Course quality assurance at a glance

From 2014, QUT will be adopting a life-cycle approach to Course Quality Assurance informed by a wider and richer range of historic, ‘live’ and ‘predictive’ course data. Key data elements continue to be grouped according to the three broad categories – Viability, Quality of Learning Environment and Outcomes – and are further supported with analytic data presented within tables and charts. Course Quality Assurance and this Consolidated Courses Performance Report illuminate aspects of courses from a data evidence base highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of our courses. It provides the framework and tools to achieve QUT's commitment to excellent graduate outcomes by drawing attention and focus to the quality of our courses and providing a structured approach for bringing about change. Our portfolio of courses forms a vital part of QUT, generating almost $600 million in 2013 alone. Real world courses are fundamental to the strength of the Institution; they are what our many thousands of current and future students are drawn to and invest their time and aspirations in. As we move through a period of some regulatory and deregulatory uncertainty, there is a greater need for QUT to monitor and respond to the needs and expectations of our students. The life-cycle approach, with its rich and predicative data, provides the best source of evidence we have had, to date, to assure the quality of our courses and their relevance in a rapidly changing higher education context.

Course evaluation : reconfigurations for learning with learning management systems

The introduction of online delivery platforms such as learning management systems (LMS) in tertiary education has changed the methods and modes of curriculum delivery and communication. While course evaluation methods have also changed from paper-based in-class-administered methods to largely online-administered methods, the data collection instruments have remained unchanged. This paper reports on a small exploratory study of two tertiary-level courses. The study investigated why design of the instruments and methods to administer surveys in the courses are ineffective measures against the intrinsic characteristics of online learning. It reviewed the students' response rates of the conventional evaluations for the courses over an eight-year period. It then compared a newly developed online evaluation and the conventional methods over a two-year period. The results showed the response rates with the new evaluation method increased by more than 80% from the average of the conventional evaluations (below 30%), and the students' written feedback was more detailed and comprehensive than in the conventional evaluations. The study demonstrated the possibility that the LMS-based learning evaluation can be effective and efficient in terms of the quality of students' participation and engagement in their learning, and for an integrated pedagogical approach in an online learning environment.

Renewing the Sustainable Energy Curriculum : Curriculum Frameworks and Guidance for Course Delivery

This guide is to support institutions in developing and teaching tertiary level programmes for sustainable energy professionals. Ongoing curriculum renewal is more difficult but vital for multidisciplinary courses preparing graduates to work in a specialised rapidly changing field. After more than 15 years of offering tertiary level “sustainable energy” qualifications in Australian Universities there was a clear need to assess how these courses are taught and develop curriculum frameworks to guide Universities designing/redesigning programs and courses to provide graduates with the relevant skills, knowledge and attributes (capabilities) seen by graduates and employers as required to work in this rapidly changing field. This guide presents the sustainable energy curriculum frameworks developed by the “Renewing the sustainable energy curriculum – providing internationally relevant skills for a carbon constrained economy” project, which was conducted over a two-and-a-quarter year period.

Review of the ACT Road Ready and Road Ready Plus Novice Driver Road Safety Education Course Material

This report documents research that was commissioned in order to review the materials used in the Road Ready program for relevancy and acceptability to the target audiences as part of the implementation of the ACT Road Safety Strategy Action Plan. Relevant literature on young driver crash risk and best practice principles in driver education was reviewed as a first step (Section 2). The evidence for effectiveness of driver education programs in Australia was summarised (Section 3) and a separate review of the use of incentives in relation to driver education was performed. The brief called for an expert review of the materials and delivery design for both the Road Ready and Road Ready Plus programs. This is reported in Section 5, along with the overall recommendations for program improvement. More specific comments on individual modules in the Road Ready program are listed at the end of Section 5. Lastly, feedback from stakeholders, specifically the facilitators and teachers of the programs, as well as former students who have completed the Road Ready program, was sought. Interviews and surveys were conducted with these groups. Summaries of the methods and findings are contained in Section 6.

Australian Library and Information Association Course Accreditation Review 2013

This report has been prepared for the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) in response to the request to undertake a literature review and environmental scan to inform discussions of the issues associated with professional accreditation. ALIA is the peak body which develops and monitors the professional standards that ensure the high quality of graduates entering the library and information services (LIS) profession in Australia. The report presents a themed discussion of the issues identified in the literature review and environmental scan to build a full picture of the role of course accreditation in LIS education. This is set against developments in the wider context of quality assurance in Australian tertiary education, to analyse the implications of this changing environment for ALIA’s accreditation policies and ractices.

