Abstract
Students in practice-based courses, such as law, medicine, education, nursing and engineering, typically begin with a limited understanding of the nature of the field of practice. Additionally, there is often a disconnection between the theory of the discipline area—learnt at university—and the teaching and learning that takes place at sites of professional practice. In this chapter we argue that this disconnection creates three fundamental difficulties. First, students often have an incomplete knowledge of the practice context; second, in their university-based learning, students are asked to apply the theoretical ideas they have been studying to contrived or inauthentic problems; and third, when students do engage in learning at sites of professional practice, the messages provided by their supervisors in professional practice may be different from the ones they receive from their university lecturers. We discuss three common ways in which students are helped to make connections between their university learning and their more practically oriented learning: work-integrated learning programmes, inquiry-based learning designs and simulation, but identify particular issues with each approach. We then consider how rich media technologies such as videoconferencing, web conferencing and mobile video can be used to connect university classrooms to sites of professional practice and in doing so help to address the identified issues with traditional approaches to practice-based education. We conclude by noting unresolved technological, pedagogical and ethical issues associated with the use of these technologies and suggest areas requiring further investigation and research.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Admiraal, W., Janssen, M., & Gielis, A. (2008). Transfer between learning and practice: The use of web-based video in higher education. Paper presented at the Annual Conference on Human Resource Development International.
Allen, J. M. (2011). Stakeholders’ perspectives of the nature and role of assessment during practicum. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27(4), 742–750.
Anastasiades, P. S., Filippousis, G., Karvunis, L., Siakas, S., Tomazinakis, A., Giza, P., et al. (2010). Interactive videoconferencing for collaborative learning at a distance in the school of 21st century: A case study in elementary schools in Greece. Computers in Education, 54(2), 321–339.
Andre, K., & Barnes, L. (2010). Creating a 21st century nursing work force: Designing a Bachelor of Nursing program in response to the health reform agenda. Nurse Education Today, 30(3), 258–263.
Argyris, C., & Schön, D. A. (1974). Theory in practice: Increasing professional effectiveness. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Arnold, T., Cayley, S., & Griffith, M. (2002). Videoconferencing in the classroom: Communications technology across the curriculum. Coventry: British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta). Retrieved January 26, 2005.
Ayre, L., Hanlon, M., & Armstrong, J. (2007). A room with a view: Via online video, pre-service teachers observe and interact with a first grade classroom. Paper presented at the Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2007, San Antonio, TX.
Barab, S. A., & Duffy, T. (1998). From practice fields to communities of practice. In D. Jonassen & S. Land (Eds.), Theoretical foundations of learning environments. Bloomington: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Barnett, M. (2006). Using a web-based professional development system to support preservice teachers in examining authentic classroom practice. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 14(4), 701–729.
Barrows, H. S., & Tamblyn, R. M. (1980). Problem-based learning. An approach to medical education. New York: Springer.
Bates, M. (2008). Work integrated curricula in university programs. Higher Education Research and Development, 27(4), 305–317.
Benner, P. E. (1984). From novice to expert: Excellence and power in clinical nursing practice. Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley.
Billett, S. (1996). Situated learning: Bridging sociocultural and cognitive theorising. Learning and Instruction, 6(3), 263–280.
Brown, J. S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 18(1), 32–42.
Bruner, J. S. (1962). On knowing: Essays for the left hand. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Budgen, C., & Gamroth, L. (2008). An overview of practice education models. Nurse Education Today, 28(3), 273–283.
Buresh, B., & Gordon, S. (2000). From silence to voice. London: ILR Press, Cornell University Press.
Cope, P., & Stephen, C. (2001). A role for practicing teachers in initial teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 17, 913–924.
De Jong, T., & Van Joolingen, W. R. (1998). Scientific discovery learning with computer simulations of conceptual domains. Review of Educational Research, 68(2), 179–201.
DxR Development Group. (2011). DxR clinician: Pre-authored virtual patient case studies for medical schools, physician assistant programs, and nurse practitioner programs. Retrieved on May 25, 2012, from http://www.dxrgroup.com/clinician/
Dyke, M., Harding, A., & Liddon, S. (2008). How can online observation support the assessment and feedback, on classroom performance, to trainee teachers at a distance and in real time? Journal of Further and Higher Education, 32(1), 37–46.
Dymond, S., Renzaglia, A., Halle, J., Chadsey, J., & Bentz, J. (2008). An evaluation of videoconferencing as a supportive technology for practicum supervision. Teacher Education and Special Education, 31(4), 243.
Eraut, M. (2000). Non-formal learning and tacit knowledge in professional work. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70(1), 113–136.
Grainger, P., & Bolan, C. (2006). Perceptions of nursing as a career choice of students in the Baccalaureate nursing program. Nurse Education Today, 26, 38–44.
Gregory, S., Dalgarno, B., Campbell, M., Reiners, T., Knox, V., & Masters, Y. (2011). Changing directions through VirtualPREX: Engaging pre-service teachers in virtual professional experience. In G. Williams, N. Brown, M. Pittard, & B. Cleland (Eds.), Changing demands, changing directions. Proceedings of the 28th ASCILITE Conference, Hobart, December 4–7.
Gulikers, J. T. M., Bastiaens, T. J., & Kirschner, P. A. (2004). A five-dimensional framework for authentic assessment. Educational Technology Research and Development, 52(3), 67–86.
Hall, W. A. (2006). Developing clinical placements in times of scarcity. Nurse Education in Practice, 6(6), 319–325.
Haakan, S., Fox-Young, S., Long, P., & Bogossian, F. (2013). A pilot project in distance education: Nurse practitioner students’ experience of person video capture technology as an assessment method of clinical skills. Nurse Education Today, 33(3), 253–257.
