Communicating effectively with parents and carers is an important skill for pre-service teachers to develop. However, they often graduate underprepared due to limited opportunities for parent interaction during their course. When engaging with parents, pre-service teachers must be able to confidently articulate their pedagogical choices, provide…

In this study, an in-person simulated role play as a worthwhile approach in preparation for work-integrated learning (WIL) through a theater and reality of the board (TROB) pedagogical model is explored. Students participated in a twelve week, in-semester TROB program, acting out in-person board room positions, such as Chair and Secretary before…

A practical for students to experience a process plant is presented, based on operating a solvent absorption plant for carbon dioxide capture. The student must operate the plant in assigned roles that closely identify with a chemical plant environment, to achieve specific performance targets. Students must overcome technical challenges that…

Little is known about the effectiveness of simulation in health professionals who are 'hands-off' practitioners such as, exercise physiologists. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using simulation, towards improving knowledge, confidence and experience in exercise physiology students. Fifty-two (M[subscript age]= 22 years)…

This article details a role-playing "citizenship simulation" used in a large graduate seminar offered by the Masters of International Relations (IR) faculty at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. While recognizing the need for a more systematic analysis of the relationship between class size and active learning strategies, this…

There is a dearth of research into teaching strategies and learning approaches for units involving sensitive topics that can provoke an emotional response in students. In a business ethics unit, attempts to strike a balance between conceptual knowledge and theory and skills training can be challenging because the unit can involve personal,…

Changes in preferred methods of learning among many students in recent years have challenged educators to introduce more interactive and experiential teaching methods. "Hot seating"--where a person, such as an invited subject expert is interviewed by an audience--is a well-established interactive method of learning, but is often limited…

Teaching conservation management means more than just learning about solving complex and difficult environmental issues. Such learning must also consider the likely administrative context that students will end up working in. This article outlines the development of a role-play that uses online technology to teach several administrative processes…

Science students leaving undergraduate programs are entering the biotechnology industry where they are presented with issues which require integration of science content. Students find this difficult as through-out their studies, most content is limited to a single subdiscipline (e.g., biochemistry, immunology). In addition, students need…

This paper describes an experiment in using the "scenario," a concept parallel to that of the case study, as a research tool for obtaining information about possible sex discrimination in personnel decisions by high school principals in South Australia. A review of the literature indicated that in spite of legislation aimed at…

The Mekong e-Sim involved more than 140 students across Australia and overseas participating in an online roleplay-simulation over a four-week period. Set in the Mekong region of South East Asia, it allowed for debates over development issues arising from clear-cut differences and conflicts in values and interests. The geography and engineering…

This paper explores teaching strategies for communicating complex issues and ideas to a diverse group of students, with different educational and vocational interests, that encourage them to develop critical thinking, and explores pedagogies appropriate to the multidisciplinary field of Aboriginal studies. These issues will be investigated through…