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In view of the strong growth of transnational education programmes in Australian universities, there is growing interest in the experiences of students participating in such programmes. This article reports on the perceived student satisfaction with several aspects of their transnational programmes, including instructors, technology, and programme management and administration. Data for the study were collected from approximately five hundred transnational students participating in eight programmes offered by four Australian universities in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. The article outlines the findings of the study, highlighting the need for incorporating student perspectives in the provision of transnational education programmes. The article concludes by discussing the potential application of its findings in reviewing existing and planning new transnational education programmes. (Contains 8 tables and 1 figure.)

To succeed within the increasingly global context of their work environment, today's IT professional needs to be equipped with both cutting-edge technical skills and a strong repertoire of "soft" skills. An important and often unrecognized soft skill is an appreciation of how various IT issues impact upon different peoples and what constitutes an acceptable professional practice in different societies. Australian IT students need to develop an appreciation of the impact of culture on IT issues in their own society and beyond. In particular, students require a global perspective on the impact of culture on responses to ethical dilemmas, security challenges, and privacy threats in the practice of their profession. The challenge for IT educators is how best to develop cross-cultural professional awareness in students. This article reports on the inaugural implementation of an innovative approach aimed at developing cross-cultural awareness in undergraduate IT students. The approach comprises formative assessment tasks based on real-life IT scenarios and work in culturally mixed students teams while immersed in a culturally different society (Australian students in China in this case). The article outlines the reflections of the Australian and Chinese students participating in the experience and comments on the perceived effectiveness of the approach. Student reflections pertain to two themes: one on privacy and social freedom, and another on cross-cultural awareness. The reflections endorsed the benefits of the approach reported in this article and, in themselves, are a further encouragement for planned future exchanges.

How can transnational education (TNE) programs be made more effective? According to the literature, no one is in a better position to comment on this question than the students themselves. At the same time, there is a recognized scarcity in the literature of student input into the issue of transnational program effectiveness. In consideration of this need, a research study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of TNE programs from the student perspective. To this end, transnational students' views on the various dimensions of the TNE context were used as a key indicator of the effectiveness of transnational programs. The evaluated dimensions included student, instructor, curriculum and instruction design, interaction, evaluation and assessment, technology, and program management, and organisational support. Data for the study was collected from approximately five hundred transnational students participating in eight transnational undergraduate computing programs offered by four Australian universities in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. Overall, students from the eight different programs considered in this study were in agreement as to the factors they perceived as most important to the effectiveness of transnational programs. As anticipated and confirmed by the literature, students were of the view that their own motivation, self-discipline, and the ability to work independently, as well as in a team, was a pre-condition of an effective program. With respect to instructors, students attached the greatest importance to the instructors' ability to understand program requirements and student needs, use communication skills effectively, and be well prepared and organized. They were also in agreement regarding the importance of instructors' experience with technology-based programs and their ability to provide well-designed syllabus and presentation outlines. The relevance of the curriculum to job and career was perceived as the most important aspect of program curriculum and instruction design. The alignment of assessment with learning objectives was also considered important, as was assessment of student attitudes and levels of satisfaction. Students identified two aspects of importance in relation to technology: availability and reliability, and the ease of use of technology. With respect to program management and organizational support, timely preparation of program materials was considered important, as was the institution's attention to the high quality of the program. The findings of the reported study indicate that to improve and sustain transnational programs in the future, it is essential for universities to gain an understanding of the learners' perspective. The findings provide a framework to assist in making informed decisions in the design, development, and review of transnational programs. (Contains 12 tables.)

This article reviews strategies designed to improve female participation in ICT studies and careers. In reviewing a range of strategies from around the world, the article identifies the different actors engaging with the "problem" of girls and technology. It points to the many crossovers that occur as governments, higher education providers, industry, and the voluntary sector complement each other in their search for effective solutions to a dilemma that is increasingly recognised as being much more complex than a simple dichotomy of gender and technology. The particular milieu for which this review has been conducted--an educationally and otherwise disadvantaged area of Melbourne, Australia--is reflected in identification of strategies specifically focused on girls and women with low socio-economic status (SES) and students exposed to educational disadvantage. The first section of this article--an introduction to and overview of the global problem of female under-representation in ICT--provides a context in which the problem, as it exists in Australia, may be understood. Section two consists of four sub-sections in which various types of intervention strategies are described. The sub-sections: Government/Policy-Driven Activity, Education Institutions/Research Activity, Industry Groups, and Voluntary Initiatives indicate the breadth of effort being employed in pursuit of solutions to the "problem" of girls and technology. They point also to considerable overlaps in design, delivery, and results, and illuminate many of the problems encountered along the way. The third and final section of this article discusses the pros and cons of the various types of approach, comparing and contrasting the efforts of government, educational institutions, industry-based groups, and voluntary initiatives in their search for successful and sustainable ways of attracting girls to ICT studies and careers. This article brings together in one place a variety of strategies aimed at improving female participation in ICT studies. In doing so, it highlights the difficulty of one-size-fits-all approaches and illuminates the importance of front and back-end processes to the delivery of successful programs. It demonstrates that for those designing programs capable of attracting girls to ICT, failing to prepare is preparing to fail. (Contains 5 footnotes.)

Information technology has been transforming various disciplines of life sciences and physical sciences as a tool (for "doing" science) and a technique (for conducting experiments and creating models). This evolution in the application of IT in science demands that science students be equipped with appropriate IT skills and that the development of these skills should begin as early as possible in the program of their science studies. This article reflects on an enabling IT unit designed to develop IT skills among first-year students in a Specialist Science Degree at Victoria University in Australia; students in the Degree share a common first year and then choose a specialization, for instance biotechnology, chemistry, or ecology and environmental management. The article outlines the conceptual framework that underpinned the development, in particular the approach to making IT knowledge and skills relevant to students of different specializations, details the pilot implementation of the unit, and presents evaluation outcomes. (Contains 5 figures.)

