This study aimed to explore the experiences and support needs of allied health students undertaking WIL with established and ongoing telehealth services. Semi-structured qualitative interviews of allied health students (n=10) and clinical educators of allied health students (n=8) were undertaken. Data were subjected to reflexive thematic analysis.…

This paper offers an overview of what motivates and challenges Australian supervising teachers to work with preservice teachers in their classrooms. In the contemporary Australian context of new National Professional Standards for Teachers, a new national curriculum and new standards for Initial Teacher Education programs, what motivates and…

This article reports on the results of a research project in which 18 teacher educators in three countries-Australia, The Netherlands, and United Kingdom-were interviewed about their experiences of working in the so-called "third space" between schools and universities, particularly in relation to the practicum, or field supervision.…

More than 30 of the 43 universities in Australia offer an exercise science and/or sport science degree programs. In the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector, more than 160 Registered Training Organisations offer Australian Government approved fitness training courses. The paper is a self-reflective exercise based upon mentoring placement…

This study confirms the role of genuine conversation as the enabler in good mentoring of pre-service teachers. The practicum plays an essential role in moving the pre-service teacher beyond learning about teaching to the practice of teaching. Yet the benefit of the practicum is often constrained by relational tensions, disappointment and…

Practicum experiences are critical learning environments for developing requisite skills, knowledge, behaviours and attitudes across the professions. Evidence suggests that international students in professional social and behavioural science programs struggle across a number of dimensions while on practicum. Key issues for these students coalesce…

This paper reports on research that suggests a new view of assessment of the practicum in teacher education. By transcending the stereotypes of "failing" student teachers who do not achieve traditional benchmarks, this new lens highlights the complexity, diversity and inequality of experiences through listening to the voices of the…

Three video/web conferencing technologies (Pocket Camcorder, Skype, Adobe Connect) were used in regional schools in Australia to determine whether the technologies are appropriate for the needs of the university supervisor, trainee teachers and supervising teachers with regard to practicum teaching placements. Findings revealed that Pocket…

Profession-derived competency standards are key determinants for curriculum and assessment in many professional university programmes. An Australian Learning and Teaching Council funded project used a participatory action research approach to enable the collaborative development of a graduated (or incremental) descriptors tool related to…

In July 2010, the faculties of Law, Business and Economics, and Medicine at Monash University, Australia commenced placing law, finance, and social work students in a multidisciplinary clinic at a community legal service operated by the University. Students from the three disciplines began seeing legal service clients at the same time as a team.…

One of the perennial challenges for academics working in the area of professional experiences (practicum) is how to negotiate the constantly moving and contradictory boundaries around their work. A number of questions arise. Firstly, how do they cope with the "shifting, changing landscape" (Clandinin, 2008) of the university and at the…

This paper explores the expectations of a group of site-based teacher educators as each attempted to support a pre-service teacher who struggled to achieve satisfactory outcomes on their professional placement. Discourse analysis of teachers' narratives provided my personal, partial and dynamic (Mauthner & Doucet, 2003) interpretation of what…

The purpose of this study was to field-test several conferencing technologies in regional schools in Victoria to determine whether the technologies are appropriate for the needs of the university supervisor, trainee teachers and supervising teachers with regard to practicum placements. The study also explored the potential of technology for other…

Novice nurses encounter numerous factors that impact on their learning in the complex healthcare workplace. Registered nurses often work one-on-one with novices as preceptors to facilitate the development of novices' clinical skills and socialisation into the profession. This paper explores the concept of preceptorship from novice nurses' and…

Courses preparing early childhood professionals through institutes of technical and further education utilise competency standards to guide the assessment of students during professional experience. Some universities offering early childhood teacher education courses use the term "competencies" in practicum assessment forms and draw on…