Interdisciplinary work-integrated learning: Australian

university project-based learning pilots and practices

MARGO BREWER1
Curtin University, Perth, Australia
SALLY LEWIS
University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
SONIA FERNS
Curtin University, Perth, Australia

Work-integrated learning (WIL) has become an essential component of many university curricula. Recent global
disruptions have challenged traditional models of WIL, particularly industry-based student placements, leading
to growing calls for new, sustainable models of WIL. Aligned with this call and the increased emphasis on learning
across disciplines, interdisciplinary project-based WIL provides an alternative to student placements that is both
student and industry centered. This study reports on the outcomes of pilots of this model of WIL across four
Australian universities. A cohort of 38 students, faculty and industry staff who participated in the pilots were
interviewed. The key challenges and enablers of interdisciplinary project-based WIL are identified along with
recommendations for implementation.

Keywords: Interdisciplinary, project-based learning, work-integrated learning

Work-integrated learning (WIL) is essential to prepare students for work readiness in a disrupted
employment market that requires new and diverse graduate capabilities. The workplaces of the future
require professionals who can navigate ambiguity, be productive in globally distributed teams, and
negotiate solutions using sophisticated interpersonal and technical skills (World Economic Forum,
2018). Furthermore, many of the issues facing society are complex problems that require
interdisciplinary solutions (Ramaley, 2014). Davies et al. (2011) describe the ideal worker as “someone
with a deep understanding of at least one field but the capacity to be conversant in the language of a
broader range of disciplines” (p. 11). Successful graduates need complex problem solving capabilities,
as well as entrepreneurial mindsets and skills (Foundation for Young Australians, 2020).

Responding to this changing world of work, contemporary higher education has a greater focus on
employability than ever before. Oliver & Jorre de St Jorre’s (2018) review of university graduate
attributes noted an increased focus in recent years on information literacy, global citizenship, problem
solving, and interdisciplinarity. Students are also more focused on employability with growing
expectation that their university qualification will equip them for the world of work (Lasen et al., 2018).

WIL is directly aligned with employability as it can enhance not only disciplinary knowledge but also
the development of key graduate skills including problem solving, verbal and written communication,
interpersonal communication, teamwork, leadership and negotiation skills, self-esteem, confidence,
and work readiness (Lim et al., 2018; Smith & Worsfold, 2014). Recent turbulent events are limiting the
ability of universities to continue to sustain and scale traditional WIL pedagogies such as industry-
based placements (Zegwaard et al., 2020). Several researchers (e.g. Brassler & Dettmers, 2017; Hart,

1
Corresponding author: Margo Brewer, [email protected]
 BREWER, LEWIS, FERNS: Interdisciplinary WIL practices

2019; Lim et al., 2018; Piggott & Winchester-Setto, 2020) claim, interdisciplinary project-based WIL is
an effective alternative to placements that benefits both students and employers.

Interdisciplinary project-based WIL prepares graduates for the contemporary world of work where
complex problems demand solutions drawn from multiple disciplines and employers increasingly
requiring collaboration skills (World Economic Forum, 2018) as super-structured, matrixed
organizations continue to rise in popularity (Davies et al., 2011). Project-based learning requires that
projects are complex, based on challenging contemporary questions or problems, involve students in
the design, decision making, problem solving and investigation, provide students the opportunity to
work relatively autonomously over an extended period of time, and culminate in realistic products or
presentations (Thomas, 2000). This experiential learning lends itself to engagement with industry to
ensure students are addressing real-world problems (Repko et al., 2019). Working through the projects
with faculty and industry, students develop essential entrepreneurial, problem solving mindsets and
skills for work readiness (Brewer et al., 2020).

The increasing focus on demonstrating attainment of employability skills, often leveraging WIL
pedagogies, raises the importance of educators understanding, sharing, and embedding innovative
practices into the curricula (Brewer et al., 2020). Embedding any new approach to WIL in the
curriculum requires an appreciation of the challenges and enablers. To further the research within the
higher education sector into interdisciplinary project-based WIL as an alternative to work placements,
this study aimed to develop and pilot test project-based learning at four Australian universities. The
pilots, scaffolded by a theoretical framework of social constructivism (Rannikmäe et al., 2020),
employed a variety of learning pedagogies with implications for the deployment of important design
considerations and changes in teaching practices. A brief overview of each pilot follows. For a more
detailed description of the pilots, and a guide to interdisciplinary project-based learning, see Brewer et
al. (2020).

PILOTS

Four Australian universities representing different states across the Australian Technology Network
conducted interdisciplinary WIL pilot projects in 2019/20. The pilots involved students in later years
of their degrees from the health, humanities, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and
business disciplines. A total of 34 faculty, 19 industry staff and 265 university students participated in
the pilots. Inclusion criteria were: (1) faculty currently teaching one or more units with a WIL
component, and/or direct involvement in management of WIL; (2) industry staff willing to work with
the university on an industry-based project; and (3) students enrolled in a unit taught by a staff member
participating in the pilot projects.

