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The uptake of web-based lecture technologies for recording and delivering live lectures has increased markedly in recent years. Students have responded positively, and for many their use has transformed learning--freeing them up from rigid timetables by providing choice in lecture attendance and supporting learning by extending the lecture experience and enabling them to revisit key concepts and ideas in their own time. Less transformational has been the impact on teaching. Although changing attendance patterns and disquiet about the quality of learning are of concern to many, lecturers have largely responded by simply modifying lectures. For most, the challenges of catering for the learning needs of a cohort with variable lecture attendance have not been addressed at a whole of the curriculum level. The technologies have been added on, rather than integrated into the curriculum. This paper will review the changes taking place in learning and teaching, explore the reluctance to embrace more wholesale change to the curriculum, and discuss the implications for institutions in the face of ongoing change. (Contains 1 table.) [This article was originally published in "ALT-J: Research in Learning Technology," v18, n3, p251-263, Nov 2010.]

The discussion in this paper is based on the assumption that international education is equated to recruiting and educating international students, even though its true concept goes far beyond this narrow understanding. The purpose of this research is to look at the key factors that influence recruiting young Chinese students, and make sure all who work in this field understand how their business will achieve success. This is done through an analysis of the Chinese education system, the history of young Chinese students studying abroad, China's economic outlook, the Australian and Chinese governments' attitudes and international education policies, and the expectations of the students and their families. The article concludes with some constructive recommendations and suggestions. (Contains 1 table and 8 footnotes.)

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify student and staff experiences with online learning at higher education (HE) using the software Elluminate Live! Design/methodology/approach: This paper adopts a qualitative approach, focusing on the reflections of participants (student and teacher) collated over a 12 month period of piloting online classes with Elluminate Live! Findings: A number of insightful themes and issues emerged from the data collected from the journal reflections as well as other source documents such as meetings and emails. The themes considered in the paper include: increased flexibility and cost reductions, technical challenges, resistance to online learning, extension of online facilities and student engagement, and visual literacy skills. Research limitations/implications: The school's virtual classroom strategies need to address staff and student concerns. Staff training and the establishment of effective support structures for embedding safe, secure, and rewarding virtual classrooms are required. Once these issues have been addressed, online classes can be expanded across numerous discipline areas within the school. Originality/value: Currently, Australian scholarly papers focussing on the use of Elluminate Live! as a teaching tool to help develop curriculum at tertiary level are scarce. The significance of this study is to share the important knowledge garnered through reflective insights (via feedback and journal writing) which can act as a guide to other higher education universities looking at undertaking online learning. (Contains 1 figure.)

In this paper four final-year education students describe one aspect of their science pathway course, a place-based experience in an urban ecological setting. The aim of the place-based experience was to combine community service and science knowledge to focus on critical, reflective thinking and civic responsibility. The assessment task required the students to construct a digital narrative of their experience. (Contains 5 figures.)

Understanding the drivers of student dropout from higher education has been a policy concern for several decades. However, the contributing role of certain factors—including student mental health—remains poorly understood. Furthermore, existing studies linking student mental health and university dropout are limited in both methodology and scope—for example, they often rely on small and/or non-representative samples or subjective measures, and focus almost exclusively on main effects. This paper overcomes many of these shortcomings by leveraging unique linked administrative data on the full population of domestic students commencing undergraduate studies at Australian universities between 2012 and 2015 (n = 652,139). Using these data, we document that approximately 15% of students drop out of university within their first academic year. Critically, students receiving treatment for mental health problems are 4.3 (adjusted) to 8.3 (unadjusted) percentage points more likely to drop out of higher education. This association remains in the presence of an encompassing set of potential confounds, and is remarkably uniform across segments of the student population determined by individual, family, and programme characteristics. Altogether, our findings call for increased policy efforts to improve student mental health and to buffer against its deleterious effects on retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Becoming a researcher is one of the roads travelled in the emotional, social, and intellectual process of PhD journeys. As such, developing a researcher identity during doctoral study is a social undertaking. This paper explores instances and practices where doctoral students identify as becoming researchers. Based on interviews with 30 PhD students from two Australian metropolitan universities, this paper presents students' experiences of moments when they feel like researchers. The paper finds identification as a researcher occurs early on in the PhD, and such instances are underpinned by external and internal validation of the student as a researcher. Validation is gained throughresearch outputs (mainly publications),doing research, andtalking about research. Such experiences are often mundane, occur daily, and constitute personal, social, informal, and formal learning opportunities for researcher development. Supervisors are largely absent as students draw on multiple individuals on and off campus in assuming a researcher identity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The introduction of distance education in the 1990s sought to broaden the access to a social work qualification to Australians who are excluded from educational institutions which have high attendance requirements. This paper describes