Preparing the next generation of HRM professionals : an international comparison of tertiary HRM programs

The future of the HRM profession depends to at least some extent on the quality of preparation of the next generation of HR professionals. This paper examines bachelor degree programs in HRM and the role of professional associations as influencers of curricula. Some 39% of the 599 AACSB and EQUIS-accredited institutions sampled offer undergraduate degrees in HRM. The programs vary in emphasis on HRM competencies. Unsurprisingly, all include foundation work (perhaps a third of the content) in business management. Grouping degree content by regions globally allows benchmarking of degrees against international trends, along with consideration of the increasingly significant influence on curricula by professional bodies, in preparing the next generation of HRM practitioners to manage in organisations that will require strategic thinking, specialist technical skills, and interpersonal competence.

New educational service products : tertiary EC/EB education - the Asia-Pacific region

Electronic Commerce (EC) / Electronic Business (EB) has been (and is expected to continue to be) a dynamic, rapidly evolving area of technology, requiring skilled people with up-to-date knowledge and skills. The global community has required (and still requires) tertiary academic programs to prepare and train these people quickly. In the late nineties, following a tidal wave of tertiary EC program development in the United States, new tertiary programs began to appear in the Asia-Pacific (AP) region to satisfy this need, over a very short period of time. This research project aims to examine whether the development and effectiveness of tertiary EC/EB educational programs can be enhanced through employing a particular marketing paradigm. Four regions - Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong SAR and the Republic of Singapore — were selected from the AP region, for this study. Based on a review of marketing literature, an inductive approach is adopted to build a model for new educational service product offerings. I also provide a description and comprehensive analysis of EC/EB education, and explore the model empirically, examining how it applies to the way EC education programs have been developed, to date. Essentially, this project consists of two major activities: theory building and theory testing – and is divided into three parts. Part 1: Preliminary study – literature review for theory building. This section of the thesis provides a literature review of the domains of curriculum development, EC/EB program development and management, EC/EB component models and new service product development. Part 2 : Understanding the marketplace – quantitative analysis. This section comprises five major surveys which provide an understanding of EC/EB education. Part 3 : In-depth analysis – qualitative research for theory testing. This section discusses the results of the multiple case studies of EC/EB degree programs undertaken over a five year period. The results of this project highlight both theoretical and practical aspects of the topic. In terms of the theoretical aspect, I provide a contribution to existing theory concerning the planning and development of new tertiary education programs. Research into academic course development in the past has tended to assume that all program development is pedagogically based and influenced. There is an assumption that people only develop academic programs and academic courses for pedagogic reasons. What this research project has done is to suggest that there are, in fact, many possible reasons for developing new programs and that, although these reasons might be pedagogic in nature, they can also be industry-focased, and market-oriented in the following ways: -the university is shaping the way it is perceived by the public – that is, the market; -the university is highlighting where its expertise lies. This led me to a form of new service product development consistent with the new image of the university. There is a clear need for diverse models for program development which accommodate the dynamic roles of modern universities. My research project develops such a model based on conditions in the Asia-Pacific region, and discusses findings arising from the overall project, which can be used to improve new educational program offerings in future, in both the Asia-Pacific and, I suggest, in other regions. This potential use of my findings highlights the practical contribution made by the research Project.

Evaluation of collaborative assessment of work integrated learning

The international trend towards an increasingly standards-based approach to higher education and the resultant focus on the assurance of learning in tertiary programs have generated a strong emphasis on the assessment of outcomes across the higher education sector. In legal education, curriculum reform is highly prevalent internationally as a result of various reviews of legal education. As legal education focuses more on the attainment of a broader set of outcomes encompassing soft skills, capabilities and attributes, more authentic assessment will need to be developed appropriate to this new environment, meaning that modes of assessment with strong application in real-life settings should be preferred.

The nature and role of assessment during practicum : stakeholders’ perspectives

This paper focuses on the assessment of student teachers during practicum. The study is contextualised in an Australian pre-service teacher education program in which practicum has been reconceptualised to help bridge the theory-practice gap commonly associated with “front-end loading” programs. Survey and interview data collected from student teachers and supervising teachers point to what participants perceive as disparate understandings between university and school staff about the nature and role of assessment and suggest that this lack of common understanding adversely affects students’ experiences of assessment. While contextualised in teacher education, these findings have applicability to other tertiary programs for the professions. The study’s conclusions are threefold: the importance of establishing and sustaining effective university-school partnerships is paramount; there is a clearly identified need for shared stakeholder understandings about practicum assessment; and disregarding failed or diminished partnerships jeopardises student learning.