Curtin University Pilot

Curtin worked on an industry-based project with Lab Tests Online Australia. Students from marketing,
media and graphic design, and data analytics participated in the project. Detailed evaluation of the
industry partner’s website included analysis and consumer surveys to improve performance for the
user and optimize search engine capability. The website’s visual design was assessed and revised to
increase impact and address literacy issues. Students also developed a social media marketing plan for
industry.

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University of South Australia (UniSA) Pilot

The UniSA pilot brought together students from communication, marketing and digital media to
develop a social media campaign to increase Apprentice and Trainee participation for the South
Australian Department for Innovation and Skills. Working in small teams, the students co-designed
and developed an industry standard communication plan complete with campaign prototypes. Design
thinking methodology was employed, enabling students to apply their disciplinary knowledge and
skills in developing solutions to the client challenge. Delivered fully online the pilot was supported by
inbuilt pedagogical tools and discussion forums that enhanced opportunities for collaborative learning
while an online tutor provided oversight and individualized feedback on the campaigns.

RMIT Pilot

Students from human resources, marketing, and accounting participated in the RMIT pilot, which had
three industry partners: The National Tertiary Education Union; JobCo, and Specialisterne. The
students worked in interdisciplinary teams to investigate future work trends and prepare
recommendations on challenges relating to career pathways, organizational culture and workforce
diversification. The pilot incorporated a group pitch strategy where students refined their industry
research project and presented their approach to the industry partners. The resulting reports provided
viable solutions and potential pathways to address the identified challenges.

University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Pilot

The UTS pilot engaged students from engineering, information technology, design, architecture and
building in interdisciplinary, project-based studios to create design solutions for real-world problems.
The students participated in projects including designing livable cities, tackling global warming, re-
conceptualizing healthcare solutions using medical devices, and designing community spaces with
Indigenous and community stakeholders. Applying design thinking skills, the students worked in
teams to ideate solutions, validate stakeholder needs, develop prototypes and test early-stage designs.
Sharing multidisciplinary knowledge, the students utilized a wide range of technologies including data
analytics, robotics, math modelling, sensor design, artificial intelligence and machine learning,
quantum computing, augmented reality and space applications.

OBJECTIVES

This multi-site, exploratory project focused on identifying the impact that participation in the pilot
projects had on the follow:

1. Faculty’s knowledge and capacity to develop and implement interdisciplinary project-based

WIL,
2. Industry partners’ attitudes towards interdisciplinary project-based WIL,
3. Industry partners’ attitudes towards collaboration with the university, and
4. Students’ perceptions of employability skills and interdisciplinary project-based WIL.

METHODS

An exploratory case study was utilized as it allows the study of the social phenomena of WIL in its
original context (Mills et al., 2010). Furthermore, the research design was qualitative to allow for
identification of rich, in-depth themes in relation to the participants’ knowledge, capacity and
attitude/perception (Braun & Clarke, 2006).

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Participants

From the total pool of 318 project participants, as outlined above, a total of 19 university students and
13 faculty from a range of courses across health, business, humanities and STEM participated in an
individual interview or focus group. In addition, six industry staff also participated in an interview.
Tables 1, 2 and 3 summarize the demographic information of interview and focus group participants
across the three cohorts, students, faculty and industry staff.

TABLE 1: University students demographics.

Characteristics University Students (n = 19)
Gender Male 4
Female 15
Not Specified 2
Year Level 1 0
2 3
3 15
4 1
Course Integrated Communication Planning 9
Future of Work 6
Data Science 1
Marketing 2
Internal Communications 1
Study Mode Domestic 12
International 7

TABLE 2: Faculty demographics.

Characteristics Faculty (n = 13)
Gender Male 8
Female 4
Not Specified 1
Years of University Teaching Experience 0-5 2
6-10 5
11-15 3
16-20 2
21-25 1
Years in Current Role 0-5 9
6-10 0
11-15 1
16-20 3
Currently Teaching Undergraduate (UG) 6
Postgraduate (PG) 1
Both UG & PG 2
Managing, not teaching, 4
WIL

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TABLE 3: Industry staff demographics.

Characteristics Industry Staff (n = 6)
Gender Male 1
Female 5
Size of Enterprise Small (0-19) 1
Medium (20-200) 2
Large (200+) 3
Years Collaborating with Universities 0-5 5
6-10 0
11-15 0
16-20 1

Data Collection and Materials

A semi-structured interview guide was developed for each participant group to allow for the collection
of interviews (faculty and industry staff) and focus group data (university students). The faculty guide
explored the project’s impact on their attitudes towards interdisciplinary project-based learning, and
their confidence and knowledge of facilitating interdisciplinary project-based learning. The industry
guide explored the project’s impact on their attitudes towards interdisciplinary project-based learning,
and their experiences collaborating with the university. Finally, the student guide explored how
participation in the project impacted their attitude towards employability skills and interdisciplinary
project-based learning, as well as their project learning experiences. Each interview ranged from 30 to
60 minutes in duration. The focus group was 90 minutes in length. A research assistant was employed
at each university to undertake this data collection.