the evolution of an online social work education at Deakin University from a programme which commenced in 1996 predominantly relying on print-based learning materials. In Australia, distance education in social work remains controversial and the quality of education possible is often questioned. Data from national surveys are presented indicating that high-quality student learning experiences can be reported by social work students studying at a distance when properly resourced. The paper concludes by contending that it is inappropriate to generalise about all online and distance education programmes in social work and that rather than considering the mode of delivery, individual courses should be evaluated as to whether or not graduates are appropriately prepared for professional practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tertiary education scholarships for individual students from developing countries, including those in the Pacific Islands, are a key pillar of Australia's development policy. Understanding students' experiences of these scholarships are important in identifying both positives and challenges, which can help foster improved future opportunities. This is especially the case for Pacific Islander students engaging in the Australia Awards Scholarship programme for which there is limited understanding of experiences. As such, this paper identifies that although educational mobility programmes can offer a wealth of opportunities for students, the COVID‐19 pandemic has highlighted the challenges of such programmes which can inhibit students from reaching their full potential. Educational mobility programmes that effectively address the needs of students and empower them to achieve their goals are required to better facilitate transformative development pathways for Australia's Pacific Island neighbours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of our paper is the leadership role of programme managers in the higher education sector. In particular, we highlight the complex and paradoxical nature of the programme leader’s role, and provide an insight into leadership in this challenging and dynamic environment. We identify cognitive and behavioural complexity as necessary capabilities for programme managers to ensure they can navigate the turbulent river system of academia. The Integrated Competing Values Framework describes some leadership behaviours appropriate for the programme manager’s role. We also argue how critical observation skills, reflection and self-awareness can assist programme managers to provide leadership in this uncertain environment. Our paper concludes with a discussion of areas for future research and important practical implications for universities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Within the context of postgraduate research education and training in the higher education sector, drafting might be understood as ‘not quite the final product’ produced by the student who is ‘not yet the final product’ of the university. In this paper, I turn this assumption ‘off centre’ to argue instead that writing and subjectivity are mutually constitutive. The execution of competent writing is, I will suggest, the effect of the repeated performance of a particular academic subjectivity, instantiated in text, over time. The interconnected concepts of the social subject and the relational subject are central to the work of this paper and I draw on Judith Butler’s work on peformativity to rethink the relationship between writing and academic subjectivity. Butler’s subject is an unstable subject rather than a fixed identity category, formed in and through discourse and language. Extrapolating from her work to the context of higher education research writing pedagogy, my task in this paper is to exemplify some of what I will call the intersecting vectors; i.e., the limitations, exclusions, foreclosures and improvisations that work together in complex often unpredictable ways in the production of what and who is recognisable as an intelligible text and a competent research writer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I take a simple game-theoretic view of educational production within universities to frame a discussion of pedagogical power, effort, and influence in Australian higher education. After introducing the stylised game structure, I first compare the role of teachers in Australian universities to that of university teachers elsewhere in the world, in terms of Australian academics' power in pedagogical affairs relative to the power of the higher-education institutions within which they operate. I then review some existing empirical evidence using Australian data that sheds light on the role of both teacher inputs and student inputs in creating educational outcomes, and discuss some new evidence on students' perceptions of teacher influence. The paper concludes with some recommendations for changes to the current system designed to improve student outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Academic Language and Learning (ALL) is a relatively recent practice field known in Australian Higher Education as Academic Skills Advising or Student Support. Changing social, political and economic circumstances shape ALL work in complex and contradictory ways. Of crucial current significance are discourses calling for education to become an evidence-based practice. This paper outlines the main tenets of evidence-based practice discourses (EBPD); recapitulates Gert Biesta’s critique of EBPD’ views of education as instrumental technology and positivistic science; and explores how these critiques hold in the managerial expropriations of these discourses in the ALL context. The paper argues that, while these managerial expropriations ostensibly provide ALL with some legitimacy, they simultaneously reduce its practice to means-to-end interventions servicing the language/learning commodity; and increasingly consign its research to techno-scientific evaluation investigating managerial outcomes and acting as powerful panoptic surveillance. The paper calls for the continued critique of dominant discourses and their reproducing practices; and reconnecting with questions of educational purpose in ALL thereby enabling more radical and meaningful re-imaginings of this work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Social inclusion in Australian higher education was high on the agenda of the recent Rudd/Gillard Australian Government. This paper offers an assessment of that agenda, particularly the extent to which it worked in favour of under-represented groups. It argues that the Government's widening and expansion policies and its equity and aspiration strategies lacked sociological imagination, projecting deficits onto individuals who refused to be taken in by its ambitions for higher education participation. The paper concludes that in the absence of a