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Purpose: The aim of this paper is to outline the collaborative approach used to craft national learning standards for tertiary programs in the field of environment and sustainability in Australia. The field of environment and sustainability is broad and constituted by diverse stakeholders. As such, articulating a common set of learning standards presents challenges. Design/methodology/approach: The authors developed and used a staged collaborative curriculum design methodology to engage more than 250 stakeholders in tertiary environmental education, including discipline scholars, students, professional associations and employers and other environmental educators. The approach was adaptive, to ensure underrepresented stakeholders' perspectives were welcomed and recognised. The project was commissioned by the Australian Council of Environmental Deans and Directors (ACEDD) and funded by the Federal Government's Office for Learning and Teaching. Findings: The collaborative approach developed and used for this work facilitated an inclusive process that valued diversity of perspectives, rather than marginalise diversity in favour of a perspective representing a minimum level of agreement. This is reflected in the standards themselves, and is evidenced by participant feedback, piloting of the standards and their subsequent application at multiple universities. Achieving this required careful planning and facilitation, to ensure a democratisation of the stakeholder consultation process, and to build consensus in support of the standards. Endorsement by ACEDD formalised the standards' status. Originality/value: Collaborative curriculum design offered the opportunity to foster a shared sense of common purpose amongst diverse environmental education stakeholders. This approach to curriculum design is intensive and generative but uncommon and may be usefully adapted and applied in other contexts. The authors note one subsequent instance where the approach has been further developed and applied in transforming a generalist science program, suggesting the methodology used in this case may be applied across other contexts, albeit with appropriate adjustments: the authors offer it here in the spirit of supporting others in their own complex curriculum design challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two decades, there have been important changes to interprofessional education in Australia and New Zealand. Interprofessional education has slowly shifted from peripheral, small-scale education activities attended by volunteer students to become an expectation of many health professional courses to meet accreditation requirements and community expectations of a collaborative healthcare system. In Australia, interprofessional education curricula have been facilitated by increased accreditation expectations and a series of national large-scale funded projects. However, despite declarations of intent and direction, strategic implementation of nationwide recommendations has not been achieved. In New Zealand, large-scale funding has not been available to facilitate the implementation of interprofessional education in the professional courses. Instead, interprofessional education initiatives have been driven by a small group of champions. Furthermore, efforts to achieve the World Health Organization's (2010) vision of interprofessional education across the education spectrum--to ensure the future and current health workforce have the competencies for interprofessional collaboration--have been hampered in our region by the focus on interprofessional education within tertiary education. This paper outlines the transnational status of interprofessional education and the role of the Australian and New Zealand Association for Health Professional Educators (ANZAHPE) and the Australasian Interprofessional Practice and Education Network (AIPPEN) in progress to date. We conclude with several suggestions for future interprofessional education across our two countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay employs personal biography to illustrate larger questions regarding global transformations in the creative arts and tertiary education sector. With a focus on how neo-liberalism has impacted professional screen practices in Australia and those in the contemporary Academy, this paper also provides two screen-arts case studies to illustrate what poietic research forms can uniquely bring to scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article contributes to our understanding of Islamist extremism by examining the relationship between early educational interests and ideas associated with Islamist-jihadist ideology. The article uses data collected through the Islam in Australia survey and specifically compares STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) with HSS (humanities and social science) fields of educational interest in relation to respondents' identification with political Islamist and militant typologies, identification with Islam as a political system, understandings of jihad and views on the caliphate as an Islamic religious obligation. The article found Muslim Australians who expressed an interest in STEM fields at high school were more likely than those interested in HSS to: (1) identify with the political Islamist and militant typology; (2) believe Islam advocates a political system; (3) believe establishing a caliphate is a religious obligation; and (4) define jihad as defensive and offensive rather than as defensive only. As discussed in the article, these findings support those of other research), which have identified an overrepresentation of STEM and an underrepresentation of HSS among Islamist-jihadists. This article adds weight to the assertion that the mindset of Islamist-jihadists, may be present prior to undertaking tertiary education and may predispose some to support extremist ideologies. This paper finds that an Islamist-jihadist ideological orientation has a relationship with the STEM fields broadly and Islamic studies specifically during adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2019, the Australian Government introduced a new post-study work rights policy as a lever to attract international students to study and work in regional Australia. The aim of this paper is to explore the potential implications of the new policy and consider factors which may impact it from realising the intended benefits. An analysis of historical international student enrolment and post-study work rights data for three regions in Australia was conducted to make assumptions about potential growth in those three regions brought by the new policy. This illustrated that while regions are regularly homogenised in policy discourse, there are a variety of complex place-based factors that may impact the success of the policy such as local employment industries, institutional growth profile and community engagement. It recommends that tertiary education leaders undertake comprehensive place-based planning to support the intended outcomes of the policy change to be realised and sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Academic integrity lies 'at the core of the reputation of Australia's world class higher education sector' (Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), 2020). This pilot study analyses the dominant approach (punitive or educative) of academic integrity policies by selected institutions within the Australian state of Victoria who offer a Foundation Studies Programme (FSP). This pilot study indicates a punitive approach is most commonly adopted. There is a scarcity of research within this field. An increasing prevalence of academic integrity breaches has been reported in the Australian and global