Other examples of Work Integrated Learning

Professional Skills Program

PSP students particpating in the goal setting workshop.

The Professional Skills Program is an intensive, two semester course designed to provide students with the professional skills which employers believe that graduates should possess on entering the workplace. It is an alternative Work Integrated Learning experience for students who are unable to participate in a full-time co-operative education placement.

The program comprises three components:

• a workplace project
• professional skills training
• business and social context

It is designed to provide students with a range of learning experiences. For the workplace project, students work on an industry project which enables them to apply theory to practical situations and see the consequences of their decisions in action. In the skills training sessions students are able to practice a variety of skills in the risk-free environment of a training seminar. The business and social context component allows students to reflect upon their learning, set new goals and observe various industries in action.

The program assists students in making the transition between university life and the world of work. Where possible the skills training modules are conducted in the companies that provide the training. Part of the transition is for students to experience different business cultures and meet many different types of business professionals.Please contact the Professional Skills Program team if you would like to find out more.

Business Plan Competition

Design company wins RMIT Business Plan Competition
Pictured above: Justin McCarthy, Kylie Watts and Kevin McCarthy from Design Assist Partners Pty Ltd

This competition fosters entrepreneurship and creativity among students in all fields at RMIT. Teams of two or more students turn a bright idea into a well constructed business plan with the possibility of starting their own venture. This competition may be an explicit part of the curriculum (eg Bachelor of Business Management [Entrepreneurship]) or may be in addition to the formal curriculum. Read about the Business Plan Competition.

Read about the RMIT Students Win Austrade Export Plan Competition news article

Business Policy Game

Students form a management team and run a computer based simulation of the operations of a manufacturing firm. The computer model is interactive so that students see how economic, marketing, finance and production decisions have an influence on their business. This simulation may form part of the Professional Skills Program or other courses.

Business Simulations

Business simulations are where a real world situation is replicated in the teaching environment of RMIT. The Business Policy Game is one example and others are the Financial Markets Trading Simulator and STAGZ the Virtual Advertising Agency. In the Financial Markets Trading Simulator students learn how to read financial market data as changes occur in real time and in STAGZ the Virtual Advertising Agency, TAFE Advertising students plan and execute advertising campaigns for assessment as well as for real world clients.

Virtual Practice Firms

Virtual Practice Firms serve the same function as business simulations but there is no exchange of actual goods and services. Sometimes these virtual simulations are multi-disciplinary where students from different programs and portfolios collaborate on a simulated project. An example of such project is the Virtual Community Centre Multi Disciplinary Project where students from a range of disciplines collaborate to plan, design and develop a virtual multi-purpose community centre.

Entrepreneurial Initiatives

Entrepreneurial initiatives enable students to develop and market real products. As with the Business Plan competition, this may be part of the formal curriculum or may be an additional activity which students can add to their portfolio.

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