Assessing Australian undergraduate clinical learning

Determining the clinical preparedness of undergraduate nursing students is vital in developing graduates who are ready to assume the roles of registered nurses. This paper reports findings relating to clinical assessment in Australian undergraduate nursing programs. Using data collected in a national survey and selected case studies, current assessment practices are described. Although students were increasingly exposed to a narrower range of clinical experiences, claims to comprehensive preparation of nurses remain prominent. Issues in the congruity between assessment methods and purported outcomes of clinical learning programs are discussed.

Whither management studies in Australian engineering undergraduate courses

In response to a perceived need for management studies in engineering
undergraduate courses, the Institution of Engineers, Australia (IEAust)
mandated a requirement for 10% of course content to be management
studies in Australia in 1991. In 1996 a major review of engineering
education in Australia recommended that the IEAust move from a course
accreditation regime based on prescribed inputs to one based on
demonstrated graduate attributes. In the move to the new accreditation
system the policy on management studies in engineering undergraduate
courses has become less definitive and more open to interpretation by
individual educational institutions. A survey of recent engineering
graduates suggests that those management skills most highly valued by
graduates were generic professional practice skills, and that more
opportunities to develop these skills in undergraduate studies would be
beneficial. Survey respondents suggested the inclusion in the course of
more real world examples of engineering management, including case
studies, hands-on activities, industry visits, more in-depth coverage of
topics, and presentations from practicing professionals.

An evaluation of undergraduate engineering management studies

In 1996, a major review of engineering education in Australia recommended a move from a course accreditation regime based on prescribed inputs to demonstrated graduate attributes. In the move, the policy on management studies in engineering undergraduate courses has become less definitive and more open to interpretation. A survey of recent engineering graduates suggests that those management skills most highly valued by graduates were generic professional practice skills, and that more opportunities to develop these skills in undergraduate studies would be beneficial. Survey respondents suggested the inclusion in the course of more `real world ' examples of engineering management.

Computer and IT skills of Australian first-year university undergraduate students

The use of computers and information technology is becoming more widespread in chemical education and in the wider community and workforce. Universities are increasing the use of computers and information technology in their teaching and learning programs. The Australian situation, reported here, can be viewed as a microcosm, reflecting a world-wide trend.

The penetration of general IT literacy and ability amongst Australian undergraduate students is rising rapidly. This paper reports surveys of the detailed IT skills of Australian undergraduate students. To the best of our knowledge, apart from our own work, there have been no other published surveys of specific IT skills. Most students have some reasonable computer skills at the start of their university studies, but the level of skill is not uniformly high. In fact, many IT literate students lack a sufficient level of skill to use the new technologies, including full use of web-based flexible learning. There is an urgent need for IT training for university students in order to achieve successful learning outcomes using IT and to satisfy the needs of future employers.

This article, which is the second in a series (1) of investigations on the computer skills of undergraduate students at the start of university, is an expanded version of a paper presented at the World Chemistry Congress held in Brisbane (Australia) during 1-6 July 2001.

Framework for undergraduate engineering management studies

The importance of management to the long-term careers of practicing professional engineers has long been recognized. Undergraduate engineering education should therefore provide an exposure to the management skills required by engineers in professional practice. For the rational and effective design of undergraduate engineering management studies, it is essential to understand the nature of engineering management and to identify those management skills identified as important by practicing professional engineers. Through an investigation of the recent literature, the management skills considered important by engineering stakeholder groups are identified and ranked. This information is supplemented by recent surveys conducted by the author of stakeholders in Australia, including academic staff, mature age undergraduate students, and recent graduates of the engineering programs at Deakin University in Australia. Based on an examination of the literature and original research, a framework of ranked classified management skills is proposed. Broadly, the ranking framework is generic professional skills first, followed by general management skills and technical discipline specific management skills, followed by other professional discipline skills and theoretical skills.

