Curriculum 2025: Educating the next generation
Tuesday 2 July: Pre-conference parallel workshop, 1:30pm – 4:30pm
Venue
Room 206-302
Facilitators
Dr Sonia Ferns
Curtin University, Perth
s.ferns@curtin.edu.au
Professor Dawn Bennett
Curtin University, Perth
Dawn.Bennett@curtin.edu.au
Professor Vaille Dawson
University of Western Australia, Perth
Vaille.dawson@uwa.edu.au
Associate Professor Christine Howitt
University of Western Australia, Perth
Christine.howitt@uwa.edu.au
Presentation type
Pre-conference workshop
Overview of workshop
Participants will explore the influence of environmental factors on future students’ learning styles and the importance of embedding Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) in curriculum. Strategies will be identified that optimise outcomes for stakeholders and build student agency. The benefits of a WIL curriculum for enculturing a life-long approach to learning will lead to discussions on the design and enactment of curriculum. Identifying barriers and enablers for implementing a WIL curriculum will prompt a solutions-based approach. The role of partnerships in shaping student learning will form the basis of the conversation.
Target audience
This workshop will be relevant to teaching staff, WIL practitioners, students, and university leaders. Industry partners who wish to explore innovative partnerships with universities will also benefit from the workshop.
Intended outcomes for participants
Participants will
- Identify influences on learning styles of future students.
- Design WIL curriculum that meet the needs of future students.
- Consider partnership models and implications for curriculum design.
- Identify solutions to overcoming barriers to designing WIL curriculum.
- Share ideas and strategies for engaging staff in change.
- Discuss ways of facilitating sustainable organisational change.
Outline of activities
The workshop will begin with some thought-provoking media that highlights the impact of technology on the development of learning styles. This will lead to group discussions on the characteristics of future students and the features of curriculum design required to cater to emerging learning styles. Participants will work in groups to identify features of innovative models of WIL that meet the needs of future students. Through this activity, participants will highlight the limitations of university policy in promoting innovation. The roles of and benefits for each of the stakeholders will be determined through role-playing activities to design curriculum, thereby creating awareness of different perspectives and the value of collaboration in optimising outcomes.
Relevance to conference themes
The workshop directly aligns to the conference theme Challenges, Changes and Opportunities for Next Generation, Higher Education. A focus on the characteristics of future students and the way in which they learn will pose questions about traditional approaches to curriculum design, and the policy and protocols inherent in universities. The challenges for implementing a quality WIL curriculum that affords students opportunities to engage with industry/community will emerge. The workshop will culminate in determining strategies to enhance the student experience and improve preparation of future graduates for a complex and global workplace. The workshop emphasises the support and resources required to engage industry and community partners in affording authentic WIL experiences for students. The concept of student agency will be addressed, and the impact of technology and global influences on learning styles. From an academic’s perspective, the workshop will prompt thinking about changing academic practice, and strategies for personal capacity building and professional identity through partnerships and cooperative models of learning design. Leadership and governance will be key themes through the workshop and highlighted as integral to sustainability and establishing a collaborative ethos.