sociological imagination in government policy, the freedoms of disadvantaged groups continued to be curtailed: not just to choose futures in keeping with their goals but also the freedom to formulate choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the significant and diverse range of research in applied linguistics published in Australia in the period 2008–2014. Whilst acknowledging that a great deal of research by Australian scholars has been published internationally during these seven years, this review is based on books, journal articles, and conference proceedings published in Australia. Many of these sources will be unfamiliar to an international audience, and the purpose of this article is to highlight this body of research and the themes emerging from it. The journals selected in this review include Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Australian Review of Applied Linguistics (ARAL), BABEL, English in Australia, English Australia, Papers in Language Testing and Assessment, Prospect: An Australian Journal of TESOL, TESOL in Context, and University of Sydney Papers in TESOL. Selected refereed proceedings are from key national conferences including: ALAA (Applied Linguistics Association of Australia), ACTA (Australian Council of TESOL Association), ASFLA (Australian Systemic Functional Linguistics Association), and ALS (Australian Linguistics Society). Our review of selected applied linguistics work revolves around the following themes: the responses to the needs of government planning and policy; the complexity of Australia's multicultural, multilingual society; the concern for recognizing context and culture as key factors in language and language learning; social activism in supporting language pedagogy and literacy programmes at all levels of education; and acknowledgement of the unique place held by Indigenous languages and Aboriginal English in the national linguistic landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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]

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of internationalisation on academic work within a department of management in a large Australian university. It has been argued elsewhere that internationalisation strategies have transformed the nature and demands of academic work through the massification and commodification of educational curricula. Drawing on one of our university's projects to develop and deliver internationalised common curricula to students in Asia, South Africa and Australia we contend that internationalisation strategies have contributed to what we identify as the "Taylorisation" of teaching and learning. Frederick Taylor's principles of scientific management, exemplified by the growing trend towards standardisation of delivery and curricula, are readily identified in the pedagogical processes and expected academic practice in higher education. This paper draws on the work of others who highlight the complexity of internationalisation issues in the development and delivery of curricula and suggests a comprehensive programme of internationalisation that more effectively addresses the economic and social demands of the current global competitive environment. We argue for a programme of internationalisation that is counter-hegemonic, ongoing, comprehensive, multifaceted and integrated and we offer some practical suggestions to redefine the principles and practices of internationalisation within an Australian university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore the notion of school improvement through the lens of praxis as it relates to equity, inclusion, and transformation, with a particular focus on inquiry-based school and teacher development. We argue that authentic improvement is a consequence of praxis, and highlight, through examples, key ways that authentic school improvement might be achieved through inquiry within a praxis framework. While many recent policy initiatives related to school education in Australia, and internationally, place emphasis on competitive and performance-based mechanisms to drive improvement, the argument in this paper runs counter to these emphases, not in its recognition of the need for school improvement but in its understanding of how that improvement can be defined, developed, and documented. The examples presented illustrate ways in which inquiry-based approaches to teacher professional learning, and teaching practices in classrooms, provide tools for framing authentic school improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last three decades there have been numerous surveys in Australian universities which have attempted to describe the perceptions of academic staff to various aspects of their roles. Each of these surveys appears to have been inspired by changes resulting from contemporaneous government policies and/or community expectations. Calls for ’’Efficiency and Effectiveness‘‘, ’’Accountability‘‘, and ’’Quality and Diversity‘‘ have coincided with massive expansion in the higher education system, the change from a binary system to the Unified National System, and consequent changes to student profiles, funding arrangements, and academic workloads. Academic culture, with its tradition of freedom and autonomy, has been besieged by the alien culture of managerialism with its own vocabulary of ’’client‘‘, ’’quality assurance‘‘, and ’’product‘‘: but has this assault made any difference to how academics perceive their work and their perceptions of quality in university teaching ? This paper reports on an analysis of data (relating to academics‘ perceptions of their work) from surveys conducted in universities from the late 70s and throughout the 80s and 90s. The paper analyses, compares and contextualises academic perceptions across these decades, and draws some conclusions about the perseverence of academic culture under siege. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality assurance codes and guidelines for systems of higher education change frequently and sometimes rapidly and dramatically. More often changes are gradual and incremental. This paper examines types of change to these codes and guidelines and uses strategic management theory to outline three modes of development and change. An example of gradual change, sometimes referred to as ‘logical incrementalism’ or ‘adding bells and whistles’ is outlined from Oman. A contrasting example of discontinuous change known as ‘emergent strategy’ or ‘code by catastrophe’ is used from Australia. Elements of a third ‘co-participative’ model incorporating stakeholder and community input alongside technical knowledge are becoming more frequent. An ideal model is proposed drawing from the best aspects of logical incrementalism and co-participative development. This model can be applied to changes in codes, guidelines and standards in multiple systems and sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The initial years as an early career academic (ECA) are challenging times as those new to the academy attempt to balance the three aspects of their role: teaching, research and service, while also coming to terms with both overt and hidden expectations. Formal mentoring arrangements for ECAs are threatened by competing demands on time. Additionally, they may not fully support the needs of ECAs as they can be more closely aligned to university needs than those of the ECA. The purpose of this paper is to open conversations about ECAs finding ways to develop agency. We use a reflective inquiry approach to identify and respond to the ideological and hegemonic influences on the experiences of ECAs. We also promote self-sustaining peer support and informal mentoring from more senior staff as complementary forms of professional learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The academic success of Asian–Australian students has become increasingly visible over the last decade. They are over-represented in high-performing schools, gifted and talented programmes and prestigious university courses. These achievements have generated both admiration and anxiety. Congratulatory voices depict Asian–Australians as a model minority, whose work ethic promises to enhance Australian schooling and propel the nation’s meritocracy forward. Anxious voices worry about the escalation of a competitive culture, symbolised by excessive coaching and the ‘tiger parenting’ of Asian migrants. This paper examines the divided public attitudes on Asian–Australian education cultures through a discourse analysis of several hundred online comments posted in response to newspaper stories on ‘Asian success’ over the last five years. It identifies two competing discourses underlying these opinions: firstly, a pro-meritocratic, neo-liberal discourse, in which Asian–Australians embody the competitive spirit and aspiration required in a globalised economy, and secondly, a discourse of Asian–Australians as inauthentic learners whose excessive focus on schooling threatens the traditionally relaxed Australian approach to childhood and education. While these two discourses differ in their evaluation of Asian–Australian students, both share a culturally essentialist framework that explains educational outcomes in terms of ‘culture’. The paper analyses the racial politics of this cultural essentialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous Australians represent 2.2% of the working age population, yet account for only 1.4% of all university enrolments. In relation to higher degree research students, Indigenous Australians account for 1.1% of enrolments, but only 0.8% of all higher degree research completions. This paper reports on findings that emerged from an Australian Research Council-funded study which aimed to establish a model of best practice for the supervision of Indigenous doctoral students. The project identified the dissertation examination as one of the critical factors underpinning the success of doctoral candidates. Whilst research into the examination process for doctoral students is limited, the research that specifically explores the examination of dissertations submitted by Indigenous students is entirely inadequate. Our research identified key epistemological concerns that impact approaches to the examination process, to demonstrate how the dominance of Western methods of research impact the examination process for Indigenous doctoral students. This paper explores the experiences of 50 successful Indigenous Australian doctors with a specific focus on their examiner preference and disciplinary requirements. It highlights the limitations that some Indigenous students and their supervisors experience in finding an appropriate examiner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the way in which different studio models have emerged in architectural education, as well as providing an overview of studio models in recent use (2007-2011), which is timely in a context that values ‘efficiency dividends’. Four models are explored in order to represent the considerable diversity in how the studio is defined and understood in the Australian and New Zealand context. The paper highlights the significant influence and impact of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) policies and management have had on schools and their studio models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based upon research with Australian students who were the first in their family to come to university. The studies sought to explore how attending university impacted upon both the learners and their families, particularly the intergenerational implications of this attendance. Drawing on indepth interviews conducted with older university students enrolled in a medium sized regional university, this paper will focus on how this mature cohort articulated the ways in which they drew upon life and work experiences during their transition to university. Applying the Community Cultural Framework (Yosso, 2005) this article proposes that these learners brought a range of capitals to the higher education environment including what has been termed 'experiential capital'. In exploring the characteristics and sources of these capitals, the paper will include suggestions about how higher education institutions might seek to both recognise and nurture such resources within the tertiary sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As with other countries, Australia has been grappling with the identification, measurement and impact of disadvantage in higher education. In particular, the measurement of socio-economic status (SES) has been of central concern. The immediate solution in Australia has been the introduction of an ‘area’ measure in which students' SES is categorised on the basis of census data for their neighbourhoods rather than on individual or household data. This paper assesses the veracity of the area measure in capturing individual SES for school-aged entrants, using a longitudinal data set, the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, to construct individual measures of SES and a national ranking of sample individuals on the basis of probability of attending a higher education institution. The results demonstrate the tendency for area measures to misclassify individuals' higher education opportunity and the associated potential for perverse policy outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose |!|#8211; The purpose of this study is to identify student and staff experiences with online learning at higher education (HE) using the software Elluminate Live! Design/methodology/approach |!|#8211; This paper adopts a qualitative approach, focusing on the reflections of participants (student and teacher) collated over a 12 month period of piloting online classes with Elluminate Live! Findings |!