Post-practicum Project: Its Educational Purposes, Importance, and Roles

Abstract

This opening chapter offers an overview of the post-practicum approach to augmenting students’ learning experiences; that is, what constitutes post-practicum experiences, their educational purposes, particular importance in contemporary tertiary education, and their specific roles in achieving the kinds of outcomes being requested of contemporary higher education. This includes their roles in integrating the experiences that our education institutions are providing for students in work settings with what is offered within and by the educational institutions. It also includes a consideration of the contributions of specific settings and experiences that provide opportunities for students to reconcile those across their study life and that are also directed towards achieving individual pathways to realising their educational goals. Foreshadowed here are some of the contributions to higher educational processes and outcomes that can be achieved through the provision of these kinds of experiences, finding ways to assist students reconcile those experiences. So, in sum, this opening chapter sets out the justification for this volume and offers rationales for why readers would come to engage with it, and the contributions it can make to advancing student learning within tertiary and higher education.