education sector. It is therefore of paramount importance that we focus on supporting learners to understand and act with academic integrity. A literature review of qualitative data enabled patterns, or 'themes', to be identified. A deductive thematic analysis was conducted at the semantic (explicit) level to compare the approach taken at different institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This systematic literature review synthesizes empirical evidence to comprehensively examine factors driving international students' choice of Australia as their preferred destination for tertiary education. Deductive analysis of findings from the 46 selected studies, framed within the push and pull framework, identified 27 factors that revealed Australia's distinctive attractiveness to international students. The results of this review reaffirmed the strengths of Australia's environmental images in the international tertiary education market, highlighting that it could be a double-edged sword. The review discusses Australia's attractiveness, especially after the COVID-19 crisis and suggests strategies to make the international education sector more sustainable. This review provides implications for policy, practice, and future research that are of importance to work towards enhancing Australia's intake of international education. Additionally, it serves as a valuable resource for those seeking guidance on effectively attracting international students in the post-pandemic era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on research conducted to understand key factors impacting the recruitment and selection of senior academic leaders in Australian universities. A key finding emerging from this research was an increasing reliance on executive search firms when recruiting senior academic leaders. This reliance is driven by a range of factors including an ageing and contracting pool of potential academic leaders, growing competition domestically and internationally and the declining attractiveness of academia as a sustainable career in the context of increased casualisation of the academic workforce. Concurrently, workforce planning and succession planning have not been a high priority for many universities. As a result, Australian universities are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit senior academic leaders without the use of executive search firms. These findings have signifi- cant implications for the higher education sector in Australia and warrant further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Australia, harmful drinking among students aged 18–24 years in tertiary education residential accommodation (TRA) remains high, placing students at higher risk of harms than non-TRA and university peers. Aim: The aim of this study was to identify the context-specific factors distinctive to TRAs that supported a heavy drinking culture among students. Conducted across three sites in Melbourne, Australia, the purpose of the study was to inform the development of context-specific harm reduction interventions for these sites. Methods: Five focus groups were conducted with 32 students to examine their lived experience of drinking within the distinctive environments of their TRAs. The data were examined using thematic data analysis. Results: Three themes were identified: (1) routine drinking in TRAs; (2) drinking for social inclusion in the TRA; and (3) TRA alcohol governance and students' self-regulation. The data show that factors contributing to these TRA drinking cultures included: liberty to store alcohol and drink on campus; freshers' belief that admission to the TRA was conditional on "partying hard"; students' belief that staff supported the TRA drinking culture; and poor dissemination and operationalisation of TRA alcohol policy. Collectively, these factors fostered an environment that enabled frequent and heavy alcohol consumption among residents. Conclusions: The TRA drinking cultures were supported by social and regulatory factors specific to these institutions and, in particular, by a liberal approach to TRA alcohol governance and poorly disseminated alcohol policy that made widespread heavy drinking possible. Drinking cultures in TRAs can be changed through appropriate interventions that include nuanced policy and effective governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last twenty years, tertiary education in Australia has radically changed. Major growth in the sector and federal government policy and funding changes have resulted in an increase of providers and a diversification of the quality of education available on the market, particularly in vocational education. Although change presents insecurity and ambiguity for education providers, it also presents an opportunity for proactive and adaptable providers to transform and disrupt the sector by designing an innovative value creation strategy to diversify or target their offering. To understand the current landscape, this paper explores the business models of 50 Australian tertiary education providers and groups these into seven business model typologies. Focusing on public vocational education providers, the paper identifies the ability of their current business model to meet skills-based gaps in the future, including their future customers, and states potential 'white space' opportunities for innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issue Addressed: Mental health disorders (MHDs) are prevalent amongst university students with detrimental impacts on individual students, universities and the wider community. There is an urgent need for proactive and preventative strategies to address the mental health crisis in the university population. This study evaluated the efficacy of a 13‐week unit developed to directly educate university students about ways to improve and maintain well‐being. Methods: Fifty‐eight university students from five disciplines participated in a 13‐week elective undergraduate unit "Well‐Being Fundamentals for Success" as part of their degree. The Act Belong Commit mental health promotion campaign framework formed the basis of teaching materials. Outcome well‐being measures were self‐assessed at weeks 1, 6 and 12 using four scales: (1) Warwick‐Edinburgh Mental Well‐being Scale (WEMWBS); (2) Perceived Stress Scale (PSS); (3) Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) and (4) Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). Post‐unit group interviews (n = 11) were analysed for key themes. Results: Linear mixed models demonstrated a significant improvement in BRS over the semester; well‐being (WEMBS) and mindful attention (MAAS) did increase but not significantly. There was a significant increase in stress (PSS) over the semester. Key themes that emerged from the group interviews were that (1) University life contributes to well‐being; (2) University life contributes to stress; (3) The well‐being unit helped students see and do things differently; (4) An overall endorsement of the unit. Conclusion: University students' resilience increased over the semester following participation in a curriculum focused on well‐being which featured a combination of theoretical content and experiential workshops. So what? Incorporating mental well‐being curriculum into tertiary education is proactive preventive health strategy which may assist with the increasing prevalence of MHD in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This project sought to characterize levels of distress in Australian tertiary education students during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Methods: Advertisements were placed on multiple participant recruitment and student run websites associated with various tertiary institutions. Level of overall distress was assessed with