Procedure

Ethics approval was gained from Curtin University’s Human Research Ethics Committee (HRE2019-
0430-01) along with approval from the other three participating universities’ ethics committees. Faculty
were informed of the project during both formal and informal meetings with project team members.
E-mails to students, faculty within the relevant schools, and industry partner organizations invited
them to register their interest. Participants were provided with an information sheet that outlined the
details of the study and their contribution. Signed consent forms were obtained for all participants.
Audio recordings of the interviews were transcribed verbatim.

Data Analysis

Thematic analysis was conducted to allow for the collection of in-depth, rich data, analyzed to explore
emerging patterns, as well as organizing the text into inclusive themes that addressed the overarching
research questions and objectives (Braun & Clarke, 2006). To begin the analytical process, the
interviews were read repeatedly, and initial topic codes generated through working line by line and
collating the data relevant to each code (Braun & Clarke, 2006). These topic codes were constructed
into analytical codes, reflecting preliminary interpretations and versions of the potential themes
identified; relevant exemplar quotations were also noted (Braun & Clarke, 2006). These potential
themes were further refined, to ensure they were representative of the data; as such, each theme was
then titled and defined (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Finally, the themes were written up, related back to the
research literature, and produced in this paper (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Member checking was also
adopted where participants were invited to provide feedback on the representativeness of the key

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messages that were common within interview data and the interpretations of these ideas.

RESULTS

Given the similarities between the perceptions of faculty and industry staff, the results for these two
cohorts are integrated. Students’ perceptions are reported separately.

Faculty and Industry Staff

Four themes were identified from the interviews with faculty and industry staff: the application of
learning to real-world contexts, a broader approach to thinking and doing, interdisciplinary project-
based WIL as a transformative pedagogy, and academia versus industry.

Application to the real-world

Faculty suggested that engaging in interdisciplinary project-based WIL allowed students to assimilate
and integrate their diverse knowledge to real-world contexts. By engaging in this form of learning,
students were able to work together to resolve authentic issues identified by industry. For example,
one participant stated: “How I structure the project is very much around a challenging task that
requires peer cooperation and learning to facilitate and do it.” Further to this, participants expressed
how these issues reflect what occurs in the workplace: “Working on any real-world project is giving
you [the student] a much more genuine work experience.”

The issues identified by industry must be specific for authentic experiences to occur. In comparison to
ill-defined or contrived project scopes, Faculty identified that this specificity allowed an engaging
process for all involved, which results in students: “Being able to navigate the process, being engaged,
and transferring the knowledge to apply it in a way that helps build an understanding of the problem
and its solutions”. Faculty noted that by addressing real-world issues students were motivated to learn
“it's natural to include project-based learning within that [the curriculum] because it enables more
student-driven learning.” In addition, students’ increasing autonomy was evident as they took
responsibility for their learning and demonstrated emerging leadership skills.

Faculty viewed this style of learning as preparing students for the professional world as many of the
skills they developed during the projects were applicable to workplace tasks. For example: “Working
in a team setting, being able to have their opinion heard, considered, being able to contribute in that
professional context, receive the feedback from industry and then be able to apply that moving
forward”. Overall, engaging in an interdisciplinary project was a valuable experience for students:
“Project-based learning helps to provide that kind of setting, that kind of almost workplace setting so
that they can learn those skills. So very valuable.”

Industry staff also acknowledged that the project allowed for real world application of learning to the
workplace. The projects required assimilation, integration and personalization of how knowledge is
transferred to other contexts, problems, or issues: “It helps convert theory into reality through practice.
Sometimes when you're just dealing with theory, it's easy to come up with a lot of really interesting
ideas, but unless it’s grounded in reality, they're never going to work.”

Industry staff acknowledged that part of their role within the project was to ‘light the fire’, acting as the
catalyst to discussions surrounding real-world problems: “We put forward an issue and then students
worked on our problem and they presented us with some different ideas”. Industry staff noted that
these complex problems required students to work together to figure out solutions. The role of industry

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was thus one of providing an authentic context, clearly articulating the problem and then allowing the
learning to take place. As for faculty, the authenticity of the learning experience was a key feature of
project-based WIL: “It's a practical approach to things that they [students] might actually have to deal
with in employment…this gives them really some good skills in how to address that stuff.” The need
to produce something that helped resolve the problem was a key element of the learning: “It's not just
about getting the reports for us, it's about passing on the knowledge and producing an end product.”
The importance of students’ post-project reflections was highlighted by industry staff: “Reflecting gives
them some ideas about what working life will be like and what the possibilities are and how their skills
can be used.”

A broader approach to thinking and doing

By engaging in this style of learning, faculty felt the students reflected on how they had been taught
and began to view knowledge from a different theoretical lens: “Students take a step back and look at
what others have done and then try to apply a different mindset to it…they can find a different angle
to tackle a problem.” These new perspectives, constructed through students adopting critical thinking
skills, were facilitated through the interdisciplinary process. Critical thinking was viewed as
fundamental to the learning process by faculty: “They'd be able to develop their creative thinking,
critical thinking skills as well… being able to think outside the box a little bit, that’s so crucial.”

