Skip to main content

Integrating Experiences in Workplace and University Settings: A Conceptual Perspective

Part of the Professional and Practice-based Learning book series (PPBL,volume 7)

Abstract

Given the ambitious goals for and interest in integrating students’ experiences in both educational and practice settings, it is helpful to have some clear bases from which to proceed in planning, enacting and evaluating these educational provisions. It is necessary, therefore, to understand the kinds of educational purposes to be achieved, and means by which those purposes can likely be realised. Accordingly, this chapter first identifies the forms and kinds of knowledge required to be developed for effective professional practice, which then become the key educational purposes for integrating these experiences. They comprise the canonical conceptual, procedural and dispositional knowledge of the occupation and the particular situational requirements of that occupational knowledge for the circumstances where it is enacted. Following this, the likely contributions of experiences in academic and practice settings are discussed in terms of how they separately and, when integrated, together can best secure the kinds and forms of knowledge required to be learnt. That is, the chapter identifies how best the fit between the experiences provided and their integration can realise both the canonical and situational knowledge required for effective professional practice. Hence, the consideration of these integrations goes beyond what is provided or afforded by the two settings and needs to include how novice and experienced practitioners come to draw upon and reconcile both sets of contributions. In doing so, the consideration of integrations extends beyond what is enacted as experiences for students and includes their epistemological development as agentic learners. Consequently, it will not be sufficient to consider only the development of appropriate curriculum and pedagogies to integrate experiences. Rather, it will be also necessary to account for the development of agentic personal epistemologies.

Keywords

  • Practice Setting
  • Professional Practice
  • Conceptual Knowledge
  • Procedural Knowledge
  • Educational Purpose

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • DOI: 10.1007/978-90-481-3937-8_2
  • Chapter length: 20 pages
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
eBook
USD   109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • ISBN: 978-90-481-3937-8
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
Softcover Book
USD   139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Hardcover Book
USD   179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)