the K‐10 so that comparisons could be made with previous research. A total of 1072 tertiary education students 18 years or older participated in the study. Results: 70.9% of tertiary education students studying in Australia displayed elevated levels of psychological distress during the pandemic, with 23.01% of the sample reporting extreme levels of distress. Conclusions: More tertiary education students experienced severe distress during the COVID‐19 pandemic than adults in the general population, as well as before the pandemic. Implications: Services are needed to help tertiary education students cope with elevated levels of distress associated during the COVID‐19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two hand-on workshops on social media apps were conducted for the Year-12 students from two schools, one from a regional city and the other from a remote community, in a computer laboratory on the Rockhampton campus at Central Queensland University before the COVID-19 pandemic. The school in the regional city offered a specialist Digital Technologies Curriculum (DTC) to students in Years 11 & 12 whereas the remote school did not offer a similar DTC to students in Years 11 & 12. Statistical analyses of the students? responses to two casual questions during the workshop indicated that firstly the hands-on activities improved all students? general IT knowledge, and secondly the Year-12 students from the regional city were more determined to undertake tertiary IT education than the students from the remote school. Therefore, it is recommended that a mandatory specialist DTC for students in Years 11 &12 in ALL schools should be included in the national curriculum in the future. Implications of these findings on improving the participation rate of post-secondary education in Australian regional communities are also discussed in this article. In particular, regional universities can play a unique role in producing "IT allrounders" to meet the needs of the regional communities through collaborations with governments, secondary schools, regional industries and businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic journals communicate research findings, share knowledge and stimulate debate. They are the representative academic 'voice' for a discipline, reflecting its knowledge base. This paper examines all 350 articles published in the International Journal of Training Research from 1993 to 2019 to highlight significant trends over 27 years. It analyses the 462 authors, the article types and methodological characteristics, and their key themes and sub-themes. Analysis of authorship over time reveals rises in the proportions of females publishing, of international contributors from 30 different countries, of contributors affiliated with universities and of multiple authorship. Two-thirds of the articles were qualitative research or expository. Key themes were on political, organisational and structural change and on students, followed by vocational knowledge, learning and instruction, and vocational teachers. Studying the themes and sub-themes over time showed how their relative popularity in research has tended to parallel policy developments in the VET sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies in Australia have found that bachelor's degree participation in vocational institutions in Australia tends to skew towards students from high and middle socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. This outcome runs counter to overall vocational participation which is dominated by students from low and middle SES backgrounds. This paper uses data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) to confirm findings from a mixed-methods study on bachelor courses in vocational institutions by school leaver-aged students. It characterises the student population in such courses and examines evidence on the influence of determinants of bachelor participation in vocational institutions, in relation to measures of family background, wealth and cultural status and school type. It is found that students entering bachelor programs in vocational education have higher household levels of cultural possession, are more likely to plan to enter university, and have higher self-assessments of academic ability than those undertaking traditional vocational qualification pathways, but lower than those who undertook bachelor qualifications at university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ‘engagement through sport’ agenda has emerged in the last few years in Australia, expecting sport governing organizations to increase opportunities of inclusion in sport and physical activity in the community. However, it can be maintained that stagnant or declining physical activity must be addressed through a sound community development approach that transcends sport per se in favour of broader benefits and objectives of participation. This paper reports on the development of a community project in South Australia, run in collaboration between a tertiary education provider and sport, education, community, government and charity organizations. The project provides an example of good practice for efforts to increase physical activity among disadvantaged populations. In particular, it highlights that capacity-building strategies to form partnerships with organizations having access to an appropriate pool of volunteers can assist with increasing physical activity at the community level as well as contribute to broader community development outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper examines 2 recent Australian government issues papers on higher education and research policy, indicating areas both of concern and opportunity for Australian higher education providers in theology and their research efforts. The paper then offers suggestions as to how providers of theological education might position themselves as research institutions in the emerging higher education environment in Australia, and how educational policymakers might regard research in the theological sector of Australian higher education. This paper is directed, within the new research environment in Australia, to 2 groups of readers: those concerned with the administration of theological institutions, and those whose responsibility it is to draft policy with regard to research funding. To the theological institutions I want to say: (1) become more familiar with the emerging higher education culture, especially as it affects research, and pay attention to ensuring your institution's own quality assurance controls; (2) avoid being sidelined in the new environment, seek strategic partnerships with other institutions with a similar vision and mission to your own; and (3) attempt to state clearly the role and value of your own discipline in the Australia of the 21st Century. To the policymakers I say: recognise the value of research done, often in small private but not‐for‐profit institutions, in the theological and biblical disciplines. Recognise it as genuine research. Listen to the particular needs of these institutions, which may be quite different from larger institutions with more attention‐grabbing research profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article extends current understandings of regulation of tertiary education, in particular, work experience undertaken by tertiary students, by contributing a 'law in practice' analysis of the effect of the existing regulatory regime on work integrated learning practice within Australian universities. It considers how Australian universities are responding to, implementing, or overlooking the formal regulatory framework regarding work experience placements. The analysis is informed by data gathered in a series of 68 semi-structured interviews conducted with