Dr Bernd Irmer

One of the great attractions of an academic career for Bernd is teaching. He is passionate about creating learning environments that optimise student learning outcomes and engagement through a culture of learning that inspires and excites. His teaching approach is focused on the contextualization of content, dialogue, application of knowledge, and facilitating the learning of students to ensure quality of learning outcomes. He strives to provide students personalised, engaging and transformative learning experiences in line with QUT’s real world brand. QUT promotes the scholarship of integration and application, this real world focus is reflected in his unit design, delivery, and impact on student outcomes.

Dr Irmer has extensive teaching experience within the School of Management and the Graduate School of Business and  he is very well regarded among staff and students for his teaching excellence. He has coordinated and taught undergraduate and post-graduate units in the areas of Human Resource, Strategic Management, and Organisational Behaviour units .

Bernd’s primary learning and teaching focus is the international work-integrated learning experience he facilitates with Stacy Doepner-Hove from the Carlson School of Management (CSOM), the University of Minnesota.  The project is a trans-Pacific work-integrated-learning collaboration between QUT, CSOM, and a number of host industry organisations (based in the USA and Australia). The project commences with a short-term study tour which sees QUTBS students visit CSOM students in Minnesota, then collaborate virtually throughout the semester before the CSOM students visit QUT at the end of the project. Throughout the semester students from both Universities participate and learn in real-time ‘virtual’ classes using video-conferencing facilities. Outside of classes, teams comprising QUTBS and CSOM students undertake a project to investigate a real-world international human resource management (iHRM) problem for a host industry organisation. The video conferenced classes enable trans-Pacific student teams to seamlessly present and receive feedback on their projects from the industry partner, academics and students in both countries.

The international problem-based industry engaged approach undertaken in this program provides students with a unique work-integrated-learning experience which:

• Provides them the practical experience of working in a virtual multi-national team that facilitates the student acquisition and understanding of critical graduate employability skills needed for success in complex contemporary organisations;
• Requires them to draw upon and deepen their discipline knowledge of iHRM through an authentic problem-based pedagogy;
• Equips students with the skills to work in diverse, geographically dispersed teams using contemporary digital communication technologies; and
• Develop the students’ abilities to be effective collaborators and interact sensitively and successfully in local and global settings, with knowledge of and respect for different cultural and disciplinary perspectives, and thereby learn from their international and domestic peers.