Action-research approach: Building capacity and enhancing work-integrated learning curricula

Abstract

This is the third of three articles investigating the renewal of a foundational work-integrated learning (WIL) subject offered by a faculty at an Australian university. This case study describes the project frame, the intended project deliverables, and the strategic outcomes relating to the renewal process. It reports on how the action-research project approach required the sharing of diverse expertise to enable subject reform and to also challenge and transform existing faculty-wide strategies and practices relating to career education. An accumulation of cultural capital enabled more than the re-design of the single subject, a vertical and horizontal scaffolding of Faculty-wide WIL curriculum enhancement began. The project outcomes demonstrate how a vision for a core STEM-centric foundation career education subject led to broader educational reform relating to student employability.