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As Australian higher education grapples with its colonial history, there has been significant attention to recruiting Indigenous students. However, while we have seen increases in Indigenous participation, males lag significantly behind. Very few Indigenous males enter university and even fewer enter the upper echelons of the stratified higher education sector. In this paper, we investigate the experiences of four Indigenous young men who attended an elite Australian higher education institution. Central to our analysis is how their identities are realised in relation to their sense of Indigeneity and Western ways of knowing, being and doing. In capturing the complex identity work of young Indigenous men, we report on three themes present in the data: feelings of alienation and isolation; identification with their Indigenous identity; and how they view higher education in shaping their futures. How these young men navigate selective institutions speaks to debates regarding non-traditional and historically excluded student populations in elite spaces as well as the decolonisation of higher education.

There is significant research on the motivations and migration experiences of South Asian international students in Australia and the United Kingdom (UK); however, the employability journeys of this group are not well understood. This article addresses this gap, illuminating the specific employability challenges experienced and perceived by South Asian postgraduate international students enrolled in Australia and the UK. Drawing on qualitative research comprising semi-structured interviews with 30 South Asian postgraduate international students studying at a university in Australia and in the UK, the findings highlight significant barriers to employability along four key axes: time pressures from study and adjustment issues (micro); lack of internship opportunities offered at the universities (meso); lack of culturally tailored university career services (meso) and perceptions of employers' as well as Government policy implications (macro). Acknowledging and understanding these findings are important for universities to support South Asian international student employability experiences and graduate outcomes to remain competitive in the global job market. The findings suggest recommendations to enhance the employability of South Asian students in the UK and Australia.

The global online education sector has been rising rapidly, particularly during and after the events of 2020, and is becoming mainstream much sooner than expected. Despite this, research studies report higher levels of perceived isolation, difficulties with engagement, and higher attrition rates in online compared to equivalent on-campus programs. Reasons include restrictions to the type of institutional support accessible by online students, and the lack of comprehensiveness of orientation resources. This paper describes the collaborative efforts by a cross-faculty academic team, supported by a community of practice, to create a university-wide online orientation resource--the Monash Online Learning Hub (MOLH). The development of the MOLH involved multiple phases, including an analysis of current practice, resource design and content creation, formative evaluation by staff and students, and successful integration into the university's mainstream student orientation platform for widescale implementation. The methods adopted were varied, and involved generating both qualitative and quantitative data across multiple phases of development from online education experts at the University, that culminated in the gradual building and refinement of the MOLH. Final outcomes, implications and lessons learned are also discussed in this paper.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has seriously impacted countries across the globe. The pandemic has created a completely new teaching-learning environment of interaction for early childhood educators. In many countries, face-to-face teaching has been replaced by remote teaching, while in others, there have been intermittent lockdowns and limited interruptions to regular teaching norms. Given the play-based nature of preschool teaching-learning activities in most countries, educators are required to reimagine the sociocultural relationships to their pedagogical practices in their everyday teaching-learning contexts. This paper sheds light on educators' experiences and the dramatic shift in their indoor-outdoor teaching-learning environment due to the evolving health measures. The study draws on notions of teachers' identities and Vygotsky's cultural-historical concept of social situation of development (Vygotsky, 1994) to capture the new forms of relationships that early childhood educators experienced with their pedagogical environments across different countries during the pandemic. Data were collected from preschool teachers across five countries--Australia, Bangladesh, Norway, Singapore and India using online surveys which included open- and close-ended questions. Findings reveal the on-ground realities and teachers' adaptations to new pedagogies emerging across the five countries. The new digital environments provided an equally new dimension for change. These changes were seen in interactions, relationships within the everyday pedagogical contexts, as well as the shifting physical and social environment of early years educators.

Medical programs are under pressure to maintain currency with scientific and technical advances, as well as prepare graduates for clinical work and a wide range of postgraduate careers. The value of the basic sciences in primary medical education was assessed by exploring the perceived clinical relevance and test performance trends among medical students, interns, residents, and experienced clinicians. A pilot study conducted in 2014 involved administration of a voluntary 60-item multiple-choice question test to 225 medical students and 4 interns. These participants and 26 teaching clinicians rated the items for clinical relevance. In 2016, a similarly constructed test (main study) was made a mandatory formative assessment, attempted by 563 students in years 2, 4, and 6 and by 120 commencing general practice residents. Test scores, performance trends, clinical relevance ratings, and correlations were assessed using relevant parametric and nonparametric tests. Rank order and pass-fail decisions were also reviewed. The mean test scores were 57% (SD 7.1) and 52% (SD 6.1) for the pilot and main studies, respectively. Highest scores were observed in pathology and social sciences. Overall performance increased with increasing year of study. Test scores were positively correlated with perceived relevance. There were moderate correlations (r = 0.50-0.63; P < 0.001) between participants' scores in the basic science and summative exams. Assessments may be key to fostering relevance and integration of the basic sciences. Benchmarking knowledge retention and result comparisons across topics are useful in program evaluation.

