central feature of tertiary education in Aotearoa New Zealand since the 1970s. Practicum are widely upheld as the distinctive pedagogy of social work education and students attest to practicum being the most important and memorable aspect of their training. Every year over 1700 students have 60-day social work placements in the social service sector across Aotearoa New Zealand.

Teaching strategies for enhancing employability skills in learners. This twenty-minute presentation will outline an Ako Aotearoa Regional Hub funded collaborative research project undertaken by a dozen educational developers from seven Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs). The project team sought to identify ‘where and how’ excellent teachers in their ITPs currently enhance their learners’ skills for employability, life-long learning and contributing to society. The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) and other stakeholders seek evidence of the effectiveness of programmes of study in preparing graduates for industry. Inspired by Australian research on university preparation for employability, the project team wondered how it might assist teachers in New Zealand ITPs to design teaching and learning strategies for embedding skills that enhance employability.

WIL gone full circle: The student becomes the supervisor. Our collaborative research project, funded by Ako Aotearoa, aims to better understand the legacy of work-integrated learning programmes (WIL) (e.g. cooperative education; practicum, work placement). Specifically, how has participating in WIL added value to graduates’ careers and also their organisations? The project explores from an alumni perspective, whether the WIL experience as a student has impacted on graduates’ roles as workplace supervisors for WIL.

Where do we think you are?: Tracking the elusive alumni. As is the case for all tertiary education providers, remaining connected with graduates through alumni initiatives is essential for a variety of reasons, many of which are driven by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA). These include answering key evaluation questions as part of self-assessment evaluation and review, consistency reviews and to inform ongoing curriculum development and improvements. Institutions are required to provide documented evidence of graduation destination data so being able to access up-to-date information and track graduate’s career pathways is crucial. The institution under discussion in this paper delivers its programmes solely through an Online Distance Flexible Learning (ODFL) model, and is a specialist provider in distance learning. A new version of the Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) degree commenced delivery in 2017 and one of the challenges it will face is to formally track and remain connected with graduates.

Improving student employability. The EIT School of Business (SoB) currently teaches a new one year Diploma in Business introduced in 2017, a Bachelor of Business majoring in accounting, management and marketing, Graduate Diploma in Business and Masters in Applied Business.

The shifting perceptions of science and engineering employer desirable graduate competencies: Comparing now to 15 years ago. Work-ready graduates is a commonly used phrase, however what ‘work-ready’ actually entails is still being debated. Earlier research on what constitutes a graduate as being ‘work-ready’ focussed on technical skills and ability to complete technical tasks, however, it quickly became apparent that employers also valued non-technical skills. Research by Coll, Zegwaard, and Hodges (2002), subsequently showed that science and technology employers tended to value the behavioural skills more than the technical skills, however, they also perceived both as being important.

Closing remarks for day one, and announcements for day two.

Welcoming attendees and special announcements.

The good, the challenging and the missing: A personal reflection on what can be learnt from 20 Years of work-integrated learning changes and growth in Australia. Twenty years ago Flinders University received the first government grant to examine the issues of leadership and management, teaching and learning, legal and ethical matters and partnerships with industry. Work-integrated learning (WIL), under its various names, at that time was an invisible cottage industry within universities. Today university leaders identify it (largely in regard to graduate employability) as a marketing tool and have created visible infrastructure to indicate its presence and focus within the institution. The reflection in this presentation is based on personal experience derived from being the recipient of the first Australian WIL grant, a reviewer to Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT) funded WIL grants and author of their Good Practice Guide, an external reviewer to WIL projects funded by OLT and as an independent consultant and reviewer to Australian Universities on WIL.

The professional development needs of the New Zealand work-integrated learning community in comparison to international perceptions. Cooperative education (Co-op) and work-integrated learning (WIL) have been established in New Zealand for some time. However, recently tertiary institutions have expanded their WIL offerings largely in response to international trends and increasing pressure from Government to improve employability outcomes. This expansion of WIL offerings can result in inexperienced staff becoming actively engaged in WIL, with little exposure to or engagement in WIL previously. Thus so far, there has been no extensive investigation into the professional development needs of these staff, or for that fact, staff who have been engaged with WIL for some time.