Industry staff identified that by engaging with students during the project, they were able to gain a
new perspective on the issue to be solved: “To get access to people with young minds and people with
up-to-date specialty in terms of learning.” This new perspective was achieved by harnessing the
students’ agile minds whilst giving them new experiences within the project and within industry.
Finally, industry staff viewed the process as assisting and preparing the students for the professional
world, “…you use your real experience to guide you through the workplace.”

A transformative pedagogy
Faculty acknowledged the difference between interdisciplinary project-based learning and more
traditional educational pedagogies:

More traditional forms [of education] are about question and answer. You provide some content,
get them to hopefully do the reading, come up with some correct answers, tick them off and so
on. Whereas this is more about, they control their own learning… personally, it's more
interesting to engage that way for students than doing a very traditional class structure.

Faculty felt this approach to learning challenged their own thinking, whereby how teaching had been
done previously was questioned: “Just being able to look at something in a little bit of a different way,
you start to think, oh, we didn't think about it quite that way.” Reflection on their educational practice
included recognition of the need for greater engagement with industry problems: “We can find
ourselves in a bit of an academic bubble sometimes…instead of sitting back and taking an academic
approach, it actually gets us to engage with real-world problems.” Adopting this new form of learning,
faculty were able to adopt transformative practices to use in the classroom: “You have to have the
confidence to go forward and try new things. Build new skills. Try and find solutions, and then use
them with your students.”

Industry staff also reported engaging in reflection in relation to how they participated in the process:
“Sometimes we reflect which allows us to reposition what we're thinking and so sometimes that's a
good thing to bring about change.” Interdisciplinary project-based learning transpired as a catalyst for

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shifting the mind-set of industry partners, thereby enhancing their capacity to enrich student learning
and work in partnership with academic staff.

Faculty viewed their role within project-based WIL as a shift to being ‘a guide on the side’, assisting
students to work autonomously. This role included facilitation of discussions among students and
between students and industry, and guiding students through any difficulties experienced: “It's very
much more of a mentoring role, a support mentor, guidance as opposed to being a teacher…if they're
having trouble communicating with their client [industry partner] or working as a team that's where
your role comes into it.” Faculty highlighted the importance of avoiding giving students specific step-
by-step instructions. Furthermore, faculty suggested their role was to facilitate students developing
multiple perspectives; guiding the construction of knowledge that surpassed notions of right and
wrong solutions. Instead, students were guided away from dichotomous thinking to reflect on how
the problem/project might be managed within a real-world context.

Finally, faculty acknowledged the value of interdisciplinary learning with several commenting that no
one discipline could solve the complex problems provided by industry. Rather, the move to adopting
more than one perspective was nurtured through the interdisciplinary process: “The problems that
we’re dealing with are so complex that one field isn’t going to be capable of problems that are worth
solving.”

Academia versus industry

While the role of industry partners was acknowledged, there was contention among faculty as to the
value of industry involvement. Some viewed the industry role as vital: “I think it's great for faculty to
be working with industry … Just to see what is, what is possible.” Other faculty felt the academic role
was more valuable: “I think the problems were a little bit too focused on what the industry wanted but
it didn't really fit in with the course. That’s where the academic role comes in; it’s a lot more
fundamental I think”. Regardless of the value placed on these roles, faculty were aware of the
importance of industry involvement in posing the ‘wicked, tricky’ problem that needed to be resolved,
setting the standard of the project outcome, and adopting a mentoring role with the students:

I think they [industry] would tend to give guidance in terms of this is the kind of standard we
want, these are what our needs are…they have the role of mentoring to ensure the student's
learning outcomes, negotiated with them, are being met.

Industry staff also acknowledged tension during the pilots. In reflecting on the start of the project,
industry staff members expressed a level of uncertainty in agreeing to take part in the project. They
acknowledged a lack of clarity over who was going to be involved and what the project would actually
entail in terms of workload and tasks to complete: “To start off with how to craft the project was very
nebulous. I didn't really understand what it was the students were doing or what we would be doing”.
Misalignment between industry’s needs and the requirements of academia was another contributing
factor. At the outset, industry staff questioned the utility of the experience and what the final product
could look like: “I think perhaps my expectations were a little unrealistic…the ideas were ones we had
thought of in the past or trialed in the past that were not really practical for the actual [university]
setting”. Reflecting on the amount of work and input they had within the project, some industry staff
felt their role was not as valued or visible as the academic role: “I don't think very many people
involved in the project actually know how much effort I put in with behind the scenes…a lot of that
just fell under the radar”. Further, industry staff felt they were the ones making compromises: “You
just had to be completely flexible and go, "Oh, okay so I won't get that, but I'll get this, and I didn't

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really ask for it, but let's see where it goes".