Re-casting terra nullius design-blindness: better teaching of indigenous knowledge and protocols in Australian architecture education

This paper reviews the current status and focus of Australian Architecture programs with respect to Indigenous Knowledge and the extent to which these tertiary programs currently address reconciliation and respect to Indigenous Australians in relation to their professional institutions and accreditation policies. The paper draws upon the findings of a recently completed investigation of current teaching: Re-Casting terra nullius blindness: Empowering Indigenous Protocols and Knowledge in Australian University Built Environment Education. Three data sets from this investigation are analysed: a desktop survey of Australian Built Environment curricula; workshops with tertiary providers and students, professional practitioners and representatives of three Built Environment professional institutes; and an online survey of Australian Built Environment students (of which their discipline could be isolated) ascertaining what is currently being taught and learned and what changes would be feasible within the constraints of courses from their perspective. Detailed descriptions are also provided of pedagogic improvements informed by the project findings. The findings suggest minimal current exposure of Architecture students to Indigenous Knowledge content beyond voluntary engagement in self-chosen thesis projects and elective (including studio) subjects led by passionate but largely unsupported teachers championing Indigenous issues; a paucity of teaching echoed by practitioners and accreditors who acknowledge lack of expertise in this area across the profession. This paper discusses ways in which Indigenous Knowledge might be better acknowledged, respected and introduced to Australian Architecture students’ education. Also discussed are teaching strategies with global relevance.

Articulation in property programs : an international multi-campus tertiary model

This paper will present program developers and institutional administrators with a program delivery model suitable for cross cultural international delivery developing students from industry through to master’s level tertiary qualifications. The model was designed to meet the needs of property professionals from an industry where technical qualifications are the norm and tertiary qualifications are emerging. A further need was to develop and deliver a program that enhanced the University’s current program profile in both the domestic and international arenas. Early identification of international educational partners, industry need and the ability to service the program were vital to the successful development of Master of Property program. The educational foundations of the program rest in educational partners, local tutorial support, international course management, cultural awareness of and in content, online communication fora, with a delivery focus on problem-based learning, self-directed study, teamwork and the development of a global understanding and awareness of the international property markets. In enrolling students from a diverse cultural background with technical qualifications and/or extensive work experience there are a number of educational barriers to be overcome for all students to successfully progress and complete the program. These barriers disappear when the following mechanisms are employed: individual student pathways, tutorial support by qualified peers, enculturation into tertiary practice, assessment tasks that recognise cultural norms and values, and finally that value is placed on the experiential knowledge, cultural practices and belief systems of the students.

Programs to raise tertiary education aspiration, 2011-2012 data

Data is a collation of local and global programs that address tertiary education attainment. It is in the form of a Microsoft Office Excel spreadsheet and is purely text.

Paving pathways : shaping the public health workforce through tertiary education

Public health educational pathways in Australia have traditionally been the province of Universities, with the Master of Public Health (MPH) recognised as the flagship professional entry program. Public health education also occurs within the fellowship training of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine, but within Australia this remains confined to medical graduates. In recent years, however, we have seen a proliferation of undergraduate degrees as well as an increasing public health presence in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector. ----- Following the 2007 Australian Federal election, the new Labour government brought with it a refreshing commitment to a more inclusive and strategic style of government. An important example of this was the 2020 visioning process that identified key issues of public health concern, including an acknowledgment that it was unacceptable to allocate less than 2% of the health budget towards disease prevention. This led to the recommendation for the establishment of a national preventive health agency (Australia: the healthiest country by 2020 National Preventative Health Strategy, Prepared by the Preventative Health Taskforce 2009). ----- The focus on disease prevention places a spotlight on the workforce that will be required to deliver the new investment in health prevention, and also on the role of public health education in developing and upskilling the workforce. It is therefore timely to reflect on trends, challenges and opportunities from a tertiary sector perspective. Is it more desirable to focus education efforts on selected lead issues such as the “obesity epidemic”, climate change, Indigenous health and so on, or on the underlying theory and skills that build a flexible workforce capable of responding to a range of health challenges? Or should we aspire to both? ----- This paper presents some of the key discussion points from 2008 – 2009 of the Public Health Educational Pathways workshops and working group of the Australian Network of Public Health Institutions. We highlight some of the competing tensions in public health tertiary education, their impact on public health training programs, and the educational pathways that are needed to grow, shape and prepare the public health workforce for future challenges.

Assessment of oral proficiency in EAP programs : a case for pair interaction

Reliability and validity in the testing of spoken language are essential in order to assess learners' English language proficiency as evidence of their readiness to begin courses in tertiary institutions. Research has indicated that the task chosen to elicit language samples can have a marked effect on both the nature of the interaction, including the power differential, and assessment, raising the issue of ethics. This exploratory studey, with a group of 32 students from the Peoples's Republic of China preparing for tertiary study in Singapore, compares test-takers' reactions to the use of an oral proficiency interview and a pair interaction.

Course cohesion : an elusive goal for tertiary education

A program’s development and implementation in a higher education institution is usually launched with great fanfare, goodwill and a huge effort on the part of the whole development team to ensure a worthwhile cohesive set of learning experiences aligned to the desired course learning outcomes. It is often not long before the glue starts to come unstuck arising from staffing changes, subtle migration of course resources, opportunistic inclusions of “off the shelf” or unit based innovative teaching and learning approaches, and perhaps general poor attention to detail with regard to the impact of new introductions and electives. This paper presents an initial investigation into the elusive goal of achieving course cohesion. The authors consider building cohesion into a course as it is being designed through identified cohesion factors and in sustaining course cohesion through active leadership.