Internships paid/unpaid legal or not. We have been running Internships for two years both for Domestic and International Students within our own campus and also for the Wellington ICT Grad School (WICTGS). The interns which are based on our own campuses find their own positions and are paid internships. Those which run under the WICTGS system may be unpaid and are found by the industry coordinator employed by them. This paper will look at these differing criteria and, using available literature together with our experiences, clarify the issues and arguments for each system.

App development and pilot testing – not for the faint-hearted. Work-integrated learning (WIL) programmes are an integral part of undergraduate degrees within the Faculty of Culture and Society at AUT. A WIL working group, as part of a faculty-wide curriculum review, found that there was a need for students to construct knowledge over the course of their degree with the expectation that they would apply this learning to their final capstone paper – WIL. To address this need and to provide coordinated interdisciplinary communication we designed a resource in the format of a mobile phone application (App).

International work-integrated learning collaboration: pre-departure preparation across two countries. As a result of past NZACE conference presentations discussing international work-integrated learning (WIL) placements undertaken by Bachelor of Sport students at Flinders University, Australia and a proposed pre-departure program, collaboration between Flinders University and Otago Polytechnic University, New Zealand was formed. This collaboration led to 3 Bachelor of Applied Science (physical activity, health and wellness) students from Otago Polytechnic joining 4 Flinders University students on placement in Mumbai, India. The students were working on sport development projects at Singhania School and assisting the local cricket club with coaching programs.

Annual NZACE AGM (inclucing results of the NZACE survey).

Mahara: Engage in learning through eportfolios. “Portfolio” is a widely used term not only in education and can mean various things. Even coming up with a single definition for electronic portfolios is tough as it can serve many different purposes and can be interpreted in many ways (Batson, 2015).

Utilising e-portfolios to develop great graduates. Universities, both locally and globally, are under pressure from governments, parents, and students to produce new graduates who are suitably prepared for entering employment. In addition, universities, often in consultation with industry sectors, are establishing new degree programs to meet the industry demands for a more “professional” workforce. AUT’s website claims that it is the only university in New Zealand to offer an undergraduate Bachelor of Health Science degree with majors in Health Administration, Managing Care of the Older Person and Case Management. These degrees have been developed in consultation with advisors in the health sector and are examples of workforce professionalization. Presently students enrolled in these majors are not constrained by a registration body for clinical practice opportunities, instead they participate in a one semester capstone cooperative education paper where they spend approximately 150 hours in a workplace undertaking negotiated work activities. An integral part of their cooperative education program is the application of the E-portfolio platform Mahara to assist student with the transition into the workforce.

The Applied Management Review: From cooperative education project to academic publication. The Applied Management Review (AMR) is a peer-reviewed journal published by Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec) that presents original research in applied business and management. The research presented by the AMR focus on assisting a variety of companies across several industries through offering viable solutions to practical problems and addressing real-world questions. Consistent with this vision, the AMR encourages submissions that address specific practical problems or make methodological advancements in applied research in all areas of business and management.

A classification framework to make sense of industry placements. The necessity for students to secure their own industry placement is a key component of Cooperative education on the Bachelor of International Hospitality Management (BIHM) and the Bachelor of International Tourism Management (BITM). However, the relationship between study pathways and placement organisations is often hard to define due largely to the heterogeneity of hospitality and tourism organisations.

Researching the design and development of a work-integrated learning paper to prepare ICT students for their internships. The internship is a vital component of the Masters programme offered by Auckland ICT Graduate School (a joint initiative between Auckland University and Waikato University). The programme aims to produce industry-ready graduates equipped with integral technical knowledge and skills useful in the business world. A longitudinal developmental evaluation of the programme was undertaken to enhance the overall programme’s robustness and support the programme designers’ developmental decision-making by providing close to real-time feedback. A key recommendation from the developmental evaluation’s Phase 1 (which sought to understand the first student cohorts’ internship experience) indicated the need for a customised preparatory course to equip students with targetted transferable work competencies.