References

  • Anderson, J. R. (1982). Acquisition of cognitive skill. Psychological Review, 89(4), 369–406.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, J. R. (1993). Problem solving and learning. American Psychologist, 48(1), 35–44.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Baldwin, J. M. (1894). Personality-suggestion. Psychological Review, 1, 274–279.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Bartlett, F. C. (1958). Thinking: An experimental and social study. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billett, S. (2001a). Knowing in practice: Re-conceptualising vocational expertise. Learning and Instruction, 11(6), 431–452.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Billett, S. (2001b). Learning in the workplace: Strategies for effective practice. Sydney, NSW: Allen and Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billett, S. (2006). Work, change and workers. Dordrecht: Springer.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Billett, S. (2008a). Learning throughout working life: A relational interdependence between social and individual agency. British Journal of Education Studies, 55(1), 39–58.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Billett, S. (2008b). Subjectivity, learning and work: Sources and legacies. Vocations and Learning: Studies in Vocational and Professional Education, 1(2), 149–171.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Billett, S. (2009). Realising the educational worth of integrating work experiences in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 34(7), 827–843.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Boud, D. , & Solomon, N. (Eds.). (2001). Work-based learning: A new higher education?. Buckingham: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J. S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 18(1), 32–34.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Chi, M. T. H., Feltovich, P. J., & Glaser, R. (1981). Categorisation and representation of physics problems by experts and novices. Cognitive Science, 5, 121–152.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Chi, M. T. H., Glaser, R., & Farr, M. J. (1982). The nature of expertise. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Innovation Universities and Skills. (2008). Higher education at work.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eames, C., & Coll, R. (2010). Cooperative education: Integrating classroom and workplace learning. In S. Billett (Ed.), Learning through practice (pp. 180–196). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Engestrom, Y., & Middleton, D. (1996). Introduction: Studying work as mindful practice. In Y. Engestrom, D. Middleton (Eds.), Cognition and communication at work (pp. 1–15). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Ericsson, K. A. (2006). The influence of experience and deliberate practice on the development of superior expert performance. In K. A. Ericsson, N. Charness, P. J. Feltowich, & R. R. Hoffmann (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of expertise and expert performance (pp. 685–705). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Ericsson, K. A., & Lehmann, A. C. (1996). Expert and exceptional performance: Evidence of maximal adaptation to task constraints. Annual Review of Psychology, 47, 273–305.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Ericsson, K. A., & Smith, J. (1991). Towards a general theory of expertise. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identity: Self and society in the late modern age. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glaser, R. (1984). Education and thinking – The role of knowledge. American Psychologist, 39(2), 93–104.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Glaser, R. (1989). Expertise and learning: How do we think about instructional processes now that we have discovered knowledge structures?. In D. Klahr & K. Kotovsky (Eds.), Complex information processing: The impact of Herbert A. Simon (pp. 289–317). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum & Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Groen, G. J., & Patel, P. (1988). The relationship between comprehension and reasoning in medical expertise. In M. T. H. Chi, R. Glaser, & R. Farr (Eds.), The nature of expertise (pp. 311–342). New York: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grollman, P., & Tutschner, R. (2006). Possible intended and unintended effects of European VET policies – The case of integrating work and learning. Paper presented at the European Research Network in Vocational Education and Training Symposium, Geneva.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grubb, W. N., & Badway, N. (1998). Linking school-based and work-based learning: The implications of LaGuardia’s co-op seminars for school-to-work programs. Berkeley, CA: National Center for Research in Vocational Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larkin, J., McDermott, J., Simon, D. P., & Simon, H. A. (1980). Expert and novice performance in solving physics problems. Science, 208(4450), 1335–1342.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Lave, J., Murtaugh, M., & de la Roche, O. (1984). The dialectic of arithmetic in grocery shopping. In B. Rogoff & J. Lave (Eds.), Everyday cognition: Its development in social context (pp. 76–94). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, Y. J., & Roth, W. -M. (2005). The (unlikely) trajectory of learning in a salmon hatchery. Journal of Workplace Learning, 17, 243–254.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Lomas, L. (1997). The decline of liberal education and the emergence of a new model of education and training. Education + Training, 39(3), 111–115.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Mezirow, J. (1981). A critical theory of adult learning and education. Adult Education, 32(1), 3–24.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Newton, J., Billett, S., Jolly, B., & Ockerby, C. (2009). Journeying through clinical placements – An examination of six student cases. Nursing Education Today, 29(6), 630–634.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Perkins, D., Jay, E., & Tishman, S. (1993). Beyond abilities: A dispositional theory of thinking. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 39(1), 1–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piaget, J. (1968). Structuralism. (C. Maschler, Trans. and Ed.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogoff, B. , Lave, J. (Eds.). (1984). Everyday cognition: Its development in social context. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryle, G. (1949). The concept of mind. London: Hutchinson University Library.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schutz, A. (1970). On phenomenology and social relations (Ed. Helmut Wagner). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scribner, S. (1984). Studying working intelligence. In B. Rogoff & J. Lave (Eds.), Everyday cognition: Its development in social context (pp. 9–40). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shuell, T. J. (1990). Phases of meaningful learning. Review of Educational Research, 60(4), 531–547.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Stenstrom, M.-L., Grollman, P., Tutschner, R., Tynjala, P., Nikkanen, P., & Loogma, K. (2006). Integration of work and learning: Policies, strategies and practices. Paper presented at the European Research Network in Vocational Education and Training Symposium, Geneva.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson, J. (1994). Vocational expertise. In J. Stevenson (Ed.), Cognition at work (pp. 7–34). Adelaide, SA: National Centre for Vocational Education Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valsiner, J. (1998). The guided mind: A sociogenetic approach to personality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valsiner, J. (2000). Culture and human development. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valsiner, J., & van der Veer, R. (2000). The social mind: The construction of an idea. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Lehn, V. (1989). Towards a theory of impasse-driven learning. In H. Mandl & A. Lesgold (Eds.), Learning issues for intelligent tutoring systems (pp. 19–41). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • von Glasersfeld, E. (1987). Learning as a constructive activity. In C. Janvier (Ed.), Problems of representation in the teaching and learning of mathematics (pp. 3–17). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Voss, J. F. (1987). Learning and transfer in subject matter learning: A problem-solving model. International Journal of Educational Research, 11(6), 607–622.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to acknowledge the support provided by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephen Billett .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Billett, S. (2011). Integrating Experiences in Workplace and University Settings: A Conceptual Perspective. In: Billett, S., Henderson, A. (eds) Developing Learning Professionals. Professional and Practice-based Learning, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3937-8_2

Download citation