individuals from 15 universities around Australia and provides unique insights into how Universities are acting as regulators in the broad sense of the word. Understanding the enforcement of educational regulation is important, because it is the only national tool directed to ensuring work experience opportunities afford real learning which will facilitate skills development and increase future employment opportunities and are equitable and safe for student participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia adopted income-contingent government loans for tertiary students 30 years ago, aiming to promote greater access and equity in higher education, as repayments were required only when income exceeded a threshold. Why then does the scheme still cause dissension and with what consequences for government? We analyse qualitative and quantitative survey data to answer this question. Contrary to the government's universal conception of fairness, graduates keenly perceive unfairness relative to their peers. Our results indicate that perceptions of unfair treatment create enduring difficulties for governments in securing cooperation from their citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite repeated calls to improve the quality of Australian business higher education, sector-wide improvement has been elusive. This paper presents an analysis of a multi-institutional project undertaken by the Australian Business Deans Council Teaching and Learning Network. Earlier studies of change in higher education demonstrated the need to move beyond decontextualised, one-size-fits-all models. Building on this earlier work, we suggest that processual approaches to change management, emphasising the instability of organisations rather than stability, are more appropriate within this complex context. The paper makes a case for effecting adaptive change by working with, and through, a network of associate deans. The evolution of this network and the processes that began with one collaborative project designed with a deliberate aim to identify tangible follow-on projects for sector-wide, sustainable improvement is described. The resultant positive and unfolding outcomes that became a potent vehicle for change within and beyond the duration of the original project is reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper consists of a literature review addressing changes in research education in Australia and their implications for research supervision. The organising principle for the review is expressed in the question: What scholarly literature can support and educate universities and supervisors to effectively carry out the work of research supervision in the current climate of Australian tertiary education? Two categories of literature are examined: literature on new ways of conceptualising research degrees and literature on effective supervision. The research agenda of the Australian government and the massification and diversity of the Australian research student population demand new ways of conceptualising the research curriculum, and in particular, call for flexibility and a holistic view. The paper challenges the traditional notion of 'good' supervision as a private contract between supervisor and student, and claims that in this new climate 'good' supervision can be defined in specific ways, as one critical component in a whole research curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses poststructuralist theories of governmentality, agency, consumption and Barry’s (2001) concept of Technological Societies, as a heuristic framework to trace the role of online education technologies in the instantiation of subjectification processes within contemporary Australian universities. This case study of the unintended effects of the adoption and usage of an online educational technology (WebFreedom) for online examinations in an Australian university setting is analysed using poststructuralist theories of governmentality, agency and consumption. The analysis demonstrates how techniques of governing the learning practices of students via online educational technologies intersect with the agentive capacity of students who are relocated as consumers in the higher education marketplace. In particular the paper focuses on the production of unintended localized online examination behaviours resulting in a form of ‘subterranean ethics’ or cheating in online exams. The results from this case study raise critical questions concerning the ways in which both students and tertiary educators are constituted within neoliberal governmental thought, as well as the ways in which students produce themselves in practice as autonomous agents and educational consumers within tertiary education. Suggestions on the focus of future research in the area are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an analysis into the global phenomenon known as credential/qualification fraud, a $US 1 billion dollar ‘cottage’ industry which has tainted higher education in Australia, and does not appear to be abating. The study is developed through a conceptual framework of credentialism, degree creep and screening theory, which the author theorises spawns the demand for degree qualifications, both legitimate and ‘less‐than‐wonderful’ along continuums of legitimacy and acceptability. The paper suggests several key resources and tools that can be used by administrators of universities, non‐self accrediting higher education providers and industry human resource managers. The paper concludes by reviewing key‐global practices currently employed as proactive measures to minimise credential fraud, moving towards a best practice framework for Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. Since World War II, seven million immigrants from more than 150 countries have settled in Australia. Since that time, Federal governmental changes to its policies on immigration has recognized the importance of cultural diversity in its population. Educational institutions have also responded by initiating a variety of strategies and developing curricula aimed at achieving equitable education and social outcomes and promote the acceptance of people from ethnically diverse backgrounds. This paper first examines how Australia has developed policy that has enabled education to become its third largest export market worth more than AUD$18 billion in 2014–2015. It focuses on some of the state and federal government policies that have encouraged the internationalization within the primary, secondary and tertiary education sectors and then gives an overview of some of the institutional strategies and policies that have been implemented at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University) at university level and geospatial science undergraduate discipline level. A range of challenges at the governmental, institutional and discipline level faced by those individual academics wishing to incorporate internationalization into their respective curricula are investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to education is a right for all students. This right is typically realised through the provision of disability support and reasonable adjustments to enable tertiary students with disabilities to participate on an equal footing with their peers. This paper presents perspectives of disability service staff and students about implementing and using reasonable adjustments. Data were collected at 2 tertiary institutions in Australia through interviews with 25 students with disabilities and 7 disability service staff. Data were thematically analysed. The complexity of and variability in the processes of negotiating and implementing disability support were identified as an overarching theme in the data. These processes involved