Internship at undergraduate and postgraduate studies at a polytechnic. Internships are part of many programmes taught in universities and polytechnics. The academic credits for undertaking these projects may differ in different programmes. The intention is to introduce students to the application of theoretical knowledge from the classrooms to related work in the industry. It gives the students a foot in the door to their career.

Training restaurants – developing an activity framework to align capability and learning outcomes to meet expectations of the graduate profile. There has been much research related to the role of training restaurants and its part in hospitality experience. The concept of “learning by doing” is accepted as an educational strategy which is key to enabling students not only to develop knowledge and skills, but also to gain abilities to be flexible and apply different knowledge to different situations. This, in turn, aids students in preparing for the world of work. Based on the Competing Values Framework (Quinn et al., 2011), a competency based model was created to provide structure to the learning activities students were engaging in the training restaurant. The four quadrants of the Competing Values Framework include, collaboration, control, compete and create. The graduate profiles of the Bachelor of Culinary Arts and Business requires a high level of applied expertise in skills and knowledge in the field of culinary management and business. The model was structured with these principles in mind.

Balancing expectations. As the tertiary sector continue to explore how we merge theoretical knowledge gained in academic studies to workplace experiences we have the delicate balance of managing expectations of students, academic supervisors and industry.

The added value of work-integrated learning. Whilst the focus of the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) and University strategy has increasingly been on developing work ready graduates, the work-integrated learning (WIL) experience is more than just increasing graduate attributes and employability. These WIL experiences challenge students to push their comfort zones, developing greater personal self-awareness and enhanced professional career expectations. These industry placements also add value to the organisation’s programmes and activities, and staff in terms of their professional development.

Opening message for the last day and special announcements.

International work-integrated learning placements: When things go wrong! There is an abundance of literature supporting the benefits of work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities in international destinations, for students and host organizations. In addition, pre-placement preparation models have been developed to prepare students professionally and practically. However, while good in theory, in practice things do not always go to plan no matter how much pre-preparation is in place. This presentation reflects on experiences of university facilitators of international WIL placements “when things go wrong”.

The seven wonders of employability. The growing importance of students’ possessing employability skills in preparation for the workplace is well evidenced in the literature and on Government websites. The Tertiary Education Commission’s Careers Directorate (Careers NZ) currently offers advice on their website on seven skills employers look for namely, “positive attitude, communication, teamwork, self- management, willingness to learn, thinking skills and resilience”.

Managing expectations during internship matching. The management of expectations by our stakeholders at EIT within the School of Computing Internship Programme is a complex process. Due to factors, such as an expanded sponsorship base, growing student numbers and the need to ensure that we are providing maximum value for all involved has meant that managing the diverse needs of our stakeholders has become highly complex and fast moving.

Benefits of work experience for women interested in male-dominated trades. This presentation will report on one output from research conducted by a collaboration between a range of trade-focused ITOs, Training Providers and Pre-trade facilitators. This three-year research programme focuses on increasing the participation and success of women in trades where they have been historically underrepresented.

Utilising existing frameworks and models for evaluating the relationships between a tertiary provider and the Information Technology industry in the Tairāwhiti region. The success of any applied degree programme relies heavily on the relationships with industry stakeholders for input and interaction during a students’ study period. For a provincial tertiary provider, internship facilitation is able to build and support business relationship networks and also support students transitioning from tertiary study into industry. In the same way, Van Rooijen (2011) discusses how strong partnerships are required between tertiary institutions and employers in order to shape curriculum and influence program development.

Teaching, travel & triathlon: A career of experiential learning. Andy’s first presentation at an NZACE conference was in Palmerston North, 2004. Over the past 15 years Andy has been involved in a number of research projects, mainly funded by Ako Aotearoa and mentored by Professor Richard Coll, which have focused on enhancing graduate competencies and attributes, developing pedagogical best practice, and the legacy of work-integrated learning programs. As vice-president of NZACE he co-ordinated two conferences held at Massey University in Palmerston North (2010) and Wellington (2015). He has been on the editorial board of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education and has contributed a number of articles to the journal and presentations at World Association Conferences.

Future Events for NZACE, and other announcements by Ako Aotearoa, VET Research/Industry Training Federation and the NZACE Allister McLay Best Paper Award.