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Teaching in universities can be a solitary pursuit, with academics designing and delivering learning and teaching experiences, and even units, in relative isolation. Even course design can involve only a small, discipline-specific team that rarely extends to colleagues outside their specialisation. The challenges and possibilities provided by introduction of work integrated learning (WIL) to universities offer an unprecedented opportunity for staff to share knowledge and experience across disciplines to enhance student learning. This paper focuses on an opportunity for such cross-discipline collaboration on the issues of WIL through a roundtable event at the University of Tasmania. The roundtable allowed staff from across the institution to share successes, challenges and resources and then to make recommendations to address identified issues.

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The University of Tasmania (UTAS), like many of its mainland counterparts, is increasingly paying attention to issues of transition and the student first year experience. One initiative, the First Year Teaching Forum, devotes a day to staff (academic and general), from all campuses, to meet together to consider, discuss and pose solutions to first year issues. In 2008, staff attending the forum were allocated to interdisciplinary teams and asked to draw on their own experiences to propose models for first year at UTAS. The resulting models have been analysed to outline the major themes that emerged with a view to identifying initiatives and strategies that could be considered for future implementation.

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HERDSA offers an annual international conference on topical teaching and learning issues with opportunities to meet colleagues with similar interests, exchange ideas about teaching and learning and learn about current developments from experienced researchers and practitioners.

Papers in this volume include: Peer assisted teaching scheme: a way of creating, sustaining and developing new connections / A. Carbone; Intercultural interactions in university tutorials: a Bourdieusian analysis / C. Colvin, F. Fozdar, and S. Volet; Assessment of mechanical engineering final year projects using fuzzy multi-attribute utility theory / C. Dong; Student and staff perceptions of fieldwork experiences: assessing authentic learning / S. Ferns and J-A. Pegden; Establishing a regional enabling pilot programme through university-community engagement / M. Fleming, B. Cram, G. London, and C. Kayrooz; Using web-enhanced learning to connect with learners: student perceptions / K. Flowers, N. Gamble, M. Nebauer, T. Harding, and P. Schulz; A case study on providing international students the opportunity to enhance performance through online engagement / R. Gill, E. Verezub and X. Wang.

Connections through dis-identifications: the use of Cultural and Political Vignettes (CPVs) in teacher education / A. Goriss-Hunter; Connecting theory and practice: exploring the use of personal experiences in programme design / E. Govers; Reflective connections in an undergraduate architecture program / J. Grellier and L. Mackintosh; The emergence of 'I', 'you' and 'us' identities for, in and through work placements / K. Henschke; Why is it important for higher education to connect with the [vocational education and training] VET sector? / A. Langworthy and S. Johns; Undergraduate students' experience of research: findings from a cross-disciplinary analysis of students' perceptions / R. Lee, P. Myatt and G. Joughin; Enhancing intercultural competence among pharmacy students through the Excell Program / S. Maganlal, R. Hills, S. McMillan, M. Barker, N. Blauberg, and L. Shallcross.

Interdisciplinary threshold concepts in engineering / S. A. Male, A. L. Guzzomi and C. A. Baillie; Supporting and promoting reflective thinking processes in an undergraduate Medical Imaging program / S. Maresse, J. McKay and J. Grellier; A blind spot in higher education research?: a call for the explicit use of qualitative survey validation methods / C. McCormack; Using 'core academic literacy' course results to create a profile for potentially 'at risk' students / K. McNaught and F. McIntyre; The NAME four factor model for engaging students in academic support services / K. McNaught and E. Beal; A model promoting conceptual change in higher education: an integrated approach / T. Olsson and T. Roxa; Students, faculty and local community health professionals learning together / P. Paliadelis, I. Stupans, L. Turner, M. Puxty, A. Fagan, and J. Lea.

Building community, educational attainment and university aspirations through university-school mentoring partnerships / K. Pearce; Connecting research with carnival: developing critical business education through reflective writing / V. Pollard; Multiple-choice questionnaires and the success of law students: results of a preliminary evaluation / J. Prichard; Academic expatriation: an investigation into the importance of connections when entering expatriate life / K. Sanderson; The connection of reflective practice to management competency through a business simulation / M. Segon and C. Booth; Student engagement: what is stopping our international students from getting it? / K. Stratilas and J. Yong; How do we connect and engage students, learning in a distance mode, to develop verbal communication skills? / I. Stupans and L. Orwin.

Social ties as key knowledge transfer agents between Indonesian and Australian universities: perspectives from an Indonesian university / A. Sutrisno, Lisana, and H. Pillay; The potency of interdisciplinary collaboration to empower constructive dissenters / C. Symons, L. Almberg, E. Goh and J. McGowan; Graduate employability: interpretation and expectation / T. T. Tran; Outcomes and evaluations: is there a relationship between indicators of student success and student evaluations of learning? / B. Tucker, J-A. Pegden and J. Yorke; Understanding academic identity conflicts in the public university: importance of work ideologies / R. Winter and W. O'Donohue; Plagiarism across the academic disciplines / C. Zimitat; Connecting with the African-student diaspora in Australian higher education / C. Zufferey and D. Wache. Show less

The University of Tasmania's (UTAS) UniStart program is a pre- and early-semester academic transition support program available to all [Higher Education Contribution Scheme] HECs-eligible incoming students. The aim of the program is to nurture critical thinking and independent study skills in commencing students. UniStart has been offered to commencing UTAS students for over 10 years, with a significant increase both in enrolments and in the flexibility of delivery over recent years. Evaluation of the program indicates that students feel more confident and prepared for their academic studies after undertaking the program and that the majority of students affirm, later in the year, that they have utilised and applied the skills developed in UniStart during their core studies. The program represents an important component of the university's approach to supporting the first-year experience and student transition.