engaging multiple parties. The task of negotiating reasonable adjustments is used to illustrate some of the complexities inherent in supporting students with disabilities. These findings challenge existing assumptions that support is easily accessible and simply provided. They highlight the complexity of using reasonable adjustments, and the tendency for this to be seen as a student responsibility. Finally, the findings imply that disability services need to reorient from a focus on care and concern towards a rights orientation and foster students’ skills in self-advocacy to better enable them to negotiate without disadvantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While co-creation has long been promoted as a theoretical paradigm of strategic communication to understand the shared meaning-making between practitioners and public, it is rarely studied as a fitting pedagogical component when examining the interaction between strategic communication educators and students. In the wake of migration from face-to-face teaching to distance learning following COVID-19, we call for co-creation to be used within the teaching of strategic communication and understand how it is enacted in tertiary education practice. We reflected on two case studies, one from Singapore and one from Australia, to determine how meaningful learning is (re)constructed by taking a co-creational approach to teaching. We argue that a significant potential is available to mobilise students' agency, creativity, and ownership of learning through the digitally mediated, co-creational practices of students generating content, teams collaborating, and practitioners broadly engaging in various ways. However, we also acknowledge the barriers to normalising co-creational value because of the power imbalance between learning participants, student expertise levels, and institutional resources support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the development of students' skills in the context of team-based learning. Academics have heeded the call to incorporate team learning activities into the curricula, yet little is known of student perception of teamwork and whether they view it as beneficial to them and their future professional career. Further, this study presents an instructional framework to guide best practice in higher education practitioners with regard to the design of teamwork assessment. Design/methodology/approach - The paper adopts a qualitative approach utilising 190 students' reflections to examine their perception of the benefits of teamwork and whether it will contribute to their future professional work. Findings - Results indicate students perceive team-based assessment tasks require them to adopt a deep approach to learning together with a deep approach to study, as well as improving their skills in the areas of collaboration, team unity and cultural diversity. Further, the study identified a best practice approach that higher education practitioners should adopt in teamwork assessment design giving this study both national and international significance and aids fellow educators in their practices. Research limitations/implications - Because of the chosen research approach, the results may lack generalisability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further. Practical implications - The paper presents important implications for those involved in the development of assessment items where objectives include the development of team skills and quality learning outcomes. The findings are vital for unit and course planning and design generally, and assessment planning, design and processes, specifically, both nationally and internationally. Originality/value - This paper fulfils an identified need to study students' perceptions of teamwork, whether they view it as beneficial to them and their future professional career, and presents a best practice approach for teamwork assessment design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on a project examining the binary policy of higher education formulated in Australia in the mid-1960s. Its purpose is to discuss history as a policy tool and research impact. The historical analysis identified several enduring problems - beyond the central matter of funding - in tertiary education: insufficient diversity; obstacles to seamless pathways; competition for research dollars; and overly complex governance. Senior figures in Australian tertiary education discussed these themes. The author drew on their bold thinking to present sketches for a new educational landscape. History sparked fresh ideas. The project was being completed as the government proposed to uncap tuition fees and reduce public funding for university study. Its findings did not gain much attention when published because of the misfit between the pace of research and policy development, modest dissemination and the political focus of the debate on fees. It would be possible to assess any longer-term impact using an approach developed by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to compare the performance of area-based vs individual-level measures of socioeconomic status (SES). Design/methodology/approach – Using data from the longitudinal surveys of Australian youth (LSAY), a multidimensional measure of individual SES is created. This individual measure is used to benchmark the relative usefulness of socio-economic indexes for areas (SEIFA), a geographic set of measures often used in Australia to assess the SES of individuals. Both measures are compared in terms of classification bias. The effects of using the different SES measures on participation in post-compulsory education are examined. Findings – SEIFA measures perform satisfactorily with regard to the aggregate measurement of SES. However, they perform poorly when their use is aimed at channelling resources toward disadvantaged individuals. It is at the individual level that the analysis reveals the shortcomings of area-based SES measures. Research limitations/implications – While region based measures are relatively easy to collect and utilise, we suggest that they hide significant SES heterogeneity within regional districts. Hence, the misclassification resulting from the use of regional measures to direct support for low SES groups creates a risk for resource misallocations. Originality/value – The finding that region-based measures are subject to significant misclassification has important research and policy implications. Given the increasing availability of individual-level administrative data, the paper suggests that such data be used as a substitute for geographic SES measures in categorising the SES of individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is renewed energy by universities in Australia to embark on a journey of social inclusion driven by the Federal Government's widening participation agenda. Much research and attention is being given to access and outreach programs to raise the participation rates of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds (LSES) as well as learning and teaching initiatives to aid their success in higher education. While Student Services units in higher education are designed to build the personal resources of students, LSES students can bring with them unique and complex social, economic, and cultural factors that can affect Student Services' capacity to support them effectively. It is important to reflect on the role Student Services units can play in the retention and success of invisible cohorts such as LSES students as well as the challenges they will face in supporting an increasingly diverse cohort. This paper proposes a strategy to build collaborative outreach models with multiple entry points into Student Services. Strategies based on universal design