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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

Teachers have multiple roles to perform nowadays. To fulfil their roles professionally, teachers need to be competent in their responsibilities towards their students inside and outside the classroom. One important teacher role inside and outside the classroom is to provide guidance and counselling to students. This paper has two aims. First, it discusses the importance of guidance and counselling training for teachers. The second aim of this paper is to investigate guidance and counselling training needs for teachers through students taking an innovative guidance and counselling component in a pre-service undergraduate teacher preparation program. This course component has been tried out with four cohorts of English Language Studies and English Language Teaching double-honours degree students. Using qualitative analysis of students' responses in a personal reflection activity in the latest cohort, the present study found that students have various training needs, and perceived strengths and impeding issues in relation to carrying out the guidance and counselling role at school. The paper ends with discussions on directions for future teacher training and research.

Published abstract. Show less

The large range of jobs that Malaysian undergraduates of foreign languages are often employed in after completion of their studies (education, tourism, banking, business, management, etc.) is not necessarily related to their major field of study. This situation often makes it difficult for lecturers to develop a comprehensive professional training for their benefit. In the early 2010s, unemployment rates of Malaysian undergraduates were increasing, although the job market was quite flexible. In order to improve students' employability, Malaysian universities decided to restructure their curricula. Industrial training, or Latihan Industri (LI), became a new mandatory requirement for all future undergraduates of the new programmes from 2011. LI aims to match students' academic training with the needs of the private sector. However, most companies were not prepared to accept the first influx of trainees from all types of programmes (sciences, social sciences or the humanities) in 2014. Consequently, many students could not find an appropriate LI position in the field they were studying, and were placed in positions for which they were poorly prepared.

At the end of their LI, students had to submit a logbook of their activities as well as provide a final report in which they were asked to evaluate their experiences. A content analysis of these reports from four foreign language students who did their LI in different sectors (finance, education, industry and retail) provides interesting insights into the different skills required by Malaysian employers, irrespective of their sector of activity. The analysis of the reports raises the question of the adequacy of the academic training of foreign language students for the Malaysian job market, and the transferability of their acquired language skills to their new work environment.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

This paper explores the possibility and significance of higher education convergence within the China-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Free Trade Area (CAFTA) in terms of its economic, social, cultural status and external pressure. Existing studies on the Bologna Process show that due to economic, social and cultural diversity, different regions have interpreted the Bologna Process differently. For the CAFTA, higher education is facing more severe challenges compared to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The lack of strong regional identity, enormous outflows of students and consequent high opportunity cost all suggest that higher education convergence may not simply be desirable but also essential for the CAFTA. Moreover, the common mission of increasing the tertiary education enrolment rate and the similarity of higher education structure could aid the facilitation of this process in the early stage. Although the current situation indicates that the CAFTA should launch such an educational reform, concrete steps and innovative policy are needed to make it happen.

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This review aims to analyse how employment, social inclusion and education and training in a lifelong learning perspective contribute to the development of human resources in Turkey in line with the thematic priorities of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) on human resources development and the remit of the European Training Foundation (ETF).

Excerpt from publication. Show less

The competencies of graphic design graduates are always a concern for design educators and industry professionals. However, limited evidence has been offered by past studies on the existence of a set of competency standards for new entrants to graphic design profession. Also, there seems to exist a very few studies on the tool used to measure the graduates' competency levels that can be found from the literature review. This paper intends to describe a conceptual framework used to develop a model and instrument for competency assessment of graphic design graduates in the context of Malaysia. The conceptual framework described in this paper will include the factors that constantly affect the competencies (knowledge, skills, personal traits, self-concept, and motives) of graphic design graduates.

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Globally, access to higher education has increased, but inequalities by socio-economic background remain. This article explores the relationship between early schooling opportunities (and learning) and progression into higher education in four low and middle-income countries. We analyse data from the Young Lives longitudinal study, following cohorts of young people from age 5 to 22 in four country settings: Ethiopia, Peru, Vietnam and India. We reveal wide variability in higher education participation between the four countries, with a common pattern of a very strong association between early learning and later higher education participation, even after allowing for a range of demographic characteristics. Whilst early learning is important in predicting later higher education participation, we also find that significant barriers to higher education participation remain for low socio-economic status groups, even if they initially show good levels of learning. We track the trajectories of children who have initial good levels of learning, and hence arguably the potential to progress to higher education, and assess the extent to which socio-economic background plays a mediating role in these trajectories.

Pupils with initially good levels of learning at primary school age, but who are from poor backgrounds, fall back in terms of their relative attainment during secondary schooling years. This implies that socio-economic status continues to be a barrier to educational attainment throughout these children's lives. We discuss the implications of these findings for policy initiatives aimed at narrowing inequalities in higher education access in poorer countries.

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The Australian Council of Educational Research (ACER), established in 1930, is an independent educational research organisation. It provides research, both within Australia and internationally, and creates and disseminates knowledge and tools that can be used to improve learning. This publication highlights a number of research projects undertaken by ACER during 2001/2002. They are: Room for improvement in civic education; Reform of Indonesia's education system; Working with universities to enhance selection; Using student achievement data to improve learning; Online school assessment resources; Professional development standards for teachers of science; Improving numeracy learning; Developing lifelong learning in secondary schools; Applying ACER expertise to driving tests. Show less

This chapter provides an insight to the changes that have taken place in higher education in China in the 1990s. According to the author, China’s education system has changed from a ‘social institution’ aimed at the ideological remoulding of youth to an ‘enterprise’ responding to the demands of a market-oriented economy.

The monograph from which this chapter is taken can be found at TD/TNC 64.431. Individual chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 64.432 to TD/TNC 64.442. Show less

In the past few decades, the internationalisation of higher education has become an increasingly popular trend across different parts of the globe. The fierce global competition and the aggravating unemployment rate, coupled with low teaching and research quality revealed by universities in mainland China, have inevitably compelled a growing number of Chinese students, in particular the financially-able ones, to pursue higher education overseas or to enrol in transnational higher education offered in mainland China. Realising the severe problem of 'brain drain' and having a strong conviction to transform its higher education system to become more international for enhancing the global competitiveness of its higher education system, the Chinese government has made different attempts to enhance higher education quality by learning and incorporating new ideas and practices from overseas institutions, particularly encouraging the development of transnational higher education to change the higher education landscape.

With particular reference to examining the way these students evaluate their future prospects in choosing different alternatives for further studies in higher education, this study sets out against the context briefly outlined above to critically analyse the motivation of students who choose to study abroad or enrol in Sino-foreign cooperation universities. This study also discusses the extent to which the internationalisation of higher education would affect the situations of 'brain drain' and graduate employment in China.

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