|#8211; A number of insightful themes and issues emerged from the data collected from the journal reflections as well as other source documents such as meetings and emails. The themes considered in the paper include: increased flexibility and cost reductions, technical challenges, resistance to online learning, extension of online facilities and student engagement, and visual literacy skills. Research limitations/implications |!|#8211; The school|!|#39;s virtual classroom strategies need to address staff and student concerns. Staff training and the establishment of effective support structures for embedding safe, secure, and rewarding virtual classrooms are required. Once these issues have been addressed, online classes can be expanded across numerous discipline areas within the school. Originality/value |!|#8211; Currently, Australian scholarly papers focussing on the use of Elluminate Live! as a teaching tool to help develop curriculum at tertiary level are scarce. The significance of this study is to share the important knowledge garnered through reflective insights (via feedback and journal writing) which can act as a guide to other higher education universities looking at undertaking online learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The profile and fabric of adult learners in higher education is changing and becoming more diverse. Supporting these students in their learning journey needs to go beyond the acquisition of knowledge, skills and abilities, requiring a paradigm shift in pedagogical approach. In this paper, two tertiary educators from a regional Australian university share how they not only support adult learners enrolled both locally and globally but also help them to connect effectively with course content and with each other. One author, working primarily in undergraduate education courses, has proposed a "Winning Formula" approach to her pedagogy with an emphasis on student engagement, contextualised learning and an extensive choice of learning resources. The second author, who works online with postgraduate learners, shares outcomes of her research in online design with a focus on the principle of the "CHE factor" (qualities of Connectivity, Humanness and Empathy) which she has found is the central tenet of effective online learning and teaching. As a result of a categorical analysis of multiple data sources from their individual research activities, the two authors were able to identify a number of shared learning and teaching principles which they have found support learners in making connections between their learning and the real world environments in which they live and work. Principles, however, cannot exist in a vacuum and need to be considered according to the educational contexts within which they are applied. The authors reflect on these key principles and the application to their own teaching contexts and share some anecdotal comments from students. The paper concludes with an invitation to others to consider the application (and possible adaptation) of the principles to their own educational contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers issues of diversity and community in Australian higher education as it becomes increasingly globalised and internationalised. As globalisation transforms higher education through market competition, universities worldwide are responding through internationalising all facets of their research and education. The development by many universities of export-oriented 'transnational' programmes, where students are located in a different country to the institution providing their course, is part of this response. Within this context, learning communities are becoming more diverse as different populations of students in different locations experience different modes of programme delivery. This paper draws on research into student experiences of transnational programmes offered by Australian universities in Southeast Asia. The focus of the paper is on how these students negotiate difference and diversity in their learning communities. In particular, strategies for constructing an international identity, gaining membership of the learning community, 'fitting in' to a diverse ethnic and cultural student cohort, and negotiating the competing roles of family, work and study are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While diversity and commonality are not necessarily contradictory aspirations in relation to contemporary teaching in higher education, they exist potentially in a state of dynamic tension, fostered by market-based and government-induced policies that strive to have the largest and widest possible client- or customer-base, while reducing costs by standardising delivery and assessment. This paper explores this dynamic tension between diversity and commonality through three empirical cases of different types of students at Central Queensland University in Australia: Indigenous, pre-undergraduate and international students. The paper presents an analytical synthesis of the particular teaching strategies developed by academic staff working with students in each case: experiential learning, transformative learning and culturally-situated pedagogy. The authors argue that these strategies constitute a potentially effective means of helping to resolve the dynamic tension between, and of unravelling the Gordian knot linking, diversity and commonality in Australian contemporary higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A glass ceiling for women still exists in academia after two decades of equal employment opportunity (EEO) legislation in Australia. There are complex factors that when combined make gender inequity in the higher education sector highly resistant to change. Using personal histories as a reflexive device, the paper makes explicit the embedded male patterns of behaviour in academia that operate beneath the façade of policies and rules put into place to counter inequity. In particular, the paper focuses on the cognitive dissonance individuals experience due to the disparity between formal organizational policies promoting equity, such as workload allocations, and perceptions of the unequal opportunities for women and men. Using social identity theory and the leader member exchange (LMX) framework, the daily experiences of three academic women are interpreted, the impediments to equality identified, and suggestions made for more fundamental change to gendered organizational structures within academia. The analysis of such behaviours shows that the traditional emphasis of EEO legislation on formal policies and procedures to bring about gender equity in academia needs to be accompanied by cultural change programs that make explicit and challenge behaviours that reproduce and reinforce male hegemony in academia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports issues arising from a longitudinal study of 