Vol. 18 No. 1 (2021)
Published:
1 January 2021
Articles
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Using Peer Assisted Learning to improve academic engagement and progression of first year online law students
The University of Southern Queensland’s online study environment continues to grow with over 16,000 students studying online. Pre-Covid-19, online enrolments typically represent around 67% of all students studying at USQ. This article
The University of Southern Queensland’s online study environment continues to grow with over 16,000 students studying online. Pre-Covid-19, online enrolments typically represent around 67% of all students studying at USQ. This article usefully analyses quantitative data in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot of an online peer-assisted learning program for first-year Law students. The article asks whether a customised online Meet-Up program can objectively enhance student engagement and academic performance in a first-year law course. Results from the pilot were positive and are a productive contribution to the literature on online peer-assisted learning.
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The higher degree by research student as ‘master’: Utilising a design thinking approach to improve learner experience in higher degree research supervision
This article presents a work-based learning and research approach to professional postgraduate education specifically in the case of Higher Degree by Research (HDR) programs. It highlights a prototype of the Cohort-based Advisory Team
This article presents a work-based learning and research approach to professional postgraduate education specifically in the case of Higher Degree by Research (HDR) programs. It highlights a prototype of the Cohort-based Advisory Team (CAT) model as a useful strategy. The authors propose that a design thinking approach that empathises with the student experience as the “Master” of the design reveals insights that may inform future formal higher education in the professions. An overview of the design thinking process associated with the Professional Studies programs as developed at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) is provided. Case accounts of HDR students in the law and engineering disciplines provide exploratory evidence of the student experience. The article concludes that there is a case to be made to professional associations that this form of professional development (work-based learning and research) should be recognised in terms of the contributions it makes to the knowledge, skills and abilities of graduates.
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When the guardian locks the gate
There are many examples of the regulatory guardian standing at the entry gate of professional life. None have infiltrated so expansively into the education and entry of a profession as the Office of the Migration Agent Registration
There are many examples of the regulatory guardian standing at the entry gate of professional life. None have infiltrated so expansively into the education and entry of a profession as the Office of the Migration Agent Registration Authority (OMARA). Since 2006 the OMARA has dictated the course content requirements for the prescribed qualification of migration agents, determined and regulated the exams to be taken by students within each university, and consistently imposed a competency-based education framework that stifles the education and preparation agents need for practice. Australian migration agents fall into a unique space within legal work. They are not lawyers, nor are they clerks; instead, section 276 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) gives them the authority to provide immigration assistance to prospective migrants, migrants moving to permanency and citizenship, migrants who have compliance concerns, and asylum seekers, refugees, and those with no legal status. The Migration Act draws a line between migration agents’ work and that of lawyers who provide legal assistance regarding immigration. Both lawyers and graduates with the prescribed qualification can register as migration agents. In 2017 the prescribed qualification for migration agents was changed to a Graduate Diploma to be undertaken at specific universities that had been awarded a government tender to provide the course. In addition, the OMARA designated a stand-alone pre-registration exam to be taken by graduates within a year of the completion of their Graduate Certificate. This exam is currently delivered by one university that is prevented by the OMARA from discussing the course work or exam with the university providers. The exam has been held three times since the change to the qualification was made in 2017. One hundred and thirty-one graduates have sat the exam during that time, and 13 have passed. The extraordinary fail rate of 87% has called into question both the exam and the efficacy of the universities’ teaching. Graduates have considered taking class actions against the provider of the exam, and universities have sought government intervention to assist their students. This article examines the role the OMARA, as the regulator, has played in the education and regulation of migration agents and considers the impact politicisation has had on the development of the education regime.
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Work-Integrated Learning: The new professional apprenticeship?
