Education

For many of us, January was a time for beach holidays. For academics, it was a time for writing applications for the annual competitive research grant rounds. The stakes are high. Last year, less than 22 per cent of Australian Research Council Discovery Project applications were successful. For tenured academics,…

All research undertaken at universities must first be reviewed and approved by a human research ethics committee. The national ethics application form provides an opportunity for researchers to reflect upon the ethical issues related to their research, particularly the impact it may have on participants. The prevailing view among researchers…

Monash University Gippsland and Ballarat University are joining forces to become a regional university. One name being considered is 'Federation University'. Imagine politely asking students where they are studying and they reply "FU". First published as a letter to The Age in 2013

THE culture of publish or perish is having a negative effect on research ethics as it becomes increasingly common for academics to put their names on articles despite not having made a significant intellectual contribution. It seems senior academics expect to be named on articles, irrespective of their input. This…

Questions are often asked about the quality of education for overseas students at Australian universities. Do different assessment standards apply to overseas students? Are overseas students treated as "cash cows"? These questions also need to be asked when Australian university courses are taught in overseas campuses. I recently taught a…

Newer universities are blitzing our academic landscapes. Swinburne University has introduced a five minute ‘datablitz’ in which “bite-sized information” is presented in every day language. Similar bite-sized information was undoubtedly on the menu at Deakin University’s media roundtable at the RACV club. A mediablitz is also renowned for the five-minute-grab.…

Until recently, it would have been unthinkable for academic staff at any university to attend seminars on ‘Marketing Strategies’ or ‘How to use the university logo’. Now such corporate activities are common in our public universities, particularly the newer universities. Debates about the changes within our public universities have concentrated…