Practice as the site of learning: a case study of higher education in an aviation degree

There has been a growing momentum in ideas that challenge Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to re-think delivery models for undergraduate degree programmes. Integrating professional practice with degree study is one such idea, however, this can be conceptualised in a variety of ways. This inquiry focused on how student pilots learn through the complex mixture of training, higher education and professional practice in aviation.

This is an inquiry into situated learning experienced by student professional pilots taking an aviation degree and considers the interwoven pedagogical approaches adopted by the flight training organisation, higher education institution and the workplace. A qualitative research approach has been used. Case study has allowed the real-world problem to be viewed from multiple perspectives including those from students, the university and the partner organization. These perspectives have been interpreted from the position of an insider-researcher using questionnaires and content analysis of student work. Semi-structured interviews have been carried out with flight training organisation and university staff and a constant comparative and theme mapping approach was used to aid analysis.

This research shows how taking a systemic perspective can assist in defining the contextual dimensions of partnership programmes in order to gain a conceptual overview of the site of learning. It also shows how learning in the context of professional aviation pilot practice allows students to incrementally build knowledge and skills from their experience. Undergraduate work-based students in aviation were seen to develop an important range of professional and graduate skills and capabilities during the joint-degree programme. The combination of pedagogical approaches from the flight training organisation, the university and the employer proved to be highly effective in enabling students to progress into their chosen profession through this learning partnership approach. Encouraging students to become critically reflective practitioners was an integrated theme through the degree and this was seen to be effective when students reported on their practice. This inquiry also describes the failure of the work-based learning partnership and this work can add to increased understandings of collaborative learning partnerships between commercial organizations and institutions of higher education, with particular respect to strategic awareness.

The recent pandemic has challenged higher education to adapt and change pedagogical approaches and in some cases, move to more distanced types of learning. This research will add to understandings about less traditional routes through higher education, work- integrated learning and professional practice.

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