This article considers the intersection between two major themes in university policy: the improvement of participation by rural and regional communities and the dimension of graduate employability. It argues that work-integrated learning
This article considers the intersection between two major themes in university policy: the improvement of participation by rural and regional communities and the dimension of graduate employability. It argues that work-integrated learning has the potential to address both themes, but that the development of an apprenticeship model for prestige degrees such as law may deliver additional benefits to rural and regional student engagement. It considers a radical approach to employability by the reintroduction of the apprenticeship approach in disciplines of law and accounting specifically to assist scaffolding of learning for rural and regional students. It considers the modern context of university education and the implications of an expanded university system for delivering employability skills. The expansion of university education has not delivered consistent improvements in participation among rural and regional populations, and it is hypothesised that the visible integration of work-integrated learning has the capacity to address this deficit. However, it is argued that these measures should be supplemented by an innovative program of modern apprenticeships in prestige degrees; such a program could address both participation and employability outcomes. The article contributes to the literature by making explicit the links between the visibility of prestige occupational pathways to rural and regional students, the affective concerns of potential students making the choice to undertake higher education, and the scaffolding of skills and knowledge. It recommends further research in the form of a pilot integration of an apprenticeship model within a university program, but notes the current funding, discipline, and systemic barriers to this process in the current university system in Australia.
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Student ‘voice’ and higher education assessment: Is it all about the money?
University administered Student Evaluation of Teaching surveys, while used primarily by educators and their managers to review and improve the quality of courses and teaching, can also be used by universities’ marketing campaigns and
University administered Student Evaluation of Teaching surveys, while used primarily by educators and their managers to review and improve the quality of courses and teaching, can also be used by universities’ marketing campaigns and websites as a means of stressing their institution’s student friendliness and responsiveness to students’ needs. Changes in assessment practices is one way that tertiary institutions are responding to students’ preferences. However, there is a lack of understanding of the underlying factors that moderate decisions about assessment changes. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether or not a meaningful body of research concerning student ‘choice’ in higher education assessment exists, and how the extent of student ‘choice’ may change in the future. Emphasis has been placed on the assessment methods adopted in law and professional degrees in Australia. However, a broad review of international research from other relevant higher education discipline areas has also been undertaken in this paper.
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Designing a peer-led approach to teaching review and enhancement in academia
One of the challenges of 21st-century academia is meeting the often-competing demands from students, universities, and professional associations. Among many diversities, students at regional universities, such as the University of the
One of the challenges of 21st-century academia is meeting the often-competing demands from students, universities, and professional associations. Among many diversities, students at regional universities, such as the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), often have higher rates of first-in-family learners than metropolitan counterparts. Law academics at regional universities, then, must address the challenges of maintaining high-quality teaching to fulfil student satisfaction for a diverse student demographic, while both meeting university and professional requirements and supporting students’ personal satisfaction. One avenue to support academics in enhancing teaching practices while aligning with university and professional obligations is through peer discussion, review, and enhancement of learning and teaching practice. Peer discussion, enhancement, and review of learning and teaching practice occurs regularly on an informal basis in most academic settings. However, opportunities to engage in structured and meaningful peer review and enhancement of teaching are neither prevalent nor popular. Academic staff in the School of Law and Criminology (SLC) at USC instigated and developed an interdisciplinary, formalised framework for enhancing teaching and learning practice within the SLC, in accordance with the SLC’s mission: to provide a personal, inspiring, and rigorous learning environment that empowers graduates to be career- and future-ready and able to make significant contributions to their communities. This framework, termed Peer Review and Enhancement of Practice (PREP), delivers a teaching-enhancement best-practice structure that is informed by evidence-based pedagogy and involves shared experience, self-reflection, and peer review. PREP is innovative in nature through its ground-up approach, which is driven by academic staff within the SLC, to create a collaborative space that is relevant and suitable for academic staff to address learning and teaching challenges and opportunities. Accordingly, PREP is flexible, voluntary, and organic, tailored to suit the needs and wants of academic staff. PREP also provides an opportunity for academic staff to develop portfolios that collate authentic evidence of effective learning and teaching
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Taking an action reflective assessment approach when teaching dispute management
Encouraging life-long learner skills and preparing students for a new style of lawyering in the 21st Century to meet changing needs requires approaching teaching in renewed ways. This paper describes the action reflection learning approach
Encouraging life-long learner skills and preparing students for a new style of lawyering in the 21st Century to meet changing needs requires approaching teaching in renewed ways. This paper describes the action reflection learning approach adopted when teaching a mediation law course in an Australian law school. The approach and outcomes are described with specific attention to how this style of teaching enriches the student experience. Student reflections describe the teaching method as having developed their skills, learning and appreciation of a new conflict resolution advocacy style.