Large Australian University Research Articles

The alignment of nursing actions to the characteristics of clinical judgement of undergraduate student nurses

Objective: Clinical judgement has long been an important component of safe and effective nursing care. However, despite extensive research being conducted in this area it remains difficult to articulate and observe clinical judgement in action. Nursing actions could reflect the characteristics of clinical judgement, yet this alignment has not previously been reported in the literature.Aim: The aim of the study was to identify whether the nursing actions performed could be aligned with the characteristics of clinical judgement.Methods: The setting for this study was a simulation laboratory housing a high-fidelity manikin in a large Australian university. The study used a descriptive method collecting both qualitative and quantitative data. Data was collected using a Multiple-Choice Questionnaire (MCQ), a checklist of nursing actions and associated characteristics of clinical judgement and post simulation interviews were audio recorded.Results: The nursing actions could be clearly aligned the 12 characteristics of clinical judgement. In this study it was difficult to differentiate between two of the characteristics: experiential knowledge and practical knowledge.Conclusions: Aligning the nursing actions to the characteristics of clinical judgement could assist in educating students to develop their clinical judgement. The use of aligning nursing actions to the characteristics could be a more accurate way of observing clinical judgement in action.

Rational curriculum processes: revising learning outcomes is essential yet insufficient for a twenty-first century science curriculum

ABSTRACT In a competitive higher education sector, large-scale curriculum reviews are common, and increasingly require alignment with broader graduate attributes. Outcomes-based reviews can be difficult in practice, especially in generalist degrees such as science and mathematics, where students’ future career pathways are uncertain and varied. Working with academic leads, we revised learning outcomes across majors, streams and programmes within a diverse science faculty at a large Australian research-based university. We devised a novel measure to quantify the change and developed exemplars across the Faculty to further assist academics in aligning their curriculum to the University’s graduate qualities. Following revision, the language and alignment of learning outcomes was significantly improved. Although this study provides a model for others undergoing curriculum reform, caution is required as such large-scale, time-intensive revisions – although essential – are insufficient to create the required twenty-first century Science curricula.

Inciting youth mobilities: insights from an elite university scholarship program

ABSTRACTHigher education is imbued with discourses which promise young graduates the ability to be globally mobile actors capable of securing numerous market goods as well as contributing to the public good. These discourses are amplified by elite university scholarship programs which aim to foster economic and cultural leaders while adopting a highly exclusive process in selecting their participants. Drawing on ideas of youth geographies and mobilities, we foreground the experiences and aspirations of eight students involved in one such program in a large Australian university to reflect on how they navigate the incitement to become a global actor and the costs or complexities of becoming that actor. We conclude by arguing that more critical understandings need to be brought to the growing geographic mobility of young people in pursuit of, and as a product of, their higher education.

Conceptions of performativity, responsibility and care within a University excellence program

In this paper, the experiences and aspirations of seven students who are members of an excellence program at a large Australian university are foregrounded. The theoretical concepts of performativity and responsibilisation are drawn on to highlight (1) how these students responsibilise themselves and (2) how they are responsibilised by the program—in ways that reflect and reproduce an existence of calculation. This existence of calculation was directed towards particular academic and employment outputs. The strong predominance of a neoliberal framing of responsibilisation in the lifeworlds of these students is recognised. Also recognised are alternative forms of responsibility based on relations of care exemplified in the high levels of social consciousness and concern for the welfare of others expressed by the students. The paper examines how care relations within the excellence program are anchored in a technical rationality focused on meeting performative targets. These targets are at odds with the relations of care prioritised by students and stifle their social and political agency. Against this backdrop, the paper argues for the ongoing significance of re-aligning universities with the ideals of the public good where the values of inclusion and equity are prioritised.

