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Over the past few decades, neuroimaging has become a ubiquitous tool in basic research and clinical studies of the human brain. However, no reference standards currently exist to quantify individual differences in neuroimaging metrics over time, in contrast to growth charts for anthropometric traits such as height and weight1. Here we assemble an interactive open resource to benchmark brain morphology derived from any current or future sample of MRI data ( http://www.brainchart.io/ ). With the goal of basing these reference charts on the largest and most inclusive dataset available, acknowledging limitations due to known biases of MRI studies relative to the diversity of the global population, we aggregated 123,984 MRI scans, across more than 100 primary studies, from 101,457 human participants between 115 days post-conception to 100 years of age. MRI metrics were quantified by centile scores, relative to non-linear trajectories2 of brain structural changes, and rates of change, over the lifespan. Brain charts identified previously unreported neurodevelopmental milestones3, showed high stability of individuals across longitudinal assessments, and demonstrated robustness to technical and methodological differences between primary studies. Centile scores showed increased heritability compared with non-centiled MRI phenotypes, and provided a standardized measure of atypical brain structure that revealed patterns of neuroanatomical variation across neurological and psychiatric disorders. In summary, brain charts are an essential step towards robust quantification of individual variation benchmarked to normative trajectories in multiple, commonly used neuroimaging phenotypes.

Universities are now tasked with competing in a global education market. Consequently there are considerable creative, pedagogical, and capacity building challenges for institutions, many of which are related to curriculum transformation. Curriculum transformation is a deliberate process of marked change in learning and teaching that impacts the construction of effective learning environments. In this paper we discuss curriculum transformation at an Australian university, where challenging opportunities for innovation were recognised and taken up, resulting in new learning pathways for students and the organisation. The design of two massive open online courses (MOOCs) is presented as a triggering event for change. MOOC evaluation findings confirm the need to establish quality parameters for curriculum innovation projects; the contribution of personal and organisational learning to the transformation process; the need to select the delivery platform early in the project development stage; and issues of designing for a culturally and educationally diverse student body with widely divergent motivations and capabilities. The evaluation was conducted using mixed methods, and the Phillips et al. elearning evaluation lifecycle applied as a tool for mapping stages of evaluation against the design process. The potential for new conceptual models for learning as a result of MOOC experiments is offered as an area for future research.

Many academics are facing the challenge of poor student engagement, particularly in terms of lecture attendance beyond the first few weeks of semester, when numerous assessment items and other priorities vie for the students’ time. Some academics have found themselves addressing almost empty rooms by mid semester, despite their best efforts to offer a challenging and authentic classroom experience. This can be dispiriting, and has caused some teachers to introduce weekly in-class assessment items in an attempt to force attendance, only to compound the problem of over-assessment. This paper discusses an alternative approach to enhancing engagement, through the introduction of intensive mode delivery (IMD) in a third-year science unit at a large metropolitan university. The paper focuses on the staff experience, including the expectations, perceived benefits and challenges, the level of student engagement experienced, staff satisfaction and the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the delivery model. The results showed that despite some identified roadblocks and perceived difficulties, the teaching team had a strong preference for the intensive model over the standard delivery mode. Although student opinions were divided concerning their preferences, the staff were impressed by the students’ greater engagement, depth of learning and almost 100% attendance. The present findings will inform the design of learning experiences that are satisfying for both staff and students, and contribute to a growing body of knowledge about flexible delivery in Higher Education.

Students enrolled in higher degree by research (HDR) courses come from varied backgrounds with wide ranging research skills and experience. While the number of students graduating with a PhD continues to climb, so too does the prospect that less than half will find employment in the university sector (Edwards, Radloff, & Coates, 2009). Industry demands graduates who possess broad based transferable skills that can be utilised across a range of positions and sectors. The recent Review of Australia’s Research Training System (RTS) for the Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA) (McGagh et al., 2016) identified skills in data collection, design of research questions, information seeking and ethical conduct, as just some of the transferable skills required by graduates engaged in diverse career paths. Against the backdrop of industry graduate requirements, university research rich agendas and globalisation of higher education, this paper will report on transforming curriculum of IFN001: Advanced Information Research Skills (AIRS), a mandatory coursework unit (subject) for students entering the PhD program at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). This study adopts an evidence based approach triangulating longitudinal student feedback data (2007-2016), best practice and current literature to inform curriculum transformation. Ongoing curriculum enhancement is framed through the lens of the student by examining qualitative student feedback over time. This paper will identify consistent themes across time, and the challenges faced by AIRS curriculum designers in addressing the needs of students, and industry in developing relevant transferable skill sets.

This article addresses the importance of confronting misconceptions in the teaching of the STEM disciplines. First, we review the central place for threshold concepts in many disciplines and the threat misconceptions pose to quality education. Second, approaches will be offered for confronting misconceptions in the classroom in different contexts. Finally, we discuss what we can learn about these approaches and the common threads that reveal successful approaches. These steps have been explored in relation to four case studies across diverse disciplines. From these case studies, a set of principles about how best to address misconceptions in STEM disciplines has been distilled. As conceptual knowledge increases in importance in higher education, effective strategies for helping students develop accurate conceptual understanding will also be increasingly critical.

External referencing of assessment and students’ achievement standards is a growing priority area within higher education, which is being pressured by government requirements to evidence outcome attainment. External referencing benefits stakeholders connected to higher education by helping to assure that assessments and standards within courses are appropriate and comparable among institutions. External referencing takes many forms, which have different resourcing requirements, outcomes, and operational strengths and challenges. This paper describes the External Referencing of Standards (ERoS) approach developed, tested and adopted by a university consortium. ERoS draws on the strengths of existing methodologies to produce an evolved model that is effective, efficient, transparent and open, capability building and sustainable. The model enables participants to communicate directly and construct peer relationships, and findings suggest this is a significant design strength. The process facilitates capability building, such that participants garnered insights valuable to enact quality assurance and enhancement of existing courses, and fosters connections that facilitate collaboration and peer-learning. ERoS successfully used open source collaborative tools to review work samples, which can be used to benchmark costed systems.

Higher education in Australia is in a phase of rapid change due to significant regulatory changes, with new standards currently being implemented for registration of institutions and accreditation of degrees. Over the past five years the Australian chemistry community has come to a consensus on common Chemistry Threshold Learning Outcomes (CTLOs) that every Bachelor level chemistry graduate from an Australian university will have attained. The CTLOs will inform the standards used to accredit institutions and degrees. Building upon this, the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI), the professional body for chemists in Australia, has changed its accreditation process for chemistry degree programs and now uses these CTLOs as the basis for accreditation. Therefore, it is paramount to ensure that assessment items used allow students to demonstrate attainment of the CTLOs for a chemistry major. The “Assessing the Assessments” project has used an iterative process to develop an evaluation framework to assist academic staff at tertiary institutions to determine the alignment of their assessment items with the CTLOs. In conjunction with professional development workshops in which colleagues explore the alignment of assessment items with the CTLOs, a sophisticated tool has been developed which can be used to evaluate assessment items. The tool yields ratings for both engagement with and assessment of each CTLO within the assessment task evaluated, highlighting areas of potential improvement in current assessment practices. Comparison of self-evaluations of tasks submitted to the project by academic staff with evaluations conducted by the project team shows that in the majority of cases, faculty over-estimate the ability of their assessment items to confirm achievement of CTLOs. Recommendations to increase the coverage of CTLOs through changes to assessment procedures are presented. Through the development of the framework, difficulties with interpretation and application