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This seed project initiative addressed an identified gap in Australian higher education between awareness of open educational practices (OEP) and implementation of OEP, particularly the production, adaptation and use of open educational resources (OER) to support the design of innovative, engaging and agile curriculum. In response, [the authors] aimed to design, develop, pilot and evaluate a free, open and online professional development course focused on supporting curriculum design in higher education. The specific aim of the course - Curriculum design for open education (CD4OE) - is to develop the capacity of academics in Australia to adopt and incorporate OER and OEP into curriculum development, for more effective and efficient learning and teaching across the sector.

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The outbreak of coronavirus disease [2019] (COVID-19) has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) and the virus has now spread to each State and Territory in Australia. To help contain the spread of COVID-19 a significant number of public, Catholic and independent schools have implemented home-based, online and offline learning. It is already clear that nationally, children and young people are experiencing learning losses. This means that there will not be the expected cognitive gains for these students over the period of learning at home. These losses will cause a delay in cognitive gain and achievement in some students and result in others being lost to the education system. The reason for these losses is that many families lack the physical spaces, technology and other resources to support learning at home. Additionally, many parents and caregivers lack the time needed to support their children's learning. This is occurring irrespective of socio-economic status, with full-time waged and sole parent-waged families reporting difficulties. The scope of this enquiry was based on one central question: What are the impacts of learning at home during COVID-19 for vulnerable young Australians?

Key findings: (1) There are a large number of Australian children and young people who are vulnerable to adverse effects on their educational outcomes, nutrition, physical movement, social, and emotional wellbeing by being physically disconnected from school. This number is estimated to be 46 per cent of the student population; (2) There is an urgent need to reconnect students, especially early-years and vulnerable students, to the physical context of school-based learning to support learning and wellbeing outcomes; (3) Children and young people are experiencing learning loss over the period of learning at home. This delay in cognitive gain and achievement is more difficult to recover for some cohorts of students, and for others may result in them being lost to the education system; (4) Concurrently there is a need to invest rapidly in developing significant capability in schools to deliver education both online and on-site; and (5) Readjustment on return to school will be challenging for many students, especially those who are impacted by trauma, or who have been newly exposed to trauma or impacts of poverty as a result of COVID-19.

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This article addresses the issue of graduate employability in higher education in Vietnam. It draws on the findings of a doctoral research dissertation on enhancing graduate employability and aims to examine the contrasting interpretations and expectations of students, recent graduates and employers regarding workplace requirements in Vietnam. It is suggested that the skills agenda that has generally been used to generate the 'work readiness' of university students does not adequately take account of the important issue of identity of both students and employers nor does it consider the contextual relationship of power that surrounds and is embedded within the students' practices to build up their employability assets. A contrasting perspective is used to present debates about 'what is needed for graduates to be employable' in the specific context and culture of Vietnam. It is suggested that in Vietnam, not only do work-related skills mater, but also that there is a mismatch between the supply factors and the demand factors that needs to be addressed in order to bridge the gap between higher education training and the labour market in Vietnam.

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The University of Tasmania's Future Students Division has commissioned the Peter Underwood Centre to undertake a study which seeks insights into the post-school intentions of Tasmanian Year 10, 11 and 12 students from all school sectors. The project builds on a 2016 study, 'Understanding education and career pathways for young Tasmanians' [report available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 148.402]. The overarching research question is: Why do Tasmanian school students intend to pursue particular post-school pathways? This interim report focuses on Phase Three of the research, presenting findings from analysis of data from the Office of Tasmanian Assessment, Standards and Certification (TASC) and from the University of Tasmania.

Across 2018 and 2019, TASC awarded outstanding achievement in vocational education and training (VET) Awards to 56 Tasmanian Certificate of Education (TCE) graduates: 44 from Government schools, 10 from Catholic schools, and five from Independent schools. In addition, TASC awarded outstanding achievement Academic Awards to 59 TCE graduates: 26 from Government schools, six from Catholic schools, and 27 from Independent schools. Almost all Academic Award recipients planned on going to university either in the year after completing high school or following a gap year. VET Award recipients post-school pathways had more diverse plans, and these often included employment - on its own or in combination with study.

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More than ever, pharmacy graduates require broad-ranging knowledge, skills and attitudes (competency) to enable them to be responsive and adaptable professionals in a rapidly changing Australian healthcare system - a system reliant on individuals working in interdisciplinary teams managing an increasing chronic health burden. These workplace competencies are declared through pharmacists' registration requirements and the National Competency Standards Framework for Pharmacists in Australia (NCS). To ensure practice readiness, learning must be grounded in the essential competencies defined by the profession. The Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency and Australian Pharmacy Council mandate that Australian pharmacy courses evidence that the NCS inform their curricula. Literature suggests international pharmacy curricula are also informed by competency standards. Interviews with key stakeholders were analysed using thematic analysis to offer an insight into Australian pharmacy educators' perspectives on the current use, enablers of and barriers to use of the NCS. The authors' resulting recommendations may prove useful in informing the renewal of the NCS and improve their usability for all members of the pharmacy ecosystem, including educators.

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This paper outlines a professional development framework for teachers in higher education, based on the United Kingdom Professional Standards Framework. The framework outlined in this paper has been designed to align with a range of other evolving models of tertiary teaching standards, extending these to identify performance indicators at three different levels of operation: teaching classes, coordinating units, and leading programs. The model is generic in terms of its overall design, but explicitly incorporates disciplinarity within the levels of operation to enable application to a variety of fields. The way in which this framework will be tailored for teaching mathematical sciences as part of an Australian Learning and Teaching Council Project is also discussed.

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