Gaining ‘Raw Insider Knowledge’: The Benefits and Challenges of International Study Tours for Creative Industries Students

AbstractInternational short‐term study tours are a fast‐growing format for outbound education and provide exciting experiential learning opportunities for students in the creative industries disciplines. This success has encouraged researchers to seek a comprehensive view of the various concrete experiences that contribute to student learning during study tours. To that end, this article presents evidence from a qualitative online post‐tour questionnaire administered with students studying various art and design disciplines who participated in short‐term international study tours at a large Australian university in 2015. Using Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory as a framework, data collected explored student perceptions of which concrete experiences on a study tour are most impactful and which may actually hinder learning. Findings revealed: experiencing key industry venues are the most significant aspects of a study tour, rather than networking or personal growth; poor itinerary planning and travel issues are the least liked aspects of a tour, yet are often the most easily addressed with better tour management and planning; and students were positively impacted by unexpected gains in knowledge about their creative industries discipline. This study, therefore, provides unique insights into which concrete experiences may be most impactful as part of the experiential learning cycle within an international study tour for creative industries students.

‘I don’t want to be a vagrant for the rest of my life’: young peoples’ experiences of precarious work as a ‘continuous present’

ABSTRACTThis work presents findings from a qualitative multi-case study investigating the lives of young, precariously employed academics working at a large Australian university. The lived experience of precarious employment is explored through a temporal analysis of how lifestyles are conceived and constructed under the conditions of liquid modernity. The findings highlight how participants felt limited in their capacity to commit to long-term life plans due to invasive feelings of insecurity and dependency that confronted participants with feelings of inadequacy. Participants referred to an inability to make adult-like decisions and bind themselves to future commitments such as independent living arrangements and starting a family. Engagement with concepts of temporality assisted in the theorising of a ‘continuous present’, which refers to the deferring and sacrificing of lifestyle plans in the hope for an imaginary future that never seems to arrive. This theorisation contributes an understanding of how precarious employment can disrupt the flow of culturally acceptable expectations surrounding adulthood and how precarity develops over time. The analysis illustrates that an extended durée of precarious employment increases precarity beyond the present and into the future temporal zone of young peoples’ lives.

Critical Reflexivity in Indigenous and Cross-cultural Psychology: A Decolonial Approach to Curriculum?

Critical reflexivity is a mechanism for working toward decoloniality in higher education, with the potential to prompt students' to critique the contexts in which they are embedded, and facilitate transformative learning. We present a critical examination of the tensions surrounding decoloniality and critical reflexivity in an undergraduate unit on Indigenous and cross-cultural psychology at a large Australian university. We invited students in the unit to participate in a written reflexive exercise at the beginning (N=44) and end of semester (N=23) and analyzed these reflections qualitatively for level (four-category scheme for coding) and content (causal layered analysis) of reflection. Findings suggest that, while students' primarily demonstrate reflective engagement at levels preordinate to critical reflexivity, they are also engaged in active and nuanced processes of negotiating discomfort and uncertainty in this space. We pose critical commentary on the notion of safety in teaching practice, and consider the role of the academic institution in parametrizing the decolonial stance. This research holds application and transferability to higher education settings, and for the enduring project of engaging a decolonial approach to the curriculum within psychology.

Non-medical prescription stimulant use to improve academic performance among Australian university students: prevalence and correlates of use

BackgroundSome university students consume pharmaceutical stimulants without a medical prescription with the goal of improving their academic performance. The prevalence of this practice has been well documented in the US, but less so in other countries. The potential harms of using prescription stimulants require a better understanding of the prevalence of this practice within Australian universities.MethodsAn internet survey of 1136 Australian students was conducted in 2015 in three large Australian universities. Students were asked about their personal use of prescription stimulants, attitudes and experiences with prescription stimulants. They were also asked about their use of caffeine, energy drinks and illicit drugs to enhance their academic performance.ResultsLifetime self-reported use of stimulant medication to improve academic performance was 6.5, and 4.4% in the past year. Students were far more likely to report using coffee and energy drinks (41.4 and 23.6% respectively, lifetime use) than prescription stimulants to help them study and complete university assessments. Non-medical use of prescription stimulants was strongly associated with a history of illicit drug use.ConclusionThe prevalence of nonmedical prescription stimulant use to improve academic performance is low among university students in Australia, especially when compared with their use of coffee and energy drinks.

A Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) approach to pre-service teacher professional experiences in Australia: organisational friendships

ABSTRACTThis study explored how students (pre-service teachers) benefit from the support of having a peer with them during their first professional experience in preschool contexts, utilising a PAL (Peer Assisted Learning) approach. International students at a large Australian University were interviewed as part of this qualitative study. We found that peer engagement facilitated the development of friendships and social support among participants. Discussion is situated within a sociological framework of organisational friendship. This study extends conceptions of organisational friendships beyond managerial imperatives and peer relationships are highlighted as supportive, not competitive, engagements. The PAL approach highlights the benefit of collaborative professional learning.

“Feeling more academic now”: Doctoral stories of becoming an academic

It is commonly believed that the doctorate prepares students for academic careers. While there is wide ranging literature about the development of doctoral students as researchers, preparation for the other aspects of academic careers, e.g. teaching, is mostly absent from the discussion. This qualitative longitudinal study investigated the shift from doctoral identities to academic identities using narrative inquiry. It examined the narratives of 15 doctoral students from two large Australian universities, who were approaching thesis submission and who aspired to academic employment. Two contrasting stories illuminated in-depth accounts of how academic identities were developed and experienced. Students defined their identities and assessed their academic development in relation to their perceived ‘market value’ in academia. To increase their employability, they engaged in university teaching and focused on strategic networking. Students regarded researcher development as the main focus of the doctorate as being insufficient for an academic career. This paper argues that doctoral education needs to facilitate student agency, encourage synergies between teaching and research, and support non-academic work experiences to strengthen researcher identity development.

Student success in teams: intervention, cohesion and performance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to design and test an online team intervention for university students, focusing on communication, leadership and team processes, to influence team cohesion and subsequently team assignment performance. It was administered twice as a formative feedback measure and once as a summative evaluation measure across a semester.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data were collected from 154 university students across four management modules in a large Australian university. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses and open-ended questions were used to understand why the team intervention was effective.FindingsThe results showed that the implementation of an effective team intervention leads to higher levels of team cohesion and subsequently team performance. Open-ended responses revealed that the team intervention caused students to develop team-based sills and increase regular contributions.Practical implicationsIn order to develop positive team behaviours amongst students in group assignments and increase the effectiveness of team-based learning activities, educators should implement a regular and process focused team contribution intervention, like the one proposed in this study.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the team intervention literature by drawing on the social information processing perspective, to demonstrate how an intervention that is based on the students’ social processing, task focused, regular implementation and formative feedback has a salient effect over team cohesion.

What happens to doctoral supervision when university departments have high levels of precarious academic employment?: An Australian case study

ABSTRACTAttention to precarious employment in higher education settings been growing in the last two decades. Discussion of this form of employment in higher education has focused on impacts on the quality of teaching and student experience, particularly in undergraduate courses where the majority of casual staff are employed. However, little has been written about the impact of precarity on doctoral supervision. This article reports on a case study into supervision of doctoral studies in Australia. The study highlights the effects of precarious employment on doctoral supervision in a research-only department of a large Australian university. Working from grounded theory, in-depth interviews were conducted with participants from different levels of responsibility within the department (n = 4). Findings indicate that precarious employment presents challenges to the provision of quality supervision. The policy for team supervision mitigates the impact for students, but has career development impacts for short-term contract and postdoctoral researchers.

International students’ experience in Australian higher education: can we do better?

Australia has been very successful in recruiting international students. The Australian government regularly reports students’ high levels of satisfaction with their educational experiences; however, there is also evidence of some dissatisfaction with regard to social and educational experiences. This paper explores the extent to which universities are meeting the social and educational needs of international students by analysing their experiences through the two dominate rationales in international education, namely neoliberal and cosmopolitan rationales. It discusses findings from a project examining the perceptions and experiences of international students at a large metropolitan Australian university. The study was conducted in two phases: an online questionnaire, followed by focus group interviews. The findings indicate that while international students might rate their overall satisfaction as high on questionnaires, deeper analysis through focus groups highlights the lack of social integration and belongingness that international students perceive. These results challenge universities to innovate their practices in order to develop and integrate cosmopolitan experiences that not only may benefit students but also assist in sustaining the neoliberal rationale of the sector.

