Teaching and Learning in the University: New Directions for Australian Higher Education

The purpose of this paper is to outline recent changes to higher education in Australia and assess the implications of those changes for teaching and learning in universities. Three main changes have been identified:
1. The meta-policy context that has transformed a binary system of higher education into a unified national system of universities. This has given rise to the concept of the comprehensive university accompanied by an economic rationalist approach to the funding of higher education. Issues identified are the relativities to be accorded to teaching and research in the new universities and the push for more efficient modes of teaching.
2. Institutional changes that have influenced the traditional character of universities. These changes include the politicisation of Vice-Chancellors whose peak body is now recognised by the government as the single voice of the university sector, the changing student composition of universities as a result of government policies relating to overseas students and students who have been traditionally underpresented in universities and the introduction of academic staff appraisal. An assessment is made of this broad range of changes on teaching and learning.
3. Changing conceptions of teaching are discussed with a particular emphasis on the work of Shulman and its implications for teaching in the university.     

Discovering tertiary education through others’ eyes and words: exploring submissions to New Zealand’s review of its tertiary education sector

A general inductive analysis was applied to 98 submissions made to a recent review of New Zealand’s tertiary education system, primarily to enable those interested to engage with multiple viewpoints about this highly complex educational system. The analysis yielded three substantial themes that reoccur throughout the submissions and that may warrant further research. The three themes relate to: competition, incorporating willingness and ability to compete at different levels in the sector; trust, incorporating expectations of being trusted to provide high-quality educational support for all learners as well as, to varying degrees, an expectation that the broad outcomes of this high-quality educational support should be trusted, rather than measured, by all stakeholders; and the purpose of the educational endeavour being considered and whether or not different parts of the sector do, or should, emphasise different purposes. The analysis yielded a model or theory about the underlying structure of the experiences illustrated by the 98 submissions that may assist those interested in tertiary education to address the new models of tertiary education being considered by the review.     

Career guidance and counselling efficacy studies: an international research agenda

More efficacy studies, experimental designs, and longitudinal research in career guidance and counselling in educational and organizational settings, and for diverse cultural and economic backgrounds are needed. Research on the effectiveness of career guidance and counselling that demonstrates gains on a variety of levels is necessary to enhance the future of the field. Recommendations for internationalizing career guidance and counselling research by using a scientist practitioner model, diverse research methodology, and instruments to measure career outcomes are made.     

Modeling and predicting heart rate dynamics across a broad range of transient exercise intensities during cycling

Prior studies have investigated heart rate dynamics from a variety of perspectives, but are often inadequate for predicting heart rate responses across a broad range of transient exercise intensities. The aim of this study was to develop a nonlinear model to describe the heart rate response of an individual during cycling and to investigate whether heart rate is more accurately predicted by a combination of power output and cadence than by power output alone. The proposed model can account for the transient fluctuations of an individual’s heart rate while they participate in exercise that varies in intensity. The participants for this study each performed a fifty minute bout of cycling on an electric-braked cycle ergometer in the laboratory. The testing protocol for the cycling bout was designed to challenge the predictive capabilities of the model and the participants therefore abruptly changed their power outputs and cadences throughout the tests, which resulted in significant transient fluctuations in their heart rate responses. Due to the nonlinear nature of the proposed heart rate model, a heuristic algorithm was developed to perform the parameter estimation. The model predictions for heart rate matched very well with the experimental heart rate responses for each of the participants, especially when considering the challenges inherent to predicting abrupt transient behavior in the heart rate response. Model comparisons also indicated that heart rate is more accurately predicted by a combination of power output and cadence than by power output alone.     

A retrospective account of the transition education program

In view of the uniqueness of the initiatives in post-compulsory education in Australia in the 1980s, a retrospective account is provided of one of the most significant initiatives, namely, the Commonwealth government’s Transition Program. Based on a synthesis of case studies of West Australian, Victorian and South Australian transition projects, it was found that it is possible to transform the traditional curriculum, improve student-teacher relationships, involve students in decision-making and enhance students’ self-esteem, satisfaction with school and ability to interact with each other and with adults. Some projects, however, led to increased workload and stress among teachers closely involved. General factors found to facilitate school change were: support of the principal and other senior staff, support from the system (eg., consultants), financial support, availability of people to act as project co-ordinators, support from project committees, and the availability of teachers on time release. Factors impeding school change were jealousy and resentment among non-participant teachers and staff turnover.     

Promoting Independent Interactions Between Preschoolers with Autism and Their Nondisabled Peers: An Analysis of Self-Monitoring

This study examined the effects of self-monitoring on the activity engagement and social interaction of three preschoolers with autism. Each child participated in daily play activities with one nondisabled peer and received little adult direction during an initial baseline phase. Two intervention procedures were then implemented in an alternating fashion during a second condition. The first procedure required an adult to prompt the children to exchange social overtures. The adult also moved beads to record completed exchanges and provided a small post session reward to each child if they accomplished a criterion number of exchanges. During the second monitoring procedure the children moved their own beads while the adult provided fewer prompts and gave a post session reward. The child monitoring procedure was then implemented without prompts during a final follow-up phase. A combined alternating treatment and multiple baseline design were used to examine the effects of each experimental condition. Although all three children exhibited high levels of active engagement during baseline, most of their responses occurred in a solitary fashion. The adult and child monitoring procedures produced equal increases in children's engagement with nondisabled peers during the alternating intervention phase. The child monitoring procedure also maintained children's independent interactions during the follow-up condition. Supplemental observations in follow-up also indicated that children exchanged a wide range of different overtures and exhibited varying levels of consistency in their self monitoring.