Hathaway, D., & Norton, P. (2012). Video production and classroom instruction: Bridging the academies and the realities of practice in teacher education. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 20(2), 127–149.
Hebda, T., Czar, P., & Mascara, C. (2005). Handbook of informatics for nurses and health care professionals (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice-Hall.
Helle, L., Tynjälä, P., & Olkinuora, E. (2006). Project-based learning in post-secondary education—theory, practice and rubber sling shots. Higher Education, 51(2), 287–314.
Herrington, J., Reeves, T. C., Oliver, R., & Woo, Y. (2004). Designing authentic activities in web-based courses. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 16(1), 3–29.
Hinger, D. (2007). Blended learning through videoconferencing. Paper presented at the World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education 2007, Quebec City, pp. 2622–2628.
Hung, D., & Tan, S. C. (2004). Bridging between practice fields and real communities through instructional technologies. International Journal of Instructional Media, 31(2), 167–174.
Johansen, P., & Ouellette, P. M. (2008). Integrating learning community principles and strategies for enhancing academic and social agency partnerships in social work education. Advances in Social Work, 7(2), 89–100.
Kelland, J., & Gibson, S. (2008). Using videoconferencing partnerships with schools to authenticate learning in a teacher education curriculum course. Paper presented at the Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2008, Las Vegas, NV.
Knight, S. L., Pedersen, S., & Peters, W. (2004). Connecting the university with a professional development school: Pre-service teachers’ attitudes toward the use of compressed video. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 12(1), 139–154.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Le Cornu, R., & Ewing, R. (2008). Reconceptualising professional experiences in pre-service teacher education… reconstructing the past to embrace the future. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(7), 1799–1812.
Lehman, J., & Phillion, J. (2004). Bringing diversity into the teacher education classroom: Video conferencing as a tool for distant field experiences. Paper presented at the Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2004, Atlanta, GA.
Liaw, T., Kennedy, G., Keppell, M., Marty, J., & McNair, R. (2000). Using multimedia to assist students with communication skills and biopsychosocial integration: An evaluation. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 16(2), 104–125.
Maran, N. J., & Glavin, R. J. (2003). Low to high fidelity simulation—A continuum of medical education? Medical Education, 37, 22–28.
Mattingly, C. (1998). In search of the good: Narrative reasoning in clinical practice. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 12(3, Special Collection: Rationality in the Real World: Varieties of Reasoning in Illness and Healing), 273–297.
McBride, R., Fuller, F., & Gillan, R. (2001). Desktop video conferencing: The optimum solution for synchronous distance learning. Paper presented at the Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2001, Norfolk, VA, pp. 245–250.
Mitchell, N., Marsh, B., Hobson, A. J., & Sorensen, P. (2010). ‘Bringing theory to life’: Findings from an evaluation of the use of interactive video within an initial teacher preparation programme. Teacher Development, 14(1), 15–27.
O’Leary, S., Hutchins, M. A., Stevenson, D. R., Gunn, C., Krumpholz, A., Kennedy, G. E., et al. (2008). Validation of a networked virtual reality simulation of temporal bone surgery. The Laryngoscope, 118(6), 1040–1046.
Pea, R. (1987). Socialising the knowledge transfer problem. International Journal of Educational Research, 11(6), 639–663.
Pemberton, J. B., Cereijo, M. V. P., Tyler-Wood, T., & Rademacher, J. (2004). Desktop videoconferencing: Examples of applications to support teacher training in rural areas. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 23(2), 3–8.
Petraglia, J. (1998). The real world on a short leash: The (mis)application of constructivism to the design of educational technology. Educational Technology Research and Development, 46(3), 53–65.
Polanyi, M. (1966). The tacit dimension. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Polanyi, M. (1967). The tacit dimension. NY: Garden City, Doubleday.
Reupert, A., & Dalgarno, B. (2011). Using online blogs to develop student teachers’ behaviour management approaches. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 36(5), 47–63.
Rush, B., Walsh, N. J., Guy, C. J., & Wharrad, H. J. (2011). A clinical practice teaching and learning observatory: The use of videoconferencing to link theory to practice in nurse education. Nurse Education in Practice, 11(1), 26–30.
Santagata, R., Zannoni, C., & Stigler, J. W. (2007). The role of lesson analysis in pre-service teacher education: An empirical investigation of teacher learning from a virtual video-based field experience. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 10(2), 123–140.
Schön, D. S. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. London: Temple Smith.
Schön, D. A. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Seymour, N. E., Gallagher, A. G., Roman, S. A., O’Brien, M. K., Bansal, V. K., Andersen, D. K., et al. (2002). Virtual reality training improves operating room performance: Results of a randomized, double-blinded study. Annals of Surgery, 236(4), 458–464.
Shaw, R.-S., Keh, H.-C., Huang, N.-C., & Huang, T.-C. (2011). Information security awareness on-line materials design with knowledge maps. International Journal of Distance Education Technologies, 9(4), 41–56.
Spouse, J. (2001). Bridging theory and practice in the supervisory relationship: A sociocultural perspective. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 33(4), 512–522.
Stein, S. J., Issacs, G., & Andrews, T. (2004). Incorporating authentic learning experiences within a university course. Studies in Higher Education, 29(2), 239–258.
Winer, L. R., & Cooperstock, J. (2002). The “Intelligent Classroom”: Changing teaching and learning with an evolving technological environment. Computers in Education, 38(1–3), 253–266.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dalgarno, B., Kennedy, G., Merritt, A. (2014). Connecting Student Learning at University with Professional Practice Using Rich Media in Practice-Based Curricula. In: Gosper, M., Ifenthaler, D. (eds) Curriculum Models for the 21st Century. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7366-4_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7366-4_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-7365-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7366-4
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)