Decolonising the curriculum: using graduate qualities to embed Indigenous knowledges at the academic cultural interface

ABSTRACTThe context of this paper is a strategy at a large Australian university that involves embedding a new graduate quality ‘cultural competence’ and lifting the profile of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, experiences and histories. It has been argued that the inclusion of Indigenous knowledges is essential for the decolonisation of our higher education institutions. Decolonisation involves removing the barriers that have silenced non-Western voices in our ‘multi-cultural’ higher education system and combatting the epistemic injustices of a system dominated by Western thought. In this paper, we suggest that our university’s suite of graduate qualities can provide a locus for work at the cultural interface between Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledges. While these qualities may be firmly embedded within Western ways of knowing, being and doing, they can nonetheless be used to interrogate and revisit Western disciplinary knowledge construction and pedagogy so as to help bring about institutional change.

Seeking Justice through Interdisciplinary Environmental Education at Postgraduate Level: Lessons from Melbourne, Australia

Masters degrees that offer a broad understanding of environmental issues have been taught in universities since the 1960s. As the problems, they address have increased in severity and become global in scale and reach, higher education offerings have flourished accordingly. Today, environmental Masters degrees offer a variety of specializations, are often embedded within university environmental institutes or centers, and they lead thousands of students into environmental careers, as activists, advocates, policymakers, technicians, resource managers, and researchers. They provide an opportunity to understand and critically debate mainstream concepts, like sustainability, the green economy, ecological resilience, environmental services, and good governance. The severity of environmental crises also requires a more radical curriculum: critiques of economic growth (including green growth), social and environmental justice, and the political ecology of unequal access to resources. In light of these complex demands and growing opportunities for environmental programs to address social and environmental justice, we discuss a unique and successful model for interdisciplinary environmental Masters teaching at a large Australian university that has juggled promotion of justice in its program along with meeting financial targets imposed by the neoliberal regime prevalent in Australia's underfunded higher education sector. The program has a distinctive approach to interdisciplinary learning, permitting a very wide range of student choice, and unified teaching efforts across ten Faculties. This has required agile administration, and strong defense of an unusual approach to the management of environmental pedagogy. The Master of Environment program illustrates how taught postgraduate programs can offer an alternative space for personal, institutional and environmental commitment to social and environmental justice.

A Partnership Approach to Scaling Up Student-Staff Partnership at a Large Research-Intensive University

This case study describes a project that undertook the endeavour of coherently and systematically scaling up partnership practices at a large Australian research-intensive university. We describe an authentic partnership approach to designing a university-wide SaP program drawing on the collective innovation and creativity of over eighty students and staff working in partnership. We present, based on structured reflective narratives, critical factors for driving institutional partnership change in our context. This case study thus provides a useful example for other practitioners considering similar initiatives that aim to take an inclusive approach to scaling-up partnership processes in higher education.

Supporting LGBTIQ+ students in higher education in Australia: Diversity, inclusion and visibility

Objective: Using student narratives of experiences of exclusion and non-inclusion at university, this paper builds an evidence base for, and explores ways in which universities can respond to, the contemporary concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual, intersex and queer/questioning (LGBTIQ+) undergraduate students. Design: Qualitative exploratory study of undergraduate students who identify as LGBTIQ+ regarding their experiences of exclusion and non-inclusion at university. Setting: Large metropolitan university in Australia. Methods: Sixteen semi-formal interviews with undergraduate students who identify as LGBTIQ+ attending a large Australian university. Data were analysed using phenomenological analysis. Results: Students indicated university-level gaps in service provision and failures to support them in their attempts to access, or create opportunities to access, information regarding sexual and mental health and improve inclusion. They also indicated the importance of queer visibility and its impact in creating a positive experience for LGBTIQ+ members of a campus community. Conclusions: Universities should be aware of the need for formalised diversity and inclusion programmes to tackle contemporary experiences of exclusion. Universities can harness and support student initiatives to better serve the LGBTIQ+ campus community, responding to gaps in knowledge, resources and service needs. These gaps include resources and information regarding sexual health, the provision of gender-neutral toilets and other facilities, and support for peer-led programmes to enhance inclusion. Universities should help increase the visibility of a diverse queer presence on campus to help prevent experiences of exclusion.

