Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemA world-class curriculum? historical thinking and twenty-first century skills in the Australian curriculum: history( 2018)The Australian Curriculum represents significant work by educational authorities in Australia to create a curriculum that will serve the needs of young Australians for years to come. This thesis explores the extent to which the Australian Curriculum: History achieves its goal in constituting a world-class curriculum that prepares students for life and work in the twenty-first century. The thesis adopts a document content analysis method in order to evaluate the extent to which the explicit curriculum reflects the prevailing research on historical thinking and twenty-first century skills. Judgements are made on the basis of the frequency and context of how skills and concepts are expressed within the document and how they reflect the research. The thesis finds that the Australian Curriculum: History does not reflect the research as its articulation of historical thinking is unclear and lacks coherence. Furthermore, its articulation of twenty-first century skills fails to embed these into the document in ways appropriate to the discipline. This thesis lays bare the failings of the curriculum design process and recommends that future revisions of the curriculum more clearly reflect the research on historical thinking; and that further work be undertaken to determine how twenty-first century relate to the concepts of historical thinking and how these can be expressed in the explicit curriculum.
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ItemEntry level skills of new graduate small animal veterinarians: perceptions of students and expectations of veterinarians( 2014)Aim: This study examined the differences between veterinary students and qualified veterinarians with regards to their perceptions of the skills required for new graduates in practice. Methods: Surveys were distributed to students in each of the four year levels of the Veterinary Science degree at the University of Melbourne as well as to recent graduates and experienced veterinarians registered in Victoria, Australia. Six categories of skills were included in the survey: Knowledge base, medical and technical skills, surgical skills, verbal communication and interpersonal skills, written communication and business skills, and critical thinking and problem solving. Respondents were asked to rank the categories as to which were the most important for new graduate veterinarians and to then assign a level of importance to skills that were of basic, moderate or difficult level within each category. Results: Both groups considered communication, interpersonal and critical thinking skills as the most important competencies. Students perceived a difference in importance between basic and difficult skills but assigned a higher level of importance to most skills than did veterinarians. Relevance: The outcomes from this study can be used by university educators to evaluate curricular material and examine its relevancy with respect to the current needs of industry, particularly with regards to the development of generic skills. They will also provide guidance on how to better manage student expectations while at university so they are ready for practice.