Lindie Clark

A research partnership has been forged between The Cancer Council of NSW (TCCN) and researchers at Macquarie University to investigate the influence of two relatively unexplored environmental factors on smoking behaviour in Australia: retail availability of tobacco and the presence of other people smoking in the vicinity of an individual. A diary method was used to collect what is believed to be the first publicly available detailed data on the tobacco purchase and consumption behaviour of intending quitters. The results show that after allowing for their usual level of smoking, intending quitters are more likely to smoke if there are 1) others smoking in the vicinity (with separate and additive effects for friends and/or family and other smokers) and 2) cigarettes for sale in the vicinity. The evidence generated through this research partnership will be useful in suggesting avenues for future policy and practice in the tobacco control area.

There is evidence from many product categories that the level of retail distribution is associated with sales . However the extent to which widespread distribution of tobacco contributes to its use is unclear. Any effect is likely to be greatest for certain types of smokers (e.g. those attempting to quit) but there is no publicly available data on this aspect

ABSTRACT Macquarie University’s Professional and Community Engagement (PACE) program is an initiative designed to provide work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities to all undergraduate students. The size and scope of PACE, and its thorough embedding into the curriculum across multiple disciplines, differentiates it from other university work-integrated learning initiatives. These characteristics also portend a number of workload implications for staff. While previous research and anecdotal evidence suggest that WIL units (i.e. courses, subjects) are more time consuming and resource intensive to administer and teach than ‘traditional’ classroom-based subjects, few studies have systematically collected empirical data on an institution-wide basis to test these assertions. This chapter presents preliminary findings of the first phase of a research project examining the workload involved in developing and delivering PACE units at Macquarie University. More specifically, we report data obtained using a diary-style survey instrument administered to ten university staff over one teaching session. Initial findings suggest that there is considerable variability in the workload involved in teaching and administering WIL units (particularly in terms of overall hours worked). The main drivers of this variability appear to be the number of students enrolled in the unit, and aspects of its mode of delivery. Some commonalities were also identified, most notably peaks and troughs in workload, atypical session structures and similarity in the types of tasks that were most time-consuming.

Despite a variety of long-standing tobacco control policies in most countries, smoking remains a source of considerable economic and health costs, resulting in ongoing discussion of potential policy changes. The contribution of retail tobacco distribution to prompting, facilitating and normalising smoking has received increasing attention, but the effect of retail outlets on tobacco consumption is relatively under-researched. In particular, there

Assessment of student learning is a crucial part of quality work-integrated learning (WIL), yet presents some significant challenges for WIL practitioners. Assessment of WIL differs to assessment in classroom based courses because of the complexities of assessing the more holistic nature of learning in WIL, as well as (in many cases) managing the involvement of an external partner in the assessment process. This paper investigates academic workload implications of WIL assessment for staff at an Australian university. Over two years 34 WIL courses were surveyed, with 30 staff interviewed over a wider three-year period. Analysis of survey data reveals assessment of student learning is the largest single contributor to academic workload in WIL courses, with qualitative data providing some insight into the reasons for this. This paper reports findings from the study, noting implications and recommendations for practice, policy and future research. Universities both within Australia and internationally are scaling up their work-integrated learning (WIL) initiatives with a view to promoting employability, work readiness and citizenship outcomes for their graduates (Smith, Ferns, & Russell, 2014; Smigiel, Macleod, & Stephenson, 2015; Sachs & Clark, 2017). The scaling up of WIL has prompted discussion around the development and sustainability of such programs, given anecdotal evidence of the significant workload implications of this form of student learning for university staff. WIL is not specifically accounted for in many academic workload models (Emslie, 2011) and there is a scarcity of research explicitly investigating workload associated with WIL design and delivery (Clark, Rowe, Cantori, Bilgin, & Mukuria, 2016). The few available studies tend to focus on the workload implications of particular types of WIL. For example, Bulot and Johnson (2006) investigated delivery of service learning courses, estimating that workload commitments could require up to 10 extra hours a week (4.5 hours/week on average). More recently, Acton, Chipman, Lunden, and Schmitz (2015) investigated faculty workload associated with simulations in surgical education. Sixty percent of surgical program directors reported a slight increase, and 33% reported a significant increase to the average faculty member's workload, following the introduction of simulation requirements. While these studies shed light on the workload implications of some particular forms of WIL, they are not necessarily representative of the great diversity of delivery and assessment modes in WIL. WIL can encompass a range of experience and practice based activities including internships, teacher practicums, project work, simulations, international/clinical placements, and mentoring, each of which can entail very different approaches to curriculum design, teaching, assessment, student preparation and support. In light of the evidence gap, there is a need to better understand the impact of various models and/or modes of WIL delivery on academic workloads. In response to the above issues and lack of publicly available information (in both literature and practice) on the workload implications of WIL, a study was initiated at an Australian