Is this field education /work practice course ‘DEST compliant’?
─ compiled by Martyn Jones, April 2005
The Higher Education Support Act 2003 (the Nelson Reforms) came into effect in 2005. A set of Administration Guidelines was issued to be read in conjunction with the Act. These contain new guidelines on ‘work experience in industry’ (Chapters 3 & 4, Higher Education Support Act 2003 Administration Guidelines).
The Administration Guidelines make a distinction between:
-units of study considered to be wholly work experience in industry for which no Commonwealth Grant Scheme funding is received;
-units of study not considered work experience in industry for which Commonwealth Grant Scheme funding is received and for which a student contribution amount may be charged.
The distinction rests on the following:
Units of study are considered to consist wholly of work experience in industry (WEI) where the provider is not providing direction to a student’s learning and performance in regards to work undertaken outside of a provider.
[Administrative Information for Providers 2005, p 32]
Within the School of Social Science and Planning, all field education / work practice courses receive Commonwealth Grant Scheme funding and also charge a student contribution amount. For a course within this School to be ‘DEST Compliant’, therefore, student learning and performance has to be directed by the provider (RMIT).
What does ‘providing direction’ mean?
To understand what DEST mean by ‘providing direction’, we can look at the requirements stated in the Administration Guidelines –
A unit of study is not considered work experience in industry if all the following are performed by staff of the higher education provider or by persons engaged by the higher education provider
(a)ongoing and regular input and contact with students; and
(b)oversight and direction of work occurring during its performance;
(c)definition and management of the implementation of educational content and objectives of the unit; and
(d)definition and management of assessment of student learning and performance during the student placement; and
(e)definition and management of the standard of learning and performance to be achieved by the student during the student placement.
[HESA 2003 Administration Guidelines 3.5.1, italics in original]
To understand further what DEST means by ‘providing direction’, we can contrast this with what DEST sees as ‘providing support’.
There is a third category related to ‘work experience in industry’. This is where the student receives support for student learning and performance from the provider, for which the provider may charge a student contribution amount.
The Administration Guidelines set out these criteria to determine whether student learning and performance is supported –
A higher education provider supports student learning and performance if all the following are performed by staff of the higher education provider or by persons engaged by the higher education provider:
(a)interaction with the student which may include site visits; and
(b)organisation of student placements; and
(c)ongoing monitoring of student work and progress; and
(d)assessment of student learning and performance during the student placement.
[HESA 2003 Administration Guidelines 4.10.1, italics in original]
A positive effect of the new guidelines is that they require field education / work practice courses in the School of Social Science and Planning to be designed and delivered on a solid educational basis. ‘Experience’, ‘support’, ‘liaison’, ‘monitoring’, efficient organisation and assessment, are not sufficient in themselves for a course to be ‘DEST compliant’.
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