A Fair Go Beyond the School Gate? Systemic factors affecting participation and attainment in tertiary education by Queensland students from LSES backgrounds

The purpose of this project was to conduct an empirical study that would result in findings that inform systemic policy development aimed at improving tertiary participation and attainment by students from low socioeconomic status (LSES) backgrounds in Queensland. The project focuses on systemic policy, initiatives and programs that encourage tertiary education participation and attainment by individuals from LSES backgrounds, rather than on institution-specific initiatives or programs. While the broad remit was to consider tertiary education participation, the study particularly highlights issues pertaining to LSES student participation and attainment in the higher education sector, given the notable under representation of this demographic subgroup in Australian universities. This study supports the strategic priority of addressing professional skills shortages and innovations aiming to improve human and social capital in the state of Queensland. The ultimate goal is to contribute to the enhancement of Queensland’s education and training system by maximising participation and attainment by people from LSES backgrounds in higher education, thereby improving their quality of life and future life choices and opportunities. The study addressed the following five research questions: 1. What are the major factors that promote or inhibit participation and attainment in tertiary education by LSES students in Queensland? 2. To what extent do systemic policies or practices(systemic factors) of Queensland’s tertiary education system promote or inhibit participation and attainment by LSES students? That is, what features of Queensland’s tertiary education system have a significant effect on participation and attainment by LSES students? 3. What system policies or practices are found to boost participation and attainment by LSES students in other jurisdictions? 4. What evidence is there to suggest that policies or practices that have boosted participation and attainment by LSES students in other jurisdictions would be successful if implemented in Queensland? 5. What are the implications of the research findings for Queensland’s tertiary education system to improve participation and attainment by LSES students? The project adopted a mixed methods approach to data collection. A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted to identify relevant state, national and international literature. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used to collect data from a range of key stakeholders.

Researching doctoral pedagogy close up : design and action in two doctoral programs

With growing international interest in diversifying sites for pedagogical work within the doctorate, doctoral programs of different kinds are being developed in different disciplinary, institutional and national settings. However, little is known about how the pedagogical work of these programs is designed and enacted, and with what effects. In this paper, we present two cases of doctoral pedagogical work being undertaken within different disciplinary and institutional settings to describe how learning opportunities were designed and to theorise what it means to be engaged in doing doctoral pedagogy. Starting from the position that working from a design model supports systematic and rigorous documentation and development of pedagogy, we employ the twin concepts of design and action, drawing broadly on rhetorical and ethnomethodological understandings of pedagogy as social action. Of particular interest within the concept of design itself is the concept of enactment, the translation of designs into the practices of doctoral work. Together, the two cases become a resource for ‘slowing down’ and making visible the practices of doctoral pedagogy that often go unrecognised because they appear so ordinary and everyday. This call for examining close-up existing doctoral education practices and relationships is attending to the ‘next challenge for doctoral education’ (Green, 2009).

The creative citizen : understanding the value of design education programs in the knowledge economy

The knowledge economy relies on the diffusion and use of knowledge as well as its creation (Houghton and Sheenan, 2000). The future success of economic activity will depend on the capacity of organisations to transform by increasing their flexibility. In particular, this transformation is dependant on a decentralised, networked and multi-skilled workforce. To help organisations transition, new strategies and structures for education are required. Education systems need to concentrate less on specialist skills and more on the development of people with broad-based problem solving skills that are adaptable, with social and inter-personal communication skills necessary for networking and communication. This paper presents the findings of a ‘Knowledge Economy Market Development Mapping Study’ conducted to identify the value of design education programs from primary through to tertiary level in Queensland, Australia. The relationship of these programs to the development of the capacities mentioned above is explored. The study includes the collection of qualitative and quantitative data consisting of a literature review, focus groups and survey. Recommendations for the future development of design education programs in Queensland, Australia are proposed, and future research opportunities are presented and discussed.

Teaching design thinking and design led innovation to non-designers : a tertiary facilitator multidisciplinary study

This paper aims to address the knowledge gap in regards to the potential intermediary role tertiary institutions can play in developing generic design thinking/design led innovation capabilities in non-designers. Specifically, it investigates the value derived from the contribution of postgraduate design students as facilitators/educators for undergraduate non-design student cohorts. It examines a design immersion workshop designed to encourage the use of design thinking capabilities for project brief development for undergraduate multi-disciplinary student teams involved in a community service learning project for a social enterprise. The workshop was facilitated by design led innovation masters students embedded in industry organisations to research the integration of design led innovation capabilities in business. Data was collected from participating non-design students and postgraduate facilitators’ in the form of reflective journals and semi-structured interviews. The thematic analysis provided insight into the value of design thinking/design led innovation immersion programs for both the postgraduate facilitators and the undergraduate non-design students. The research results will inform a tentative foundation prototype framework to allow for ongoing program developments and research in design thinking/design led innovation integration in higher education, facilitating the development of generic capabilities required to empower future generations for business innovation and active citizenship in the 21st century knowledge economy.