ABSTRACT
There is a widely held belief in the value of learning through practice. Employers in particular place skills and industry experience above academic knowledge. They often argue that graduates without a period of work experience lack practical skills, such as communication skills, the ability to work in a team, flexibility of thinking and ethical training, which they see as essential for successful future participation in work. Unfortunately, there has been a decline in the ability of many professional courses to provide students with work experience. As such, students are finding it increasingly difficult to learn to apply experience-based knowledge to problem situations they will need for their future learning at work. Frustrated by the difficulty in finding placements, a lack of clear learning outcomes from work experience and the different expectations among students, lecturers and employers, many lecturers committed to equipping students to learn in work situations are searching for alternative forms of practice-based learning by which students can develop insights into themselves as professionals.
