Learnings from LTAG - Associate Professor Simran Sidhu and Dr Nichola Thompson

The Learning and Teaching Advancement Grant (LTAG) scheme supports innovation and leadership in learning and teaching. This month, Adelaide Education Academy members Associate Professor Simran Sidhu and Dr Nichola Thompson, School of Biomedicine, share their findings.

Research evaluating the effectiveness of courses to increase career readiness at the undergraduate level is limited. The mixed-methods study supported by the LTAG scheme in 2024 is evaluating the perceptions of students enrolled in the research placements (RP), research integrated learning (RIL) courses offered at the University of Adelaide as part of the Bachelor of Health and Medical Sciences (BHMS) and Bachelor of Health and Medical Sciences Advanced (BHMSA) degrees. Specifically, the study focuses on evaluating work-readiness, the relevant transferrable skills students acquired during their experience, and their aspirations to pursue relevant study pathways. In addition, we are also exploring the perspectives of the supervisors hosting the placement students on whether students have gained transferable skills during their placements, on students’ career/work readiness and on students’ desire to pursue further research study.

What was the impact of your project?
The results will impact the wider university community in the following ways:

• Improve and advance the BHMS placements curriculum.
• Inform the curriculum of other foundational courses in BHMS for appropriate scaffolding of research-based curriculum across the years.
• Inform on effective and authentic assessment strategies that have meaningful applications for students.
• Contribute to professional development of our colleagues in the broader University by disseminating the study findings in formal settings.
• Inspire the development of inter-disciplinary teaching approaches.
• Inform the development of the WIL framework for the new Adelaide University curriculum.

What is your key learning from this activity?
We have yet to generate direct results from the study given that data collection only commenced in March 2025, therefore our learnings are limited to the conception phase of the study. Through the development phase of the study, we learnt that research evaluating the effectiveness of courses to increase career readiness at the undergraduate level is limited.

Through engagement with the topic, we learnt more about design of qualitative research and effective surveys to gather relevant and meaningful data to address our research questions.Simran and Nichola

In this process, we gained a deeper understanding of the relevant educational literature in the area of work integrated learning. This ensured that the information we collect through our methodologies is appropriate and discerning.

How could colleagues use your learnings in their practice?
Our colleagues could use the outcomes of this work in one or more of the following ways:

They could refine/revise their own relevant courses to better align with the specific skills and competencies that are required of placement students to be work-ready.

Our colleagues/collaborators on the work from professional services through for example the Careers Hub could use the outcomes to develop support programs that aids students in transitioning to a workplace (e.g. skills development)

The outcomes could help with the refinement and development of new methods for assessing work readiness in students.

The outcomes could help supervisors with their placement mentoring style and aid course coordinators in the development of workshops and professional/career development resources (e.g. AI mediated mock interviews) to better prepare students to be work-ready.

The findings may facilitate conversations with previous, current and future placement supervisors regarding their expectations, leading to stronger collaboration and better alignment between academic/research training and real-world job requirements.