Teaching organisational theory in undergraduate management programmes: an exercise in facilitated theory testing for active experimentation

This paper argues that there is an opportunity to improve the way that social science theory is taught by introducing an exercise in facilitated theory testing through active experimentation. This paper describes a learning experience that enables students to discover the dynamic nature of theoretical discoveries. This idea is grounded in the notion that students will gain much from learning about and testing theory experientially using real world data. A data based exercise is outlined and illustrated to reveal a learning experience that provides an opportunity to improve the way social science is taught by linking theory to empirical data. We argue that this provides an opportunity to offer a more holistic learning experience for theory teaching. The paper will be of special interest to those teaching theory in management, commerce, business and organisational studies courses. It will also be of interest to a more general audience because it provides a framework that can be modified whenever forging a connection between theory and 'the real world' is a primary learning objective.

Towards a market oriented approach: employer requirements and implications for undergraduate economics programs

The decline in enrolments in economics degrees and majors has been the focus of much concern in recent times. In 2001, two of the current researchers published a paper outlining a framework with which future investigation into this issue could be conducted. Essentially this paper argued that a market oriented approach, which takes into account the value students and employers place on economics studies may point the way to a solution to the problem. As a first step in developing such an approach it is necessary to determine what employers require of the economics graduates they hire. A survey was conducted in 2002. This paper presents the results of this survey and discusses some of the ramifications for the teaching of undergraduate economics.

Authenticity in assessment : reflecting undergraduate study and professional practice

The literature suggests that assessment is a powerful tool for influencing student study habits. It is also recognized that there is a tension between traditional forms of assessment and newer forms of assessment that offer a more authentic representation of practice, but are more complex and expensive to administer. The international trend in undergraduate engineering course accreditation to move to demonstration of attainment of graduate attributes poses new challenges in assessment of learning. A case study based on integrating assessment practices across the year levels of an engineering management studies stream in an undergraduate course is presented. Key features of the assessment portfolio include: the use of assessment in the first year as a foundational tool to establish student study habits and skills; the evolution of assessment tasks by the fourth year to reflect the world of professional practice and to allow students to demonstrate their integration of knowledge and skills; the weighting of assessment tasks to indicate the value attached to particular tasks; the structured inclusion of group work; a concern for student and staff workloads; the recognition of student diversity, in particular the needs of off-campus and mature-age students; and the matching of assessment tasks to professional accreditation requirements.

Undergraduate pre-registration nursing education in Australia: a longitudinal examination of enrolment and completion numbers with a focus on students from rural and remote campus locations