With the rapid expansion of the transnational education market, more and more universities join the ranks of transnational education providers or expand their transnational education offerings. Many of those providers regard fully-online provision of their programs as an economic alternative to face-to-face teaching. Do transnational students accept this model as a viable and effective educational alternative? A recent research study investigated students' attitudes towards fully-online provision of computing education programs in one of the most important Australian transnational education markets: Hong Kong. Of interest were students' perceptions about the suitability of fully-online mode of teaching and learning with respect to computing studies, and their views on the importance of face-to-face interaction in their programs. Students from three transnational computing programs, offered in Hong Kong by Australian universities in co-operation with Hong Kong partners, participated in the study; the programs are delivered in face-to-face sessions and rely on the Internet for support and communication (unit Web sites, bulletin boards, email, etc.). The rationale behind the choice of locale and participants for the study was threefold: first, Hong Kong is one of the largest Australian transnational education markets (hence, the results of the study would be of importance); second, it is a well-developed territory where English is commonly spoken (hence, participants would not be biased towards online education because of lack of suitable technological infrastructure or inadequate linguistic skills); and thirdly, computing students were technology savvy and, therefore, would not be biased in their views of online education because of technophobia. Approximately three hundred students participated in the study, which was based on analysis of data collected though a survey and group interviews with students. Results from the survey revealed that students did not regard fully-online provision of transnational programs as a preferred alternative to the current model--that is one that is based on face-to-face communication and uses the Internet for support. Their opposition was pronounced and ranged from total rejection of fully-online provision in one of the programs (100% of students against the idea), to marginal support of fully-online provision from students in the other two programs (9% and 13% respectively). Students repeatedly stated the importance of face-to-face communication as the most important reason for preferring the current program model. The subsequent group interviews with students sought to explore further the reasons behind the students' views. Students again responded in favor of the current model of the programs reiterating the importance of face-to-face interaction. They regarded face-to-face communication as more conducive to the learning process, affording better opportunity to sharing knowledge and asking for help, "easier" and more interactive, and more compatible with the needs of Hong Kong students. However, the respondents acknowledged the usefulness of the Internet as a means for providing course material, facilitating submission of assignments, and enabling communication with lecturers outside classes. The findings of the study endorse the current trends of Australian transnational education in South East Asia and support the prediction that Web-supported face-to-face delivery is likely to continue as a principal model of transnational tertiary education programs. (Contains 3 tables.)

The under-representation and poor retention of women in computing courses at Victoria University is a concern that has continued to defy all attempts to resolve it. Despite a range of initiatives created to encourage participation and improve retention of females in the courses, the percentage of female enrolments has declined significantly in recent years, from 32% in 1994 to 18% in 2004, while attrition rates soared to 40% in 2003. A recent research study investigated these negative trends with respect to gender equity in computing courses: of interest was the possibility of gender bias in the learning environment and its impact on female attrition rates. Focus groups and surveys involving computing students of both genders were used as data collection tools in the study. The overall findings from the focus groups were rather surprising, as they yielded no strong indication of gender bias in the learning environment of the computing course; this applied to the logistical arrangements, academic staff, pedagogical methods, and course content. The thesis that the existence of gender bias in the learning environment contributes to high attrition rates of females in computing courses was not sufficiently supported. While the fact that students, both male and female, found their learning environment gender neutral was comforting, the realization that reasons other than gender bias drove females away from the computing course was not. High attrition rate of females remains the reality. Possible explanations of this phenomenon were suggested by the focus groups, and the search for confirmation of these indications and discovery of other contributing factors continued. The results of a subsequent survey confirmed several of the focus groups findings: the lack of gender balance in the course was considered immaterial, as was the gender of the lecturers and tutors; the course curriculum was deemed gender neutral; and, overall difficulty of the course and overall satisfaction with the course were rated similarly by both male and female students. Some of the survey results contradicted findings of the focus groups, notably the reported equal access to computers in laboratories and group-work unaffected by the gender of group members. Moreover, although female students did not regard the under-representation of females in the course as a problem, they singled out their fellow female students as the vital source of both academic and personal help, thereby reiterating the need for female peers in the course. The first year, particularly the first semester, of the course emerged as the "make or break" period especially for female students. Not only was it an important period with respect to adjustment to the course but also it was a period most likely to influence most female students' decisions about quitting the course. It appears that staff encouragement mattered little in dissuading female students from quitting, but the support of fellow students was important. Transition into the course, rather than gender bias, was identified as a possible factor contributing to high attrition rates of females in computing courses. Not only did the female students take considerably longer to settle into the course--up to six months, but they also were most likely to drop out of the course after the first year of study. This is of concern for two reasons: firstly, because of the large number of students contemplating dropping out; and secondly, because the role of the academic staff in persuading those students to stay was regarded as largely insignificant by the students. This study provides some explanation of the high attrition of females in computing courses, but the challenge still remains to develop effective strategies to halt this negative trend. (Contains 7 tables.)

The problems encountered by students in first year computer programming units are a common concern in many universities including Victoria University. A fundamental component of a computer science curriculum, computer programming is a mandatory unit in a computing course. It is also one of the most feared and hated units by many novice computing students who, having failed or performed poorly in a programming unit, often drop out from a course. This article discusses some of the difficulties experienced by first year programming students, and reviews some of the initiatives undertaken to counter the problems. The article also reports on the first stage of a current research project at Victoria University that aims to develop a balanced approach to teaching first year programming units; its goal is to 'befriend' computer programming to help promote success among new programming students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]