Faculty of Education - Research Publications
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 10 of 10
-
ItemSigns of disengagement? The changing undergraduate experience in Australian universities( 2001-08)Anecdotal reports of students working more in paid employment and studying less havebeen coming from academics in Australia with particular intensity and frustration inrecent times. What we are seeing now, that we predicted from our first national study ofstudent experience six years ago, are patterns of student disengagement and new forms ofengagement, to which many institutions, and the system at large, have still not adjusted inmuch more than an ad hoc way. We pointed out then that students would increasinglyexpect the university to fit with their lives rather than vice-versa (McInnis and James1995). In this lecture I want to explore the nature of the shift in forms of studentengagement and what it means for universities.
-
ItemOpening the HECS market(APN Educational Media Pty Limited, 2007)Radical reform of HECS could be at the centre of a bold new higher education sector, says Dr Geoff Sharrock.
-
ItemPerformance management and cultural difference in the Australian university(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.
-
ItemAfter Copernicus: beyond the crisis in Australian universities(National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), 2007)There’s a received view of the troubles of academia which lays the blame on a new corporate culture of soulless managerialism. Geoff Sharrock isn’t convinced. He argues that critical scholars are often ill-placed to be able to understand their own predicament. And many of the problems of the sector lie in its incapacity to adjust to the changed world of knowledge-creation in which we live.
-
ItemWhy students are not (just) customers (and other reflections on Life After George)(Taylor & Francis Australia, 2000)Hannie Rayson’s new play, Life After George, has struck a chord with universities. In a few deft, resonant scenes we see George, the left-wing professor of history, arguing with his ex-wife Lindsay, now dean of the faculty. Facing a funding crisis, Lindsay is moving to close the French department, and replace existing courses with vocational, income-generating courses. She says students want jobs when they graduate, and that as clients they should get what they want. She argues for links with the corporate sector, to generate income. George is outraged. Students aren’t customers, he says. We can’t just give them what they want. They don’t know what they want until after they’ve heard what we have to tell them. We should be producing educated citizens, not corporate fodder! And I won’t work with those corporate bastards! All they care about is business!
-
ItemIntroduction(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.”
-
ItemInnovation in higher education: the university paradox(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.
-
ItemGezonde spanning: beleidsevaluatie van de MUB: eindrapport(Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS), Universiteit Twente, [2005?])Aan het Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS) van de Universiteit Twente is door het ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap de opdracht verleend een evaluatiestudie uit te voeren naar de Modernisering Universitaire Bestuursorganisatie (MUB). Deze studie is uitgevoerd in de periode juni 2004 – juni 2005.
-
ItemExcellent measures precede measures of excellence(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.
-
ItemWhat's the difference?: models for assessing quality and value added in higher education(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.