Aligning students and staff perspectives in an engineering design curriculum

This paper focuses on the alignment of students and staff perspectives in an engineering design curriculum. Deakin University recognised the importance of student learning with engagement in design-centred education. Staff across the university are committed to ensure that students are engaged at a fairly deep learning level. Engaging students is an important aspect of learning and teaching process because it enhances the student to be self directed active learners. To measure the student engagement and staff experiences in learning and teaching process, Deakin engineering has used design based learning as one of its engineering learning principle. This study examines students perceptions of DBL in their curriculum through a paper based survey given to a cohort of senior year undergraduate engineering students. The research also illustrates the staff perceptions of DBL in engineering curriculum by conducting face-to-face interviews with them. From the analysed results, this research shows that the students and staff have an adequate experience of learning and teaching engineering through design based learning approach in an engineering design curriculum.

Negotiating place and space in a school-wide curriculum innovation: a place for the animals

School-wide curriculum innovations are complex fields of practice, held together by a cast of heterogeneous actors who put various and diverse discourses to work in their everyday efforts to shape their work. This paper draws upon ethnographic data collected in a large regional primary school that since the beginning of 2012 has implemented a school-wide science specialism. In this paper, we focus on one feature of the initiative - classroom animals. We explore the discursive construction of ‘classroom animals' in relation to teachers work and student learning, framing our discussion around three dichotomies found in the data that raise questions about: the nature of science education; what it means to be a good teacher in this context; and, what it means to be a good classroom animal. Tensions between canonical, disciplinary approaches to science education and broader, cross-curricular and critical approaches contribute to the broad context of this paper, and implications for embedding science teaching and learning in the everyday work of primary teachers and students are discussed.

Internationalising the curriculum: student learning in the global experience program

Outcomes include critical analyses of student teacher learning from teaching practicum in Vanuatu; the intercultural sensitivity and competence; the notion of professional learning in the light of internationalisation of the curriculum, and the potentials and limitations of the GEP for achieving the goals of internationalisation of the curriculum

Secondary English in the Australian curriculum: Tasmanian teachers’ perceptions of implementation – a conceptual overview

Australian school curricula are currently being reformed with the nation-wide introduction of the Australian Curriculum, designed to bring national subject content and assessment standard conformity through the detailing of the “core knowledge, understanding, skills and general capabilities [that are deemed] important for all Australian students” (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2008). The reform and implementation of any curriculum requires well- structured planning, and at the school level, curriculum implementation requires the input of teachers – the frontline stakeholders. Research suggests that the implementation of a new curriculum requires concentrated support to ensure that teachers are able to work and progress through professional learning effectively (Mulford, 2008; Australian Curriculum Coalition, 2010). This chapter is presented in two parts: a discussion about the incoming Australian Curriculum: English, and an outline of a proposed qualitative case study that will examine English teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of the Australian Curriculum: English in Tasmania.

A comparative study of content settings of mathematics curriculum standards from China, Australia, and Finland

The study investigated the mathematics curricula standards set by the governments in China, Australia(Victoria) and Finland in the aspects of the amount of content statements, the structure of content areas, level of details, level of requirement, the distribution of content, and the changes of content areas. The results show that China's mathematics standard has the biggest amount of and the most detailed content statements; that of Australia is in the second place; and Finnish standard has the least amount of content statements that are very general. The standards in all three countries emphasize numbers and operation and geometry.However,China's standards present a dynamic change, with different focus for different grades; Australian standards have similar proportion of each part of content for different grades and the amount of each part increases with grade; there is no fixed setting and proportion of content in Finnish standard, which is not confined by any mode.

Mapping WIL activities in the curriculum to develop graduate capabilities : a case study in accounting

Big business continues to request universities to produce graduates who possess both technical and generic skills. Although work-integrated learning (WIL) programs can be used to develop these skills, WIL placements in Australia are undertaken by a minority of students. Perceiving a gap, one Australian university undertook a major WIL revamp to expand WIL offerings embedded within its courses. This required major organizational change that impacted significantly on curriculum design. From a quality assurance perspective, this paper provides an overview of a revised WIL program in the accounting discipline, and discusses the issues and challenges associated with the revised WIL program four years after its implementation. The findings demonstrate that the discipline area has not yet fully met the revamped WIL program as defined by university policy. Recommendations are provided that form a valuable learning tool for educational institutions considering embedding broadly defined WIL within their courses.

Graduate attributes as a focus for institution-wide curriculum renewal: innovations and challenges

Curtin University's Curriculum 2010 (C2010) initiative aimed at ensuring degree programs were excellent and sustainable. Before C2010, graduate attributes were not universally emphasised and indicators showed room for improvement in generic skills. C2010 focused on embedding graduate attributes through three strategies. The first was embedding graduate attributes in degree programs and mapping for constructive alignment of outcomes and assessments. The second strategy was related: programs were reviewed drawing on evidence including perspectives of graduates, employers and program teams on the relative importance of graduate attributes and the extent to which they were generally demonstrated or developed. The third strategy was a university-wide eportfolio system enabling students' self- and peer-assessment of graduate attributes. Since completion of C2010, proxy indicators show improvement. However, this paper highlights the challenges associated with graduate attributes and renewal. These include: academic staff engagement, the time needed for innovations to come to fruition and evidencing achievement of graduate attributes.