Understanding the diversity of non-specialised units within Australian property degrees

Building on the recommendations of the Bradley Review (2008), the Australian Federal government intends to promote a higher level of penetration of tertiary qualification across the broader Australian community which is anticipated to result in increased levels of standardisation across university degrees. In the field of property, tertiary academic programs are very closely aligned to the needs of a range of built environment professions and there are well developed synergies between the relevant professional bodies and the educational institutions. The strong nexus between the academic and the professional content is characterised by ongoing industry accreditation which nominates a range of outcomes which the academic programs must maintain across a range of specified metrics. Commonly, the accrediting bodies focus on standard of minimum requirements especially in the area of specialised subject areas where they require property graduates to demonstrate appropriate learning and attitudes. In addition to nominated content fields, in every undergraduate degree program there are also many other subjects which provide a richer experience for the students beyond the merely professional. This study focuses on the nonspecialised knowledge field which varies across the universities offering property degree courses as every university has the freedom to pursue its own policy for these non-specialised units. With universities being sensitive to their role of in the appropriate socialisation of new entrants, first year units have been used as a vehicle to support students’ transition into university education and the final year units seek to support students’ integration into the professional world. Consequentially, many property programs have to squeeze their property-specific units to accommodate more generic units for both first year and final year units and the resulting diversity is a feature of the current range of property degrees across Australia which this research will investigate. The matrix of knowledge fields nominated by the Australian Property Institute for accreditation of degrees accepted for Certified Practising Valuer (CPV) educational requirement and the complementary requirements of the other major accrediting body (RICS) are used to classify and compare similarities and differences across property degrees in the light of the streamlining anticipated from the Bradley Review.

Is philanthropy relevant? a study of professional advisers in Australia

CPNS’ new Working Paper examines the latest findings from a national survey of professional advisers on the topic of philanthropy assistance to high-net-worth individuals. Findings confirm a growing willingness within the Australian advisory sector to provide philanthropy advice to clients with means, although the rate of change has slowed since 2005. Advisers are now more likely to see benefits in providing this type of counselling, as well as benefits for their clients in engaging in philanthropy.

Professional development for the integration of biotechnology education

Views on the nature and relevance of science education have changed significantly over recent decades. This has serious implications for the way in which science is taught in secondary schools, particularly with respect to teaching emerging topics such as biotechnology, which have a socio-scientific dimension and also require novel laboratory skills. It is apparent in current literature that there is a lack of adequate teacher professional development opportunities in biotechnology education and that a significant need exists for researchers to develop a carefully crafted and well supported professional development design which will positively impact on the way in which teachers engage with contemporary science. This study used a retrospective case study methodology to document the recent evolution of modern biotechnology education as part of the changing nature of science education; examine the adoption and implementation processes for biotechnology education by three secondary schools; and to propose an evidence based biotechnology professional development model for science educators. Data were gathered from documents, one-on-one interviews and focus group discussions. Analysis of these data has led to the proposal of a biotechnology professional development model which considers all of the key components of science professional development that are outlined in the literature, as well as the additional components which were articulated by the educators studied. This research is timely and pertinent to the needs of contemporary science education because of its recognition of the need for a professional development model in biotechnology education that recognizes and addresses the content knowledge, practical skills, pedagogical knowledge and curriculum management components.

The relationship between Internet use and perceived performance in retail and professional service firms

lnformation technology (IT) and, in particular, the Internet is dramatically impacting on the services sector. This paper specifically investigates the relative impact of several forms of internet use on perceived performance for two groups of service organisations - retail service firms and professlonal health service firms. Using a mailed out self-administered questionnaire, 625 completed questionnaires were obtained and 43 per cent of respondents reported that they used the lternet. Thus the final usable sample in the study comprised 262 respondents. Results showed that the Internet does significantly influence perceived performance in both types of service firms. However,there are differences in the forms of lntemet use between the two service groups and their relative effect on performance. For retail firms, use of transactional function, such as ordering, selling and payment was found to be positively related to increases in perceived performance. In contrast, for professional health service firms, the ability to search for information on products and/or services was found to be positively associated with perceived performance. Finally, theoretical and managerial implications of the findings of this study are discussed.

Technical support and professional development : using remote desktops to address bottlenecks in music technology

This paper presents research findings about the use of remote desktop applications to teach music sequencing software. It highlights the successes, shortcomings and interactive issues encountered during a pilot project with a theoretical focus on a specific interactive bottleneck. The paper proposes a new delivery and partnership model to widen this bottleneck, which currently hinders interactions between the technical support, education and professional development communities in music technology.

Being ethical : how process drama assists pre-service drama teachers to reflect on professional ethics

This research thesis focuses on the experiences of pre-service drama teachers and considers how process drama may assist them to reflect on key aspects of professional ethics such as mandatory codes or standards, principled moral reasoning, moral character, moral agency, and moral literacy. Research from higher education provides evidence that current pedagogical approaches used to prepare pre –professionals for practice in medicine, engineering, accountancy, business, psychology, counselling, nursing and education, rarely address the more holistic or affective dimensions of professional ethics such as moral character. Process drama, a form of educational drama, is a complex improvisational group experience that invites participants to create and assume roles, and select and manage symbols in order to create a fictional world exploring human experience. Many practitioners claim that process drama offers an aesthetic space to develop a deeper understanding of self and situations, expanding the participant’s consciousness and ways of knowing. However, little research has been conducted into the potential efficacy of process drama in professional ethics education for pre-professionals. This study utilizes practitioner research and case study to explore how process drama may contribute to the development of professional ethics education and pedagogy.