Challenges confronting career-changing beginning teachers : a qualitative study of professional scientists becoming science teachers

Recruitment of highly qualified science and mathematics graduates has become a widespread strategy to enhance the quality of education in the field of STEM. However, attrition rates are very high suggesting preservice education programs are not preparing them well for the career change. We analyse the experiences of professionals who are scientists and have decided to change careers to become teachers. The study followed a group of professionals who undertook a one-year preservice teacher education course and were employed by secondary schools on graduation. We examined these teachers’ experiences through the lens of self-determination theory, which posits autonomy, confidence and relatedness are important in achieving job satisfaction. The findings indicated that the successful teachers were able to achieve a sense of autonomy and confidence, and, in particular, had established strong relationships with colleagues. However, the unique challenges facing career-change professionals were often overlooked by administrators and colleagues. Opportunities to build a sense of relatedness in their new profession were often absent. The failure to establish supportive relationships was decisive in some teachers leaving the profession. The findings have implications for both pre-service and professional inservice programs and the role that administrators play in supporting career-change teachers.

The influence of social media on international students' choice of university and course

This thesis is a qualitative study of the influence of social media on the university and course decision making process of international students. It examines the role of social media in influencing international students' decisions on course and university selection and the role of social media in meeting their information needs. It also gathered inputs on how universities could engage, collaborate and communicate using social media communities and channels for more effective recruitment strategies.

Course evidence matrix : a collaborative evaluation using multiple lines of evidence

Welcome to the Evaluation of course matrix. This matrix is designed for highly qualified discipline experts to evaluate their course, major or unit in a systemic manner. The primary purpose of the Evaluation of course matrix is to provide a tool that a group of academic staff at universities can collaboratively review the assessment within a course, major or unit annually. The annual review will result in you being ready for an external curricula review at any point in time. This tool is designed for use in a workshop format with one, two or more academic staff, and will lead to an action plan for implementation. I hope you find this tool useful in your assessment review.

Improving retention and graduation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in initial teacher education programs

In 2012, the Australian Council of Deans of Education (ACDE), through the Queensland University of Technology, led a MATSITI project focusing on issues related to the retention, support and graduation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers in initial Teacher Education programs across Australia. While some of the barriers that impact on the graduation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers are well, known, this was the first large-scale Australian study to look at the issues nationally and in depth. Thirty-four Teacher Education programs across the country were audited, meetings were held in each state, both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous Faculty were consulted and approximately 70 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pre-service teachers interviewed. This paper reports on the outcomes of that project, including the evidence that while recruitment into Teacher Education has, in some sites, reached parity, retention rates are well-below expected across the nation. The paper focuses both on the quantitative data and, even more significantly, on the voices of the pre-service teachers themselves, offering insights into the ways forward. As a result of this study, Deans and Heads of School of Teacher Education programs across the country have developed Action Plans alongside their university's Indigenous Higher Education Centres to improve support and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers.

International students' perceptions of their experience of higher education in Australia: A focus on Saudi Arabian students in their first year of a business course in a major Australian university

This study examined perceptions of international students from Saudi Arabia living and studying in Australia. As a qualitative study that featured case study methodology, the thesis discusses the experiences of Saudi Arabian students in the light of two important factors: students' expectations prior to coming to Australia and the impact of intercultural competency on students' experiences. The study found that while study participants reported mostly positive experiences, there were challenges faced such as coping with English language and culture shock. The thesis culminates in a comprehensive list of implications for educators in the light of the study's findings.

Service-learning through multiple client-sponsored projects in an MBA marketing course

This paper outlines an approach for teaching Marketing Principles in an MBA course through service-learning to enable adult learners to connect the lectures’ marketing content to a real-world marketing project. During the course, 40 students in groups of four to five individuals were involved in eight different client-sponsored marketing projects executed simultaneously. The rationale, planning and management of this approach utilised current research on service-learning, living cases and client-sponsored projects in marketing education. The experimental curriculum design is presented in a timeline that mirrors the preparation and management of the group projects and the considerations to be taken into account when initiating and facilitating the projects. Reflections from this iteration of the service-learning design suggest the importance of: detailed project planning, the involvement of students in choosing the projects, the introduction of forms and feedback loops, the role of the instructor in facilitating the students and managing expectations, and the role of the company representative in supporting the groups.

Audience response systems can facilitate communal course feedback

Background At Queensland University of Technology (QUT), the Bachelor of Radiation Therapy course evaluation has previously suffered from low online survey participation rates. A communal instantaneous feedback event using an audience response system (ARS) was evaluated as a potential solution to this problem. The aims of the project were to determine the extent to which this feedback event could be facilitated by ARS technology and to evaluate the impact the technology made on student satisfaction and engagement. Methods Students were invited to a timetabled session to provide feedback on individual study units and the course overall. They provided quantitative Likert-style responses to prompts for each unit and the course using an ARS as well as anonymous typed qualitative comments. Data collection was performed live so students were able to view collective class responses. This prompted further discussion and enabled a prospective action plan to be developed. To inform future ARS use, students were asked for their opinions on the feedback method. Results Despite technological difficulties, student evaluation indicated that all responders enjoyed the session and the opportunity to view the combined responses. All students felt that useful feedback was generated and that this method should be used in the future. The student attendance and response rates were high, and it was clear that the session had led to the development of some insightful qualitative feedback comments. Conclusions: An ARS contributed well to the collection of course feedback in a communal and interactive environment. Students found it enjoyable to use, and it helped to stimulate useful qualitative comments