Faculty suggested that the overall process of engaging in interdisciplinary project-based WIL facilitates
the formation of mutually beneficial links between stakeholders: “I think it creates that nexus between
academia, community, civil society and industry…it is substantial in making those connections in some
way to improving the practices in those organizations. So, it's a mutual benefit”. While the engagement
with industry process was identified as taking a lot of time and investment, the benefits appeared to
outweigh inputs, with some acknowledging welcome unanticipated outcomes:

So, that wasn't my aim going in, to network and make connections, but it's just been a nice
outcome that's come out of it. Developing those relationships with the other academic
supervisors and the industry partners, getting to know the students and just seeing what they
can do. That's pretty inspiring.

Additionally, by ensuring project-based WIL addressed real problems faced by industry, the
relationship between the university and industry was nurtured. For example, a faculty member
commented: “Whatever the students create has to have value for the organization, so that they are
drawn to doing it again.” Unanticipated benefits identified by the industry staff, included stakeholder
connections: “Being able to make and facilitate social networks and connections with the students,
faculty, and industry partners”. Furthermore, industry staff felt they were now privy to elements of
academia that they would not normally see in their usual interactions with the university, knowledge
that will be of use in future collaboration with the university sector. Many of the industry partners
involved in the pilots were interested in participating in further collaborative projects. They reflected
that their experience in the pilots confirmed their confidence with the project-based learning approach:
“I'd come away from this project being enthusiastic about it, where we want to continue with a new lot
of students next year…we think it has been useful and we'd like to continue.”

University Students

Three themes were identified from the interviews with students who participated in the four pilots: the
importance of being open to new interdisciplinary experiences, building employability skills, and
enhancing industry.

Open to new interdisciplinary experiences

Students acknowledged the importance of going into the experience without preconceived ideas, ready
for the opportunity provided to them. They articulated demonstrable benefits of learning from one
another during project-based WIL, most of which related to learning with students who had different
skill sets and perspectives: “I do normally work within teams but having people from different skill
sets was different to me. So, working collaboratively within the team, facing the challenges together,
overcoming the challenges and everything like that was really cool.” The opportunity to work on
different components of the project and come together to collaborate was useful, as it allowed multiple
perspectives to emerge, “You've got to embrace everyone's opinions and thoughts and be open minded
about it…even if we didn't agree at first, we'd find a solution and yeah, it worked out well.” Building
collaborations enabled achievement of the outcomes of their projects. Further, the students suggested
that the project-based approach required them to ’come out of your shell’ and find a way to contribute.
As a result, the ability to communicate across disciplines was viewed as an important component of
the experience. Students suggested being flexible within the experience, and to move beyond their own
way of thinking to embrace everyone’s perspectives was critical to the success of project-based
learning..

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Building employability skills

Students recognized the relationship between the project, interdisciplinary teamwork and
employability (engaging in professional practice). Reflecting on their experience with navigating the
project, students saw the alignment with future work: “I'm doing some work that I could possibly be
doing once I finish my studies.” Further, being able to encounter issues, work to resolve them with
their team and facilitate solutions that were real-worldas they would in the workplacewas viewed
as an important experience: “This is a real question that is being posed. This is relevant. This is valid.
This is something that we are going to work with after uni.” Students commented that the process of
working with others on the project felt as if they were working towards something that would have a
real impact in the world: “It's like a shared goal, you want to reach the end, you want to produce
something that's really good for the place that you're working at, or for what you're doing.” Students
felt they were delivering a better project outcome because of the passion they developed over the
learning experience: “I think, because we've worked collaboratively with students from other
disciplines, and towards the end we were so passionate aboutour projectthat we would probably
deliver a better outcome.”

Students suggested faculty could reflect on the project, the skills they have passed onto the students,
and feel confident in how they had prepared them for the real-world, “They [staff] will come out of it
knowing, okay I've prepared the students for the workforce…they've now got this knowledge…the
experience of working in a team, working collaboratively.” Further, students also suggested that staff
members would reflect and build on the experience in future years by finding projects in areas where
there are particular industry related issues.

Students felt the experience was a learning curve for staff who also had to learn from other people,
including the students, rather than taking an individualistic, expert approach to educating students: "I
think they'll also learn a lot from students … how to build a bit of a relationship that obviously goes
both ways.” Student also appreciated that the process encouraged staff to establish a relationship with
industry: “It helps them establish a relationship with the industry a bit more so that they know what's
going around in the industry.”

Enhancing industry
Students perceived their contemporary knowledge was a valuable asset for industry partners because
they were ‘younger, newer, and fresher’. By addressing real-world problems, they felt they were able
to demonstrate to industry that they had an understanding of the workplace context. Students
recognized the benefits of having a team working on the project, and how more perspectives allowed
for a better outcome: “Having everyone from different disciplines just means that lots of people are
involved and are thinking about the deliverables and how to achieve the best outcome”. Further,
students recognized that the multiple perspectives adopted in project solutions meant that the ideas
would be more recent, up-to-date, and creative. Finally, students also identified that project-based
learning allows for issues to be resolved that benefit industry: “The reason why we're working on these
trends, that we're doing these trends, is for a more beneficial future of work. We are the future”.