principles will enable Student Services units to respond effectively to an everchanging and increasingly diverse student demographic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent independent review of Australian higher education has made a series of recommendations that the government has largely accepted and that have the potential to alter dramatically that country's university system. In combination, some of the consequences of the review have significant implications for regional education, particularly new criteria for the designation 'university', the removal of a cap on student numbers, and targets for participation both generally and for students from disadvantaged groups, including those from regional and remote areas. In response, two universities have proposed the establishment of a new, merged institution to be based in regional Australia but with a national mission, which would necessarily have a significant - and possibly unique - distance education mission. A scoping study for this institution has been funded by the government and initial consultations have been held. These developments come at a fortuitous moment in the history of Australian distance education, a field that, while strong in practice, has lost some sense of its own identity as a result of a general movement in Australia's dual-mode university system from distance education for some to flexible delivery for all. De facto leadership of much of the discussion surrounding online delivery has been assumed by information technologists and online enthusiasts who do not necessarily understand the milieu of the distance student. The position taken in this paper is that the developments proposed afford an opportunity for the distance education community to focus its energies under a new mandate and with a more specific student base. There are, however, significant challenges to which both the present system and distance educators in particular will have to respond. One of these relates to the role of online delivery within the university sector, and particularly for such a national university in the context of an existing diverse and dispersed approach to distance delivery in higher education across the country. It may be the case that the developments outlined herein have some resonance in distance education communities beyond Australia. While this is beyond the paper's present concerns, it seems unlikely that, for example, the issues of identity mentioned above constitute a distinctly Australian phenomenon. These issues will be explored within the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the findings of qualitative case studies aimed at exploring student experiences of offshore programmes delivered in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia by Australian universities. The paper draws on a cross-case analysis of the studies to develop propositions about student experience and identity formation in the context of offshore education. The propositions are that: offshore students consider international education to be part of a long-term trajectory of identity formation, with the choice of programme delivery being a strategy to progress along the trajectory; offshore students seek identity as members of the educational community through pursuing local ways of belonging; and offshore students deal with the demands of family, work and study by prioritizing and compartmentalizing roles and activities. The findings provide insights into student perspectives on what makes a quality educational experience for international students studying offshore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studio is the central place of learning in architecture and interior architecture education. For novice students it can be a disorienting and unfamiliar environment, particularly for students from overseas or non-tertiary backgrounds. For teaching staff, the level of design culture and understanding of students is unknown and diverse. This paper describes a pedagogy which responds to this condition by focussing on collective and individual memories, the one common attribute every student brings with them. It choreographs specific memories of place with formative student experiences to create a sympathetic environment for learning, where every student's perceptions and skills are validated. Many of these design exercises are conducted off campus, in quintessential Australian landscapes. When memory and place are synchronised in this manner, significant and lasting educational insights are fostered, and are used as a cumulative and cyclic basis for design. In addition, the process uses an innovative alliance with the universally tangible realm of food as a design language and frame of reference, exploiting the holistic and sensual nature of the gastronomic metaphor as a rich and culturally reflexive prompt. The paper illustrates the application and imaginative outcomes of a cumulatively developed hands-on teaching program, and how it sensitively responds to regional and cultural specificities in Australian design education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the literature by separately analysing the course enrolment and completion effects of vocational education and training (VET) as well as higher education. Moreover, we investigate the persistence of these wage effects over time while controlling for two potential selection biases. We take advantage of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth, which contains comprehensive information about completed and uncompleted courses and subsequent labour market outcomes. We find evidence of positive enrolment and completion effects for VET and university courses with important differences by type of course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The private tertiary education sector has experienced ongoing growth in Australia. Based on current trends, this sector is predicted to grow, contributing to the social and economic development of Australia and many other countries. While the private tertiary education sector is experiencing growth and tough competition from other providers, it is important and timely to revisit the quality assurance framework used in all tertiary education providers to assure internal quality and meeting external requirements. This paper is aimed to encourage debate on the need for private tertiary education institutions to develop internal capacity for quality assurance with the view to using a single framework to meet both internal and external requirements in a highly regulated tertiary education environment. The paper outlines the current dilemmas in some institutions that use a range of different quality frameworks, including the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the Vocational Education and Training (VET) quality framework monitored by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), the Higher Education quality framework monitored by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) and the National ELT Accreditation Scheme (NEAS). We argue that there is a need for institutions to develop a single framework to meet internal and external needs that are economical, sustainable, and morally responsible in order to improve academic quality and to monitor standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the development of learning standards in higher education economics in Australia. The motivation is twofold. The creation of Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency in 2011, along with the revised Australian Qualifications Framework specifications published in July 2011, have given the learning standards agenda a new impetus in Australia. Work has been done overseas on learning standards in economics through the UK Benchmarking Statement and the