1991 to 2002 Australian higher education equity data. The national equity framework uses an empirical performance indicator system to monitor access, participation, success and retention of six designated equity groups. The paper examines three possible approaches for defining new groups. It finds no support for an exploratory empirical approach, or for an approach based on definitions of multiple disadvantage, but supports an approach which takes account of secondary school attendance. A case is made for a more sophisticated and contextualised approach to national reporting, to increase the responsiveness and productivity of the policy framework. While the benefits of a national equity policy framework are acknowledged, the paper proposes possibilities for new approaches to monitoring and measuring disadvantage in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major restructuring to the Australian higher education sector was initiated in 1988 with the dismantling of the previous binary system and the introduction of the unified national system. Since this time the sector has been the subject of continuous review by government and the policy and funding framework for higher education research in particular has undergone a number of changes. After providing contextual information regarding Australia and its R&D effort, this paper examines a number of major reviews that have impacted on the higher education sector. Particular attention is directed to identifying changes in both policy and funding environment. It is argued that the crisis facing Australian universities is the result of not only inadequate funding but also an over-reliance by government on the market steering of the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of increasing globalisation, further education (FE) in the Asian Century needs to linguistically and culturally connect its graduates with our international business and trading partners. Despite this, languages other than English (LOTE) continue to be undervalued in FE in countries like Australia. This is evident in the steady decline in the number of providers offering LOTE in recent years. This paper discusses research that examined the relevance of LOTE in FE in Australia. Barriers and enablers to including LOTE in FE were identified in the findings. The results also showed a discrepancy in how students and teachers valued LOTE on the one hand, and how FE management, represented by a FE institute director and a Technical and Further Education (TAFE) Directors Australia representative, as well as industry, represented through two industry skills councils, viewed it on the other: while students and teachers saw enormous inter-cultural, employment and marketing benefits, industry viewed LOTE as providing limited vocational benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change poses significant threat to the wellbeing of global society. Addressing this change has as yet generated no fixed blueprint for social work practice and education. This paper reports on a formative evaluation of one Australian initiative to address this transformative opening in social work field education. Prompted by service users' and workers' experience of the impact of drought, a rurally located social work course team amended the field education curriculum to include a focus on Environment and Sustainability. This learning goal was added to the existing learning goals derived from the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) Practice Standards. Students and field supervisors were surveyed on their experience of meeting this new learning goal. While most expressed confidence in understanding the concepts involved, they clearly lacked assurance in interpreting these in practice encounters. Considering their qualitative input suggests that this topic is making a transition from being on the margins of social work to becoming mainstream. Their open-ended responses indicate that the incorporation of environmental sustainability into practice is at a threshold stage of development. Further enactment of eco-social work at the local level is concluded to be supported by using a transformative learning framework in facilitating critical reflection and collaborative dialogue for effective change. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted education provision worldwide. In Australia, the government took a proactive stance to reduce the impact of the pandemic, temporarily banning higher education students from attending university campuses. With a lockdown in place, educational institutions required a rapid shift in approaches to teaching and learning by both educators and students. Educators throughout Australia were asked to work from home and quickly transition their face-to-face (synchronous) classes into bichronous, fully online offerings. This paper reports on the experiences of 25 educators in an enabling course in a regional Australian university who were required to make this shift. These educators not only had to navigate this complex time personally, but they also had to work in their professional role with the additional responsibility of ensuring a particularly vulnerable cohort of non-traditional students felt a sense of belonging within this new educational space. Results showed that while the educators encountered a number of challenges in their transition, they also found ways to promote student belonging in the new teaching and learning environment. With a Pedagogy of Care being central to the educators' practice, they developed strategies to create a sense of emotional engagement among students to help them feel genuinely cared for. Additionally, they were able to construct a 'we mentality' discourse to establish a sense of shared understanding with students around the situation they were in. This study shows that enabling educators are capable of responding creatively to a complex and unpredictable environment, finding ways to replicate their proven pedagogies of care in unfamiliar contexts and thus foster a crucial sense of belonging among enabling students. The implications of a discussion about 'care' and 'belonging' within the field of enabling education are critical at the intrapandemic and post-pandemic times, when traditional teaching methodologies are in flux. Practitioner Notes 1. Educators faced a range of personal and professional challenges during the COVID-19 lockdown with the shift to bichronous online education. Despite the differences between face-to-face and online classroom methods of socialisation, educators found ways to promote belonging in the online classroom. 2. Using the Pedagogy of Care framework, the notion of a caring pedagogy was evident in the educator's praxis and is instrumental in cultivating a sense of belonging within the higher education space. 