DISCUSSION

The aim of this research was to explore the impact of interdisciplinary project-based WIL for the
stakeholder groups who participated in the four university pilots: students, faculty and industry staff.
The major themes for faculty and industry partners aligned, suggesting similar outcomes from the
experience. These outcomes are discussed in relation to engagement with real-world scenarios, change

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in faculty’s educational practice, project specificity and complexity, an integrated curriculum, and
university-industry collaboration. Working with real-world problems generated by industry enhanced
students’ motivation to learn, which in turn led to a high level of autonomy and engagement during
project-based learning. Students’ highlighted the link between this engagement and the sense of
empowerment they experienced working on something ‘real’ that had the potential to impact on the
industry partner. The value of this authenticity in learning was illuminated by Esteban-Guitart (2014)
as “effective learning involves meaningful activities and practices enriched by social, instrumental,
semiotic, anatomical and individual mediations” (p. 297). Immersion in authentic problem solving in
collaboration with industry, has been shown to prepare students for the professional setting (Piggott &
Winchester-Setto, 2020). Furthermore, the opportunity to gain a deep understanding of concepts that
potentially solve society’s problems is central to project-based learning (Moalosi et al., 2012).

Students adopted a self-directed approach to learning and determined their own direction to address
personal gaps in knowledge and skills. This personalized approach to student learning is a central
element of project-based learning (Thomas, 2000). When compared to traditional teaching methods,
project-based learning enhances students’ self-efficacy (Bilgin et al., 2015) and professional identity
formation (Tsybulsky & Muchnik-Rozanov, 2019). Others have noted the positive impact of project-
based learning on students’ self-esteem and self-actualization (Liu, 2016).

To ensure student autonomy and encourage them to take ownership of their learning requires a change
from a traditional ‘sage on the stage’ pedagogy to a student-centered, ‘guide on the side’ approach.
Faculty acknowledged the need for this transformation to their educational practice. This finding was
not surprising given studies have shown that while faculty possess qualities from a range of different
teaching styles (Grasha, 1994), most have a tendency towards the expert approach rather than the
facilitator and delegator approach needed for this educational pedagogy. Professional development is
required for faculty to embrace these active learning methods and to encourage the collaboration
amongst staff needed for interdisciplinary learning (Lasauskiene & Rauduvaite, 2015).

Two key features linked to the success of project-based learning in our study where the specificity and
the complexity of the project. Faculty found that the problem or challenge has to be clearly delineated
to establish the scope, plan and outcomes of the project (including the final product). This specificity
was linked to determining the roles and responsibilities of each of the stakeholder groupsstudents,
faculty and industry. However, this finding should be interpreted with some caution as research into
project-based learning indicate that it is best to use a ‘driving question’ or ill-defined problem to
encourage students to engage, and struggle, with the issue to be solved (Thomas, 2000).

Perhaps one way to manage this need for specificity is to ensure complexity, the second important
feature of the project in our study. Complex problems often require interdisciplinary solutions
(Ramaley, 2014). By providing a complex problem to solve, students were required to engage their
critical and creative thinking skills, and find a way to share their discipline knowledge with the team.
That is, students needed to learn how to collaborate across their different discipline perspectives, to
view the problem from broader, and potentially disparate, viewpoints and integrate this new
knowledge to produce a coherent project outcome for the industry partner. Tasks such as this that
incorporate interdisciplinary collaboration, complex problem solving, and creative thinking provide
students with exposure to the authentic world of work (Lim et al., 2018). A recent review of project-
based learning in undergraduate science programs found that projects with a high level of
interdisciplinarity lead to greater gains in communication, teamwork and employability skills (Hart,

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 BREWER, LEWIS, FERNS: Interdisciplinary WIL practices

2019). More recently, Hayes and Cejnar (2020) found working with others was the highlight of students’
interdisciplinary project-based learning experience.

Interdisciplinary project-based WIL aligns with an integrated curriculum, which blends theoretical
understandings with practical application of knowledge and skills. This knowledge and skills
transcend discipline boundaries and fosters the development of the individual across cognitive, social
and affective learning domains (Barnett, 2012; Lim et al., 2018). Staff and students perceived this model
of WIL as a transformative, critical pedagogy that prompted creative and critical thinking beyond the
confines of specific disciplines (Ferns et al., 2021), thereby extending one’s knowledge and skills to a
broader context. Students’ construction of new knowledge through in-depth inquiry during project-
based learning relies on student choice, autonomy and authority (Condliffe et al., 2017). Others,
including Zegwaard and Rowe (2019), advocate for similar integrated and holistic approaches to
improve the outcomes of university education.