OECD's Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes study. However, a key finding from learning standards projects in Australia in other disciplines is that the Australian academic community needs to take ownership of the standards agenda as a pre-condition for general acceptance and successful implementation. Second, the development of learning standards in economics is an opportunity to drive an evidence-based process of curriculum renewal, including critical reflection on core knowledge, skills and assessment methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian Government participation targets recommended in the Review of Australian Higher Education (Bradley In Review of Australian higher education: Final report, Commonwealth of Australia ) presented a complex public communication challenge to higher education participation. This research discusses the content of communication messages about Australian universities propagated in the period following the implementation of new national student participation goals. It argues that despite the stated policy objectives and increasing public rhetoric about broadening access to university such messages continued to position universities as elite and exclusive, while vocational training colleges continued to be promoted as having less rigorous academic standards suited to those who aspire to develop trade employment skills. Australian universities are part of a wider communication system that includes other tertiary education organisations including the vocational education sector, State and Federal Governments and the news and information media. The communication of messages about the value of higher education and differences between institutions in this system contributes to the formation of public beliefs and attitudes. The paper argues that the persistence of communication practices and messages that promote the superiority of university and the low success rates of students from disadvantaged backgrounds contributes to the persistence of entrenched views about post-secondary education. The limited discursive framing of university education in Australia in those messages is likely to prevent universities from increasing the participation rates of students from non-traditional higher education backgrounds and thus undermine national educational and associated economic goals, while contributing to an increasing social divide where educational achievement is the fault line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital disruption and an increasingly networked society drive rapid change in many professions and a corresponding need for change in tertiary education. Across the world, information education has, to date, prepared graduates for employment in discrete professions, such as librarianship, records management, archives and teacher librarianship. However, contemporary information practices are less defined and are demanding of new professional skill-sets and understandings. This paper reports a study that consulted Australia's tertiary academics about the current circumstances of information education in the academy and elicited a vision and a concern for future directions in Australian information education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the suggestive possibilities of an approach to undergraduate English teacher education that the author has called the 3D Approach - Develop professional knowledge, Display professional knowledge, Disseminate professional knowledge - in relation to a number of groups of first year pre-service teachers (PSTs) engaging the teaching and learning materials of their English education course. Design/methodology/approach - The paper examines ways in which this approach has been assessed by the PSTs themselves, constructing this as an expression of their lived experience as PSTs. The author draws on Vygotsky's concept of the Zone of Proximal Development, initiates a systematic and orchestrated program of explicit scaffolding of first year PST learning and draws on University-generated student assessment of their courses, focus groups and individual interviews to investigate ways in which the 3D approach may be considered as enhancing first year PST learning. Findings - PSTs' own informed evaluations of their own developing knowledge have made visible the teaching and learning that they have engaged and articulated. What the author outlines in this paper is not a "Eureka" moment for first year PSTs, but it is the result of careful scholarly considerations of what careful scholarly considerations by first years in Education courses may engage. For this cohort of PSTs, and for the author, it is a particular form of engagement with pedagogy. It is a pedagogy for teachers, part of active engagement on the part of the teacher and the learner, producing knowledge together. Research limitations/implications - Lack of generalisability from case study research may be considered as a limitation, but the author would argue that it is the details thrown up for careful examination in a case study which may serve to inform professional discussion and debate. Practical implications - Negative press of inadequate teachers emerging from universities, with their specious claims will not progress reasoned discussion; research on how the PSTs are themselves taught and how they develop as professionals will. PSTs' own informed evaluations of their own developing knowledge will go some way towards enabling this to happen. This sort of research opens up possibilities for starting with the right sort of questions, a shift from asking the wrong sort of questions, which the author would argue is that sort on which the media are basing their opinion pieces. Social implications - Continuing public discussions, usually conducted in and by the media, about teacher quality, particularly as this tends to be tied to notions of teacher pay, indicates a wider social concern about the need for quality teachers. This sort of social concern is also a major concern for teacher educators, and is to be addressed as such. This paper addresses some of those concerns. Originality/value - The paper engages issues about teacher education raised publicly in the media and ties these to the more private domain of university practice in a given teacher education course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the foundation and development of universities in Australia and New Zealand and demonstrates how these universities were established on a secular basis. Educators from other continents with a mainly Christian history are often surprised that there is so little evidence of Christian input into the university sector in Australasia. This paper addresses the development of theological education in Australia and helps to explain why churches and other Christian institutions contributed little to the development of Australasia's higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper investigates the impact of student performance in introductory economics and quantitative subjects on higher-level economics subjects. A multi-year data set with detailed performance scores from a major multi-campus Australian university is used for this study. Employing ordinary least squares and quantile regression, the results of the study reveal that performance in introductory macroeconomics and quantitative subjects significantly influences students' performance in advanced-level economics subject. The policy implication recommends adequate prior knowledge and competency for students entering into tertiary education to progress well in higher-level economics studies. This strategy may assist in achieving greater social inclusion and increased retention rates for university degrees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past