3. Care as recognition - Student's need to be 'seen' as individuals with unique characteristics. Through educators sharing vicarious experiences (which may require educator vulnerability), it helps the students to identify with the lecturer and build trust in them. In an online environment, it is important to use their name and ask how they are going so they feel recognised amidst the sea of faces as it cultivates social identity. 4. Care as dialogic relationality - Through collegial conversations and allowing students to freely converse, educators build relationships between themselves and their students. This cultivates a 'we' mentality which implies acceptance and underpins a sense of safety, trust, and further emotional risk-taking. 5. Care as affective and embodied praxis - This is cultivated through emotional engagement by way of empathy, warmth, respect and fairness which promotes trust and cohesiveness within the classroom environment. Through promoting a sense of emotional safety, the classroom is a supportive space where students feel at ease to take risks with revealing aspects of self. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need to address the substantial inequities that exist between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in higher education is widely recognised. Those factors that affect the performance of Indigenous students in tertiary education have been reasonably well documented across different institutions, disciplines, and programme levels but there has, to date, been less consideration of the processes by which Indigenous students either persist or desist in higher education. This paper aims to present a conceptual understanding of academic persistence that can inform the delivery of tailored academic support interventions to Indigenous students who are at high risk of leaving higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia is indicative of a country that is deeply confused and conflicted around a policy discourse of inclusion that is sutured within an existential context heavily committed to the tenets of neoliberalism. Nowhere is this more evident than in the case of higher education, in which the proportion of young people from backgrounds of ‘disadvantage’ has remained implacably stuck at around 15% for several decades. The research from which this paper comes is an innovative community-based university-provided programme for young people for whom university education was never a realistic possibility – because of family histories, interruption to their lives, of having undertaken forms of secondary education that prevented them from gaining university entrance qualification, or who had terminated their education before completing the secondary years of schooling. This paper explores the story of one young person in his first year in a university programme, as he struggled with obstacles and impediments of a higher education system and set of neoliberal policy discourses that remain deeply sceptical and antagonistic to his trajectory. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the context of increased demands for excellence in all areas, academic promotion and tenure is now directly linked to achievement of measurable outputs in all areas of performance. In a work environment characterised by high workloads, competing expectations and reduced resources, academics must increasingly demonstrate active engagement with the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). For many, this may mean adopting new cultures, methodologies, theories, languages and modes of enquiry outside their home or cognate discipline. In the context of performance management, academics must reconceptualise and articulate notions of 'good academic practice', often in parallel with the practical requirement to continue to teach in the culture and practices of their cognate discipline. We need to better understand the implications, for institutions and individuals, of approaching SoTL through the lens of performance evaluation. This paper reports the key themes from a pilot study examining how academics at an Australian university are responding to the emergence of SoTL in the performance management context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the notion of a ‘just imaginary’ for social inclusion in higher education. It responds to the current strategy of OECD nations to expand higher education and increase graduate numbers, as a way of securing a competitive advantage in the global knowledge economy. The Australian higher education system provides the case for analysis. Three dilemmas for social inclusion policy in this context are identified: questions of sustainability, aspiration and opportunity. The paper argues that while social inclusion policy has ‘first-order’ effects in higher education, ajustimaginary is required for more inclusive ‘second-order’ effects to be realized. It concludes that transformation of the current imaginary will require a more robust theorization of relations between social inclusion and higher education, to give new and unifying meaning to existing practices and to generate new ones. Short of this, social inclusion may be little more than justimaginary. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Increasing enrolment of Chinese students has become a key feature of internationalisation for Western universities, but there is limited research into how curriculum internationalisation affects Chinese students’ learning experiences. Using the typologies of curriculum internationalisation as a framework, this paper explores and compares how Scottish and Australian universities integrate international and intercultural elements into their curriculum to support Chinese postgraduate taught students’ study. Interviews, focus groups and a survey are used as the main research methods. Analysis reveals that the practice of curriculum internationalisation in both countries is rather limited, and that Chinese students express a desire for more international perspectives in the course content, and for more mobility experiences, in order to prepare for their future careers. The mismatch between academics’ and students’ understandings of curriculum internationalisation is highlighted as an arena of power differential and an area for further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use and creation of Open Education Resources (OER) is becoming increasingly prevalent with teachers and learning designers at universities around the world. OER allows educators to create content and make their content available to the world under an open licence, and also provides the opportunity to use and adapt other OER content. Whilst the use and creation of OER in tertiary institutions is not yet considered the 'norm', many jurisdictions around the world have taken steps, to fund, support and encourage the use of OER in their educational institutions. The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has developed an Open Education (OE) initiative