We surveyed first year students at the start and at the end of their first semester of university biology (n = 285) as to their approaches to study ("surface", "deep") and their conceptions of biology ("fragmented", "cohesive"). Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to group students who responded similarly…

In a context of intensified globalisation, knowledge diaspora as "trans-national human capital" have become increasingly valuable to society. With an awareness of a need for more empirical studies especially in Australia, this article concentrates on a group of academics who were working at a major university in Australia and came…

A major transformation of Chinese higher education (HE) has taken place over the past decade--China has reshaped its higher education sector from elite to mass education with the number of graduates having quadrupled to three million a year over six years. China is exceptional among lower income countries in using tertiary education as a…

Indigenous academic outcomes are in many ways negotiated at the interface between student spatialities--including their residential patterns and choices--and the mainstream school system. The current model of education delivery rewards regular attendance at well resourced schools. Conversely, sporadic interactions with under-resourced schools…

This article presents the outcomes of recent research into adult education programs and experiences in the Shire of Campaspe, a region in northern Victoria. Research data of people from diverse cultural backgrounds reveal how individuals can utilize adult education as a space to explore their own social and cultural isolation in a regional…

This report focuses on a group of young people who were living in non-metropolitan areas in their final years of secondary school, and the pathways they followed in the years following secondary school, including their geographic mobility and participation in education, training and employment. Rural communities have long felt concern about the…

This paper reviews previous social science knowledge about non-English speaking background (NESB) immigrant communities in rural Australia with the aim of systematising what has been a diverse and fragmented literature. We propose a number of unifying themes which suggest the outlines of an emerging social science of ethnic minorities in rural…