Introduction: There is much evidence to indicate a shortage of Registered Nurses (RNs) in Australia and to suggest that the shortage may be more pronounced in rural and remote locations. Attracting RNs to work in rural and remote areas may not be as simple as increasing the intake of students into university undergraduate pre-registration nursing courses. There is some evidence indicating that student nurses may be more likely to enter the nursing workforce in rural and remote locations if they have existing associations with rural and remote areas and/or their undergraduate education provides opportunities to undertake supported placements in rural and remote settings. Two important difficulties have been associated with measuring outcomes in relation to rural and remote pre-registration nursing students. One is defining what constitutes a rural or remote location and the other is suspect data on the number of nursing students enrolled in, and completing, nursing courses. The aims of this study were to provide a longitudinal profile of the number of domestic students studying and completing undergraduate pre-registration nursing courses in Australia, with a particular emphasis on identifying those at rural and remote university campuses, and to compare results across States and Territories.
Method: This study presents the combined findings from two investigative reports. Data on undergraduate pre-registration nursing student numbers were collected via electronic survey instruments completed by staff at all Australian educational institutions offering undergraduate pre-registration nursing education programs in 2001 and 2002. Australian domestic students were the focus of this study. Data included the total number of domestic students enrolled in undergraduate pre-registration nursing courses in 2001 and 2002, the number of domestic students who successfully completed courses in 1999, 2000 and 2001, and estimates for the number expected to complete in 2002. Surveys were sent to course coordinators or other staff nominated by heads of divisions of nursing at each institution.
Results: There was a 100% response rate. Twenty-four rural and remote campus locations were identified using an adjusted form of the Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Areas (RRMA) classification system. The Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory did not have any rural or remote campus locations. In contrast, undergraduate pre-registration nursing in Tasmania was offered at a rural campus only (for the first 2 years). From 2001 to 2002, there was an increase of just over 5% in the total number of domestic students enrolled in undergraduate pre-registration nursing courses in Australia (2002 total = 22 811 students). Rural and remote location students accounted for slightly more than 25% of these students in 2001, and almost 27% in 2002. The States Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland had the highest percentage of students enrolled at rural and remote campus locations, greater than the Australian average for both years. In contrast, South Australia and Western Australia had less than 11% of students enrolled at rural and remote campus locations for each year. Total undergraduate pre-registration course completions increased by approximately 16% across Australia between 1999 (n = 4868) and 2002 (n = 5667), although for 2002, the figure was projected. Of these total course completions, the percentage of students completing at rural and remote campus locations increased from almost 23% to nearly 28% during the same period. Of the States/Territories with both metropolitan and rural/remote campus locations, only Victoria and Queensland had more than 25% of their total student completions consisting of students enrolled at rural and remote campus locations for each year. In contrast, South Australia and Western Australia had approximately 6% of student completions consisting of students enrolled at rural and remote campus locations in 1999, increasing to approximately 12% projected for 2002.
Conclusion: In this study, the authors attempted to improve the accuracy of data collection in relation to the number of domestic undergraduate pre-registration nursing students in Australia, which is representative of the potentially new Australian domestic RN workforce. There was a trend towards an increasing number of students being enrolled in undergraduate pre-registration nursing courses, and also toward an increasing number of course completions. From the perspective of the rural and remote RN workforce, the percentage of students enrolled and completing courses at rural and remote campus locations was found to be increasing. However, there may be some areas of concern for education and workforce planners in States and Territories that are providing a smaller percentage of their undergraduate pre-registration nursing courses in rural and remote areas. Several study limitations are discussed and suggestions made for future research.

Influences on undergraduate students` intentions to become qualified accountants : evidence from Australia

In this study, first year commerce students in Australia were surveyed about their perceptions of their accounting studies and their perceptions of the attributes required of professional accountants. The paper specifically addresses the factors important in determining whether first year students intend to become accountants. The study uses a logistic regression model incorporating demographic and academic factors, as well as students' perceptions of the work of accountants, to predict intention to become an accountant. The results show that the perception of importance of generic skills, intrinsic interest in the discipline area, and course satisfaction were significant in determining intention to pursue a career as an accountant. As many students formed their judgments about the work of accountants from their accounting studies, the findings have implications for accounting educators in terms of the enthusiasm and motivation required in teaching accounting, as well as curriculum development that reflects the skill set required for an increasingly sophisticated business environment.

Employer requirements of economics graduates and the implications for undergraduate economics programs

In recent years there has been considerable debate about the general decline in the number of students undertaking bachelor degrees and majors in economics. The discussion has stemmed mainly from a supply-side perspective of the economics education market. The goal of this paper is to add another dimension to the debate and report the results of a survey of employers of economics graduates. Drawing on the extensive customer services literature it is argued that a market oriented, or demand-side analysis is also an important component in redressing low student enrolments and retention. A first step in adopting a market oriented approach is to determine the skills required of the economics graduates entering the jobs market. With the support of The Economics Society of Au~tralia, twenty-nine public and private sector employers were surveyed in 2002. The aim of the survey was to establish the demand for economics graduates with bachelor and honours degrees, the skills and knowledge required of these graduates, and the performance of such graduates. The study found that economic knowledge and skill were important to employers. However, the skills rated most important by employers were the more general or 'generic' skills of clear writing, data analysis, interpersonal skills and a practical problem-solving orientation. While graduates generally performed satisfactorily in relation to the economic skills required by employers, this was not the case for generic skills. The result of the survey findings have some significant implications for the content and teaching of undergraduate economics programs. This paper outlines these implications and also discusses areas for future research It is argued that such research should aim to utilize both the demand and supplyside perspectives with the development of more precise definitions and measurement of the economic skills required by the various stakeholders in the economics education market.