Melbourne Graduate School of Education - Research Publications

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    Performance management and cultural difference in the Australian university
    Sharrock, Geoff (SAGE Publications, 1999)
    A key recommendation of the Higher education management review (the Hoare Report, 1995: 86) was that every Australian university should ‘phase in a comprehensive performance management system for both academic and general staff’. This recommendation received very mixed reactions, due in part to the widespread failure of earlier attempts to introduce schemes with managerialist overtones in universities. A Monash University study (Paget et al., 1992: 3) found widespread ambivalence about the role of appraisal in tertiary institutions. Managers wanted a summative (judgemental) approach, while staff wanted a formative (developmental) approach.
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    Introduction
    Meek, V. Lynn ; GOEDEGEBUURE, LEO (UNESCO, 2008)
    “In December 2007, the Asia-Pacific Programme of Educational Innovation for Development (APEID), UNESCO Bangkok, convened the 11th UNESCO-APEID Conference entitled “Reinventing Higher Education: Toward Participatory and Sustainable Development.” This volume contains selected papers from that conference, which was held in Bangkok from 12 to 14 December 2007.”
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    Innovation in higher education: the university paradox
    GOEDEGEBUURE, LEO ; van Vught, Frans (Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), 2006)
    Innovation is one of the major buzzwords in economic as well as higher education policy debates world-wide. In Europe, the Lisbon Agenda is the embodiment of this, with the clearly stated – though very difficult to attain – objective of Europe being the most dynamic and innovative economic block by 2010. In Australia the notion of transforming the economy from a primary industry-base to a knowledge-based economy is paramount in the governments policy, resulting in catchphrases such as the Clever Country. And in Asia, economies are rapidly transforming with the Chinese economy being one, though certainly not the only, example of major change and expansion. Within this framework, much emphasis is placed on the role of higher education and in particular of universities in supporting and sometimes even leading the quest for innovation. In this chapter we address this drive for innovation and the question of innovative universities by not only tackling the question why the theme of innovation has come so much to the fore and what places universities in so central a role in this. We also focus on the question what prevents universities to fully exploit their potential in stimulating innovation in our societies and economies. We do this by focussing first on the changing environmental conditions that universities face, including a particular stakeholder approach. Secondly, we explore the nature of the beast of little more through an analysis of the basic characteristics of universities. On the basis of this in the final part of this chapter we formulate some suggestions for effective reactions by universities for optimising their position in what we today so easily term the knowledge society.
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    Excellent measures precede measures of excellence
    COATES, HAMISH (Australian Universities Quality Agency, 2006)
    This paper identifies quantifiable indicators that might enhance the national evaluation of learning and teaching in Australian higher education. It begins by setting out a framework suitable for guiding the identification and selection of indicators. After a brief critical review of current indicator possibilities, it defines a number of possible indicators that might be developed. The paper works from the premise that as greater significance is placed on the outcomes of measurement, we need to place greater significance on measurement itself. It is imperative that appropriate and contemporary analytical methods are used, and that evaluations are developed in ways that ensure that the basic availability of data does not dictate the approach.
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    What's the difference?: models for assessing quality and value added in higher education
    COATES, HAMISH (Australian Universities Quality Agency, 2008)
    This paper outlines two approaches being piloted by Australian universities in 2008 for assessing the quality and outcomes of higher education. The approaches offer alternative and complementary means of estimating the value that has been added by university education. They also provide a means of assuring the quality of the routine student assessment processes and results which may be used to underpin quality considerations. The paper concludes that the application of these approaches in Australian universities is important, for it flags innovative ways of thinking about how educational institutions measure and verify the quality of student learning.