Older women, deeper learning, and greater satisfaction at university: Age and gender predict university students’ learning approach and degree satisfaction.

The present study explored the interactive effect of age and gender in predicting surface and deep learning approaches. It also investigated how these variables related to degree satisfaction. Participants were 983 undergraduate students at a large public Australian university. They completed a research survey either online or on paper. Consistent with previous research, age was a positive predictor of both surface and deep learning. However, gender moderated this age effect in the case of deep learning: Age predicted deep learning more strongly among women and not among men. Furthermore, age positively predicted degree satisfaction among women but not among men, and deep learning mediated this moderation effect. Hence, older female students showed the greatest deep learning in the present sample, and this effect explained their greater satisfaction with their degree. The implications of these findings for pedagogical practices and institutional policy are considered

Indoor volatile organic compounds at an Australian university

This study investigates volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at a large Australian university, within locations of campus services, restrooms, renovated offices, a green building, meeting areas, and classrooms. Analysis of 41 VOCs across 20 locations reveals indoor concentrations higher than outdoor concentrations for 97% of all VOC measurements (493 unique comparisons). Hazardous air pollutants (formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, and xylenes) were up to an order of magnitude higher indoors than outdoors, and at the highest combined geometric mean concentrations in classrooms (51.6 μg/m3), renovated offices (42.8 μg/m3), and a green building (23.0 μg/m3). Further, d-limonene, ethanol, hexaldehyde, β-pinene, and isobutane were up to two orders of magnitude higher indoors than outdoors. The most prevalent VOCs (e.g., ethanol, d-limonene, and formaldehyde) have links with building materials, furnishings, and fragranced consumer products such as air fresheners and cleaning supplies. Highest indoor to outdoor concentration (I/O) ratios of formaldehyde (27), toluene (9), p-xylene (12), and m-xylene (11) were in a green building; highest of benzene (6) in renovated offices; and highest of o-xylene (9) in meeting areas. Results from this study are consistent with findings from similar international studies and suggest that university indoor environments may be important sources of pollutants.

The capabilities that count for early professional success in Pharmacy: A case study of graduates, employer and course teaching team perspectives

This study gathered and analysed the perceptions of graduates, employers, and the course team regarding graduate capabilities required for early professional success in pharmacy and the extent to which these capabilities are demonstrated in new graduates. The Graduate Employability Indicator (GEI) surveys were administered online to gather stakeholders’ perceptions about the Bachelor of Pharmacy offered at a large Australian university. The GEI asks graduates the extent to which their course experience contributed to achievement of the capabilities, and asks employers and course teams about the extent to which new graduates demonstrated the capabilities. This study also assessed the incentives and disincentives of the course team for assisting to develop work-related skills, attributes and personal qualities. In total, 95 graduates, 109 employers and 42 members of the course team participated in the survey. The findings indicated that graduates preferred earlier professional placement in the course. Employers identified communication and professional skills as the most useful capabilities for new graduates. Members of the course team identified benefits to the students, industry and university as the main incentives for developing graduate employability. Both employers and course team members perceived the use of technology demonstrated by the graduates as important, however the graduates perceived this as much less important compared to other capabilities This study provided an evidence-based approach to engage the course team in curriculum renewal for the Bachelor of Pharmacy program. Data collected using the GEI tool provided valuable information for reshaping the curriculum structure.