While metropolitan and rural universities alike are, for once, mostly pleased with the Budget, students feel neglected. Tertiary institutions praised, among other measures, the boost in research funding. At the same time, the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) lamented the ...
More »Opinion: Universities are crucial to improving pre-service teachers’ literacy
It is very difficult to dispute the need for teachers to possess sounds literacy skills. Communication and literacy are central to teaching success and personal literacy competency is an obvious prerequisite for much of a teacher’s work. Not only do ...
More »Sector reacts to Finkel’s ATAR critique
Australia's Chief Scientist, Alan Finkel, has an ATAR-related grievance. "Students select their courses with an eye to a number: the ATAR to enter a particular course," he wrote in his introduction to the STEM Industry-Schools Partnerships report. "Rightly or wrongly, ...
More »Is the Chief Scientist out of touch with what PhDs want?
"I have no patience for people who tell me that a person with a PhD who starts a company, or goes into the public service, is a waste of a good academic researcher. "The purpose of a PhD is to ...
More »Blockchain and the disruption of higher education: Opinion
I recently wrote about why business leaders should embrace blockchain technology. As CEO of RMIT Online, I would be remiss if I didn’t heed my own advice and look at how this new technology could benefit higher education’s existing services ...
More »Migrants competing with graduates for scarce jobs: demographer
A surplus of skilled migrants is potentially leading to even greater job competition for graduates, a population expert has suggested. Dr Bob Birrell, the founding director of the Centre for Population and Urban Research at Monash University, and now the President ...
More »Measuring success: how can we help teachers to help themselves?
The Teaching Teams trial promises teacher education students and their supervisors a new approach to self-reflection and assessment. With the current push for new teachers who are ‘classroom ready’, it’s no wonder our teacher education students, teachers and schools are ...
More »Students collaborate to fight changes to HELP scheme
The National Union of Students (NUS) and the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) have launched a campaign to fight proposals to changed student loan legislation. The Bury the Bill campaign has seen the two organisations collaborate to instigate change ...
More »Unis erecting ‘Taj Mahals’, ‘prepared to let standards slip’: Grattan debate
Despite having worked at several of them, Judith Sloan is sceptical of universities. The conservative economist and contributing economics editor at The Australian recently told an audience that she "doesn't trust" universities, and thinks "they’re prepared to let standards slip to put bums ...
More »Gen-Zs not mini Gen-Ys: lessons from #UAConf18
Ben Pilkington wants you to know that although Z follows Y alphabetically, these human generations are vastly different. Generally, while Y values education, Z prefers experience. Y is optimistic, whereas Z prefers to be pragmatic. Y is rebellious, collaborative and searches ...
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