While interdisciplinary project-based WIL encouraged networking and relationships between faculty
and industry, these new relationships are not without challenges. Dorado and Giles (2004) reflect on
this challenge in their work on identifying paths of engagement, trust and collaboration between
academics and industry partners ”who belong to different worlds” (p. 25), and often have different
goals. Bereiter and Scardamalia (2014) describe this challenge in relation to a difference in focus;
academia focuses on knowledge building while industry focuses on knowledge creation. Whatever the
cause, these partnership challenges must be addressed as this university-industry collaboration was
critical to faculty’s capacity to develop and implement interdisciplinary WIL curricula, and to the
benefits industry partners perceived they gained working with the relevant university. A key role of
faculty within this relationship was to facilitate discussions between industry and students to ensure a
shared understanding of the scope of the project and the roles of the various stakeholders. As outlined
earlier, this shared understanding was fundamental to a successful student learning experience. The
collaboration broadened relationships between industry and faculty and, in some cases, renewed
faculty’s applied knowledge and focus. Other researchers have found that engagement with industry
assists faculty in designing authentic assessments (Hodges, 2011). A key element of the relationship
building from industry’s perspective was that the project delivered a tangible outcome that met a real
problem they faced. However, a perceived lack of flexibility on the part of some facultyoften in
response to the rigid administrative practices of their institutionled to some pilot projects not being
aligned with industry need. This result aligns with research into university-industry relationships in
WIL that indicates trust, clear expectations and reciprocity are the most critical factors (Patrick et al.,
2014). The need for universities to address this alignment issues is critical to the success of project-
based learning as students posited that it was the sense of commitment to an industry partner that was
a major factor in their high level of engagement, driven by their desire to add value to the organization
and make a difference. Solving a problem in a collaborative team environment with their peers, faculty
and industry inspired persistence and resilience as students were conscious of their obligation to others.
Institutional leadership is essential for the ethos of interdisciplinary project-based WIL to be fully
realized and stakeholders to be afforded the benefits inherent in this pedagogy. Leadership needs to
rethink traditional policies, to enable innovative curriculum and assessment design, where students
and staff from disparate disciplines collaborate to solve industry challenges. An institutional culture
that promotes students as partners, prioritizes staff development, and values industry engagement is
pivotal to successful implementation of interdisciplinary WIL (Patrick et al., 2014). When interpreting
the results from this study it is important to note that the participants were self-selecting and from a
limited range of disciplines, thus there is a potential for bias in their responses. This is particularly true
for students with only 19 students interviewed out of the pool of 265 students who participated in the

International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning, 2022, 23(1), 17-30 28

 BREWER, LEWIS, FERNS: Interdisciplinary WIL practices

pilot projects. The inclusion of participants from across four institutions who implemented quite
different pilot projects goes some way to mitigate this limitation.

Finally, further research is needed to better understand how to prepare faculty for the change to a
facilitator/delegator role, how to frame the problem (the driving question) to ensure students engage
and struggle with complex ideas, and how technology can be utilized to expand interdisciplinary
project-based learning within higher education.

CONCLUSION

We continue to experience disrupted and changing workplaces that require future graduates with
sophisticated employability skills. The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the call for new models of
WIL. This research indicates project-based interdisciplinary WIL provides an alternative to traditional
student placements for building student’s employability. The challenges and enablers identified
provide guidance for both faculty and future research in this field. In summary, the recommendations
for a sustainable and adaptable project-based interdisciplinary WIL model are:

 Employ a student-centered approach in project development aligned to clear, tangible

outcomes in real-world contexts;
 Ensure the project is truly interdisciplinary with relevance for each discipline;
 Achieve agreement between faculty and industry partners on the scope of the project, role of
participants and expected deliverables, ideally addressing an issue the industry partner is
grappling with;
 Invest in relationships between faculty and stakeholders to optimize engagement and achieve
best practice learning and teaching outcomes.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors acknowledge the Australian Technology Network for funding the research, the students
who participated in the pilots and the staff who support them.

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About the Journal

The International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning (IJWIL) publishes double-blind peer-reviewed original
research and topical issues dealing with Work-Integrated Learning (WIL). IJWIL first published in 2000 under the
name of Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education (APJCE). Since then the readership and authorship has
become more international and terminology usage in the literature has favored the broader term of WIL, in 2018
the journal name was changed to the International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning.

In this Journal, WIL is defined as "an educational approach that uses relevant work-based experiences to allow students to
integrate theory with the meaningful practice of work as an intentional component of the curriculum. Defining elements of
this educational approach requires that students engage in authentic and meaningful work-related task, and must involve three
stakeholders; the student, the university, and the workplace”. Examples of practice include off-campus, workplace
immersion activities such as work placements, internships, practicum, service learning, and cooperative education
(Co-op), and on-campus activities such as work-related projects/competitions, entrepreneurships, student-led
enterprise, etc. WIL is related to, but not the same as, the fields of experiential learning, work-based learning, and
vocational education and training.

The Journal’s main aim is to enable specialists working in WIL to disseminate research findings and share
knowledge to the benefit of institutions, students, co-op/WIL practitioners, and researchers. The Journal desires to
encourage quality research and explorative critical discussion that leads to the advancement of effective practices,
development of further understanding of WIL, and promote further research.