to support the use and creation of OER at QUT. Policy is often the foundation stone, which supports progress and change. The underlying policy provides the framework and often points to the legal parameters that guide the objectives of the project or movement. The importance of policy is evident in the way in which QUT has developed and implemented an OE initiative to promote and support the creation and use of OER. This paper considers the history and development of OER, using QUT's OE initiative as an example of the ways in which policy and implementation can lead to positive change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on the reflections of two social work educators who have, for many years taught research methods to undergraduate and postgraduate social work students in India and Australia. The intent is to suggest measures for enhancing the quality of social work research education. The reflections are embedded in a social justice and human rights framework, privileging the educators’ unique social and cultural contexts and their commitment to engage with indigenous knowledge. The authors recommend effective social work research education requires the educator to draw on a deep understanding of their own context, as well as globally accepted research traditions. Particularly, we encourage research teachers to adopt student-centred approaches that emphasise a broad ‘research mindedness’ (in their students and themselves), building students’ practical capacities and confidence to become effective, research informed practitioners; capable of contributing to their own communities and to the social work profession more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In Australia, there is a dearth of research applying the theoretical lens of critical race theory to explore Muslim university students' experiences in higher degree education institutions. The prevailing approach has been to focus on institutional barriers and policies. This article deviates from such studies by framing the analysis in terms of a comparison between Muslim and non-Muslim white students in higher degree education institutions in New South Wales (NSW) Australia in order to operationalize whiteness in Australia's settler colonial society as a central category of analysis. The article seeks to explore how Muslim and non-Muslim students experience and respond to the university as a white institution, considering how Muslim students engage in both adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies in response to the university as a white institution, and how white, non-Muslim students experience the normativity, invisibility and hegemony of whiteness in the university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tertiary education in Australia has long been associated with the integration of developing technologies as a vehicle for distance education. As personal access to the Web has become more affordable, tertiary institutions have implemented wholly online courses to create flexible elearning spaces for students. While there are tangible benefits attached to online education programs, there are also disadvantages and high attrition rates. The results published in this paper are drawn from research conducted by the student sub-study group of the Re-conceptualising and re-positioning Australian library and information science education for the twenty-first century research project. The student sub-study group explored online learning and student satisfaction with courses, course materials and delivery modes, the emotional response to online learning environments, and some of the enablers and inhibitors experienced by students studying online. Findings presented in this paper indicate that both current students and graduates felt online LIS programs were definitely on the way, but there is still room for improvement. However, the findings of this research project also need to be considered in the context of the LIS demographic, which is distinctive to the profession. [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]

A restructured postgraduate teacher education programme is described specifically with regard to its commitment to prepare educators to work effectively with deaf and hard-of-hearing children in inclusive settings. The focus of the paper is on the design and development process rather than on the evaluation of the outcomes. Background information is provided about the design and development of the programme, including the components that support a strong relationship between special and general educators. The paper details the philosophical and pedagogical underpinnings of the programme, planned outcome measures for the graduate teachers, and highlights the challenges in programme design and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores leadership styles and gender in higher education (HE) by examining representation of female professors in Australian and Turkish universities and identifying barriers to achieving seniority. The paper explores factors, including leadership styles, which explain the higher representation of female professors in Turkey, despite legislative frameworks and strategies in Australia to improve representation of senior women. It then explores barriers to women's career advancement, including the difficult management culture, low morale, informal processes in appointment and promotion, and lack of training for management roles in Australia, and conflict between career and family roles in Turkey. Finally, the paper identifies the impact of strategic choices on leadership styles and women's career advancement. This research questions the impact of equal employment opportunity and affirmative action frameworks on women's representation as professors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How would you decide on the quality of a higher education institution? Would you (1) ask the academic registrar (or equivalent); (2) look up the most recent quality audit report; or (3) contact the teaching staff directly to discuss their perceptions about the quality of the services provided in their institution? While there is no one correct answer to the above question, the proposition underpinning the empirical research reported in this paper is: If you really want to know about quality in higher education, then ask those closest to the student‐academic interface—the academics or the students. This paper focuses on the former. Using a postal survey, the views of accounting academics from 39 Australian universities about quality in accounting education were investigated from two perspectives—beliefs (what is currently occurring) and attitudes (what ought to be occurring). The findings suggest differences in those beliefs and attitudes, and an overall view that quality in accounting education has declined over recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]