few decades have seen increasing massification and privatisation of higher education in Australia, with new providers emerging that challenge the traditional universities. In this paper I analyse the make-up of the non-university higher education sector in Australia. I also describe the effect of FEE-HELP funding as a catalyst for change in the Australian private higher education sector and how this compares with the American experience. The final section of the paper presents an analysis of recent growth and consolidation of the Australian private higher education sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of 179 Chinese background students at two Australian universities in 2007. Students from mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore completed an OEDC model questionnaire with a focus on motivation which is regarded as the driving force behind learning. This paper seeks to discover the motivation of Chinese background students in taking courses or units at Australian universities, in order to shed some light on curriculum design for Australian universities. Quantitative and qualitative approaches were used in this study. The findings of this study can be used to assist in the curriculum development for Australian universities, and can also suggest effective teaching methods for Chinese background school students in higher education of Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been much concern in the higher education sector recently about the well-being and the safety of slightly more than 200,000 international students studying in higher education in Australia. In recognition of the economic and socio-cultural value of the international student cohort, as well as the significant challenge and risk of studying away from family and friends in a foreign community, CQUniversity has focused for the last two years on improving social integration for over 5000 international students. These students are studying at CQUniversity metropolitan campuses in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne and Sydney, which are popular destinations for international students. Initiatives to enhance social integration for these students were achieved in partnership with the local community, staff and other students. This paper reports the results of a survey of 446 CQUniversity international students who have had access to these enhanced opportunities for integration as well as a focus-group discussion with staff and students. Results determine the success of these initiatives from the perspective of students as well as key staff and identify further initiatives considered beneficial to supporting continuing social integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The achievement of greater gender equity within Australian universities is a significant issue for both the quality and the strength of Australian higher education. This paper contributes to our knowledge of academic workloads, observing individual workloads in business faculties. A multiple case study method was employed to observe individual academic workloads. Two regional universities were selected for this research on the basis of their senior staff profiles. Multiple sources of evidence were used to gather teaching and research workload data for all faculty members. Differences in workloads were not always evident between genders. Our results suggest that universities that are over-represented with females in senior academic positions when compared to the national average achieve equity in workload. Universities that are underrepresented with females in senior academic positions do not achieve workload equity with male academics producing more research and coordinating more teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internationalisation in the Australian higher education sector has most usually been considered in relation to issues concerned with the attraction, retention and experience of students studying both on and offshore at Australian universities. Less attention has been paid to the experiences of the international academics that represent a significant percentage of the increasingly heterogeneous Australian academic workforce. In this paper, we consider findings from an exploratory study of international academics working at a multi-campus university in regional Australia. We draw on interview data to consider international academics' observations about their experiences of transition to work and community life. Based on these data, we suggest that institutional cultures play an important role in the transitional experiences of academics working outside their country of origin. We consider the implications of these findings for recruitment planning, workplace induction and other programmes aimed at staff development and retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores why it is important for universities to integrate research and teaching at the present time and considers how it can be achieved. Political, institutional and disciplinary factors affect the relationship, whether the aim is to integrate teaching with research or to integrate research with teaching. So the article explores factors that facilitate and factors that discourage integration. By way of providing an example of implementation, imperatives and challenges in developing this relationship at a large research-intensive Australian university are outlined. Finally, the paper draws some general implications from this discussion to suggest where moves by disciplinary communities to integrate research and teaching might be heading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on an innovative pilot project embedded in a capstone unit of Australia's leading undergraduate degree program in Entrepreneurship. The project was developed as part of an industry linkage pilot agreement between the Entrepreneurship program and one of the 'Big Four' consultancy companies, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. A pedagogically innovative model of applied learning is proposed that enabled Higher Education students enrolled in a Bachelor of Business (Entrepreneurship) degree to apply in a dynamic (and sometimes chaotic) environment skill and capabilities they already possessed (as opposed to work-based learning about a particular job). Results presented in this paper indicate that educating young entrepreneurs in a Higher Educational setting needs to be like the practice itself; creative, risky, exciting and above all highly satisfying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite ongoing equity initiatives, there is still a clear discrepancy in regards to access to higher education for potential students from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. This paper reports on an action research initiative that has developed a model of engaged outreach as an alternative approach to traditional university outreach. Engaged outreach uses the principles of higher education community engagement to develop stronger relationships between universities and their local communities for the purposes of increasing aspiration and access to higher education. The project was designed using a reflective, collaborative process with local Pacific Island immigrant communities living in an area of high social deprivation in southeast Queensland, Australia. Research progressed in three key stages, which together form the basis of the proposed model of engaged outreach. While it is acknowledged that the success of engaged outreach will depend on its implementation as a long-term strategy, preliminary results from this pilot project suggest that it demonstrates real potential to address this important but seemingly entrenched issue in Australian higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]