In the current climate in Australian higher education, quality assurance in university teaching is a priority. In particular, the introduction of the Learning and Teaching Performance Fund (LTPF) has refocused attention on universities' internal student evaluation survey instruments. This paper reports the development, validation and implementation of a new unit survey instrument which prompts students to reflect on what helps their achievement of unit learning outcomes, and to report their levels of motivation, engagement and overall satisfaction with a semester-long course or unit of study. The instrument (eVALUate) was created from precepts reported in the research literature, current practices in evaluating teaching, and sound quality assurance practices appropriate to a university outcomes-focused education paradigm.

Students in a physical sciences course were introduced to cooperative learning at the University of Queensland, Gatton Campus. Groups of four to five students worked together in tutorial and practical sessions. Mid-term and practical examinations were abolished and 40% of total marks were allocated to the cooperative learning activities. A peer- and self-assessment system was successfully adapted to account for individual performance in cooperative learning group assignments. The results suggest that cooperative learning was very well received by students, and they expressed willingness to join cooperative learning groups in other courses. In addition, cooperative learning offered many benefits to students in terms of graduate attributes such as teamwork, communication, lifelong learning and problem-solving. The following are appended: (1) Peer and Self Assessment of Team Members' Contribution; and (2) Student Evaluation of Cooperative Learning in Physical Sciences. (Contains 2 tables.)

Clinical scenarios used in rural medical education often convey inappropriate stereotypes that undermine the intent of the curriculum. Case writers should be clear about the learning or assessment objectives in each case, have access to people with appropriate expertise and understanding of the issues, and ensure that contextual and cultural issues are not dominated by biomedical science. (TD)

We examine return predictability of Australian managed funds in twenty-four categories by using twenty-nine macroeconomic indicators. The time-series regression results suggest that coal price, GDP, and Treasury bill rate have predictive power over fund returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Particulate matter (PM) air-quality information is usually derived from ground-based instruments. These measurements, while valuable, are not well suited to provide air-quality information over large spatial scales. In this study, using 4 years of satellite aerosol optical thickness (AOT) at 0.55 µm derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites, we present a multi-year air analysis of PM air quality over Sydney, Australia. We then compare the satellite data with PM2.5 mass concentration measurements from six ground-based stations in the area. Our results indicate significant diurnal variations and an overall increase in PM2.5 during Southern Hemisphere spring and summer seasons due to bush fires. The air quality in Sydney, Australia is good throughout the year except during major bushfires when PM2.5 mass loading can increase from normal (<20 µg m-3) to unhealthy conditions (>70 µg m-3). The satellite data also show corresponding AOT changes from less than 0.1 to greater than 1.0 during bushfire events. We conclude that satellite data are an excellent tool for studying PM air quality over large areas, especially when ground measurements are not available. While this is the first multi-year combined satellite and ground-based air quality analysis over Sydney, ancillary information from lidars, sun photometers, and size-resolved chemistry measurements will further enhance our capability to monitor and forecast air quality in and around Sydney. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of the study was to compare national guidelines regarding small for gestational age (SGA). Study Design: Along with American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) practice bulletin on abnormal growth, guidelines from England, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand were reviewed. Results: There are no guidelines on SGA from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) guideline agrees with ACOG''s definition of abnormal growth, but there are noticeable variances in the diagnosis and management of SGA. RCOG has more recommendations than ACOG (18 vs 4, respectively). The articles referenced varied, with only 13 similar articles being cited by the both committees. Conclusion: The differences in the 2 guidelines suggest that there is variance in how 2 committees synthesize the literature and issue recommendations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

High-quality training and networking are pivotal for enhancing the research capacity of early- to mid-career researchers in the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. Beyond building research skills, these professionals gain valuable insights from interdisciplinary mentorship, networking opportunities, and exposure to diverse cultures and health systems. Despite the significance of such initiatives, their implementation remains underexplored. Here, we describe the implementation and evaluation of the Excellence in Non-COommunicable disease REsearch (ENCORE) program, a collaborative initiative between Australia and India that was launched in 2016 and spanned a duration of 3 years. Led by a consortium that included the University of Melbourne and leading Indian research and medical institutions, ENCORE involved 15 faculty members and 20 early-mid career researchers. The program comprised various elements, including face-to-face forums, masterclasses, webinars, a health-technology conference, and roundtable events. ENCORE successfully trained the early-career researchers, resulting in over 30 peer-reviewed articles, 36 conference presentations, and the submission of seven grant applications, three of which received funding. Beyond individual achievements, ENCORE fostered robust research collaboration between Australian and Indian institutions, showcasing its broader impact on strengthening research capacities across borders., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.