Policy and Research
Murdoch University will benefit from greater flexibility and increased funding certainty after becoming the first higher education provider to sign a new three-year funding agreement under the Commonwealth Grant Scheme for 2008 to 2010.
Murdoch University will receive an increase of $6.5 million in 2008 under the Commonwealth Grant Scheme, and the university will receive more than $204 million over the new three-year funding agreement.
Grants worth $69.2 million will be received by 1238 schools under the second and final round of the National School Chaplaincy Programme. The 829 government schools and 409 non-government schools will receive up to $20,000 per year over three years to assist them with providing pastoral care, and supporting student wellbeing and spiritual development.
Favourable International Student Survey results highlight the quality of Australia's education system and the value of the overall Australian study experience for international students. Among the key findings, the survey shows that: 84% of international students are satisfied with living in Australia; 83% are satisfied with the study experience in Australia; 82% are happy with the course undertaken; and 78% are satisfied with the quality of education.
New statistics released show a record number of students at Australian universities. The 2006 Higher Education Students Statistics summary report shows there were 984,146 university students enrolled in 2006, almost 27,000 more than in 2005.
Professor Cory was recently appointed as the inaugural Deputy Chairman of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Board. Professor Cory has made significant contributions to the CSIRO Board, as a member for the past five years, drawing on her extensive research experience and as the Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.
Dr Douglas Rathbone AM has also been appointed as a member of the Board. Mr Rathbone has led Nufarm Ltd, one of the world's leading manufacturers of crop protection chemicals, for more than two decades. He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in June 2006, for service to the community.
Dr Brian Fisher AO PSM, has been appointed to the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) Council. He is Vice President and Director of CRA International’s Economic and Policy Analysis practice in Canberra. Previously Dr Fisher was Executive Director of the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) for 18 years.
Twenty-four university teachers from across Australia will receive $25,000 to advance their teaching careers and to support their ongoing commitment to excellence in teaching as recipients of the 2007 Carrick Awards for Australian University Teaching.
Also a further fourteen awards have been given under the 2007 Carrick Awards for Programmes that Enhance Learning, with each team to be awarded $25,000.
The Australian Government will establish a National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education at the University of South Australia. The Government will provide $630,000 in establishment costs and $590,000 annually towards the operational costs of the Centre.
The Australian Government has provided $950,000 for a range of high quality, informative and practical materials that will support early literacy and numeracy development of children from birth to five years.
There will soon be a new opportunity for children in remote aboriginal communities to participate in the Western Australian resources boom through enhanced learning opportunities. The Minister for Education, Science and Training the Hon Julie Bishop MP announced a $350,000 science education program to support the work of Scitech Outreach programs with Indigenous students.
An invitation is issued to the higher education sector and other interested parties to provide comments on a new report aimed at improving the processes for identifying, developing, assessing and reporting on graduate employability skills.
The report, Graduate Employability Skills, examines how universities currently develop and teach undergraduate students employability skills, and how graduate employability skills might be assessed and reported upon in the future.
A copy of the report is available at http://www.dest.gov.au/highered/bihecc
A new research report released will provide teachers with the knowledge and skills to help students with learning difficulties. The report and teacher resource booklet developed through this research project will help establish and maintain effective classroom practices for students with learning difficulties.
The report and resource book are at:http://www.dest.gov.au/schools/losd
A report from Manchester Metropolitan University into how interactive whiteboard technology is used in schools and its effects on pupil learning. This report builds on findings from previous evaluations to assist in understand the impact of this technology as teachers embed it in their practice, and pupils' exposure to teaching with the interactive whiteboard increases. The report shows that in some subjects, the more experience the teacher has of using the interactive whiteboard the greater the likelihood of positive attainment gains for pupils.
There has been an unprecedented increase in the uptake of e-learning in vocational education and training (VET) over the last three years, a new national survey reveals. Almost a third (29%) of VET activity now involves information and communication technology (ICT), compared to 17% in 2006 and 6-8% in 2005.
To view the full 2007 E-learning Benchmarking Survey, including state and territory breakdowns, visit: http://e-learningindicators.flexiblelearning.net.au/
Dr Kaye Bowman was appointed by Adult Learning Australia to conduct a strategic review of the Australian Flexible Learning Framework's Community Engagement Project.
This report explores patterns of regional economic growth in Australia over the period 1984 to 2002 with the aim of identifying the drivers of variation in regional growth; the research also identifies regional opportunities and the policies and practices that can assist in realising them, in particular, the contribution the VET sector may make towards regional growth.
You can now sample some of the new online curriculum content developed by TLF via the Showcase section on the TLF website.
Some of the online curriculum content that you can access in the Showcase includes:
- ph: noughts and crosses where students can consolidate what they know about pH by playing a game of 'noughts and crosses';
- Make it alive: flatback turtles which gives students opportunity to examine how feral animals are affecting the flatback turtle's chances of survival;
- Storm boy, 1976: ‘Wild things should be free’ uses the overlapping themes of alienation, marginalisation and loss that connect Storm Boy, his father Hideaway Tom, Fingerbone Bill and the pelicans to tackle issues such as black and white relations, family and environmentalism.
|