The Journal is ongoing financially supported by the Work-Integrated Learning New Zealand (WILNZ),
www.nzace.ac.nz and the University of Waikato, New Zealand, and received periodic sponsorship from the
Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN) and the World Association of Cooperative Education
(WACE).

Types of Manuscripts Sought by the Journal

Types of manuscripts sought by IJWIL is primarily of two forms: 1) research publications describing research into
aspects of work-integrated learning and, 2) topical discussion articles that review relevant literature and provide
critical explorative discussion around a topical issue. The journal will, on occasions, consider best practice
submissions.

Research publications should contain; an introduction that describes relevant literature and sets the context of the
inquiry. A detailed description and justification for the methodology employed. A description of the research
findings - tabulated as appropriate, a discussion of the importance of the findings including their significance to
current established literature, implications for practitioners and researchers, whilst remaining mindful of the
limitations of the data, and a conclusion preferably including suggestions for further research.

Topical discussion articles should contain a clear statement of the topic or issue under discussion, reference to relevant
literature, critical and scholarly discussion on the importance of the issues, critical insights to how to advance the
issue further, and implications for other researchers and practitioners.

Best practice and program description papers. On occasions, the Journal also seeks manuscripts describing a practice of
WIL as an example of best practice, however, only if it presents a particularly unique or innovative practice or was
situated in an unusual context. There must be a clear contribution of new knowledge to the established literature.
Manuscripts describing what is essentially 'typical', 'common' or 'known' practices will be encouraged to rewrite
the focus of the manuscript to a significant educational issue or will be encouraged to publish their work via another
avenue that seeks such content.

By negotiation with the Editor-in-Chief, the Journal also accepts a small number of Book Reviews of relevant and
recently published books.
 EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor-in-Chief
Assoc. Prof. Karsten Zegwaard University of Waikato, New Zealand
Associate Editors
Dr. David Drewery University of Waterloo, Canada
Assoc. Prof. Sonia Ferns Curtin University, Australia
Dr. Judene Pretti University of Waterloo, Canada
Dr. Anna Rowe University of New South Wales, Australia
Senior Editorial Board Members
Dr. Bonnie Dean University of Wollongong, Australia
Dr. Phil Gardner Michigan State University, United States
Prof. Denise Jackson Edith Cowan University, Australia
Assoc. Prof. Ashly Stirling University of Toronto, Canada
Emeritus Prof. Janice Orrell Flinders University, Australia
Emeritus Prof. Neil I. Ward University of Surrey, United Kingdom
Copy Editors
Diana Bushell International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning
Editorial Board Members
Assoc. Prof. Erik Alanson University of Cincinnati, United States
Prof. Dawn Bennett Curtin University, Australia
Mr. Matthew Campbell Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Dr. Craig Cameron Griffith University, Australia
Dr. Sarojni Choy Griffith University, Australia
Prof. Leigh Deves Charles Darwin University, Australia
Assoc. Prof. Michelle Eady University of Wollongong, Australia
Assoc. Prof. Chris Eames University of Waikato, New Zealand
Dr. Jenny Fleming Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
Assoc. Prof. Wendy Fox-Turnbull University of Waikato, New Zealand
Dr. Nigel Gribble Curtin University, Australia
Dr. Thomas Groenewald University of South Africa, South Africa
Assoc. Prof. Kathryn Hay Massey University, New Zealand
Dr Lynette Hodges Massey University, New Zealand
Ms. Katharine Hoskyn Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
Dr. Sharleen Howison Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand
Dr. Nancy Johnston Simon Fraser University, Canada
Dr. Patricia Lucas Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
Dr. Jaqueline Mackaway Macquarie University, Australia
Dr. Kath McLachlan Macquarie University, Australia
Prof. Andy Martin Massey University, New Zealand
Dr. Norah McRae University of Waterloo, Canada
Dr. Laura Rook University of Wollongong, Australia
Assoc. Prof. Philip Rose Hannam University, South Korea
Dr. Leoni Russell RMIT, Australia
Dr. Jen Ruskin Macquarie University, Australia
Dr. Andrea Sator Simon Fraser University, Canada
Dr. David Skelton Eastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand
Assoc. Prof. Calvin Smith University of Queensland, Australia
Assoc. Prof. Judith Smith Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Dr. Raymond Smith Griffith University, Australia
Prof. Sally Smith Edinburgh Napier University, United Kingdom
Prof. Roger Strasser University of Waikato, New Zealand
Prof. Yasushi Tanaka Kyoto Sangyo University, Japan
Prof. Neil Taylor University of New England, Australia
Ms. Genevieve Watson Elysium Associates Pty, Australia
Dr. Nick Wempe Primary Industry Training Organization, New Zealand
Dr. Theresa Winchester-Seeto University of New South Wales, Australia
Dr. Karen Young Deakin University, Australia
Publisher: Work-Integrated Learning New Zealand (WILNZ)
www.wilnz.nz
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