Advanced practitioner skill development has become an important focus in health service delivery as increasingly complex consumer needs, practice environments and national professional registration requirements impact on professional work practices. Increasingly, work-based or workplace learning experiences are being seen as an effective means for…

This paper describes a course in programmable logic design and computer architecture as it is taught at the University of Newcastle, Australia. The course is designed around a major design project and has two supplemental assessment tasks that are also described. The context of the Computer Engineering degree program within which the course is…

Outlines a recent educational initiative in social gerontology at the Western Australian College of Advanced Education: a two-year course on aging and the community. Discussed its educational and national context, the development of the course and its present content. Analyzes the student population to establish typical profiles of those…

Describes a year 12 preemployment science course which includes (1) the study of human physiology; (2) construction, maintenance, and repair of science materials; and (3) teaching science to year three and four students at a local primary school. (DS)

Engineering is the science, art, and business of designing and getting things done; engineers are required to make things happen through interpersonal relationships. At Monash University (Australia), a new course, Management for Engineers, was set up in 1990 to encourage a more holistic approach to the process of engineering. The course included…

Characteristics of a minicourse developed at Macquarie University in Australia, its application in Australia, and potential for countries in the Asia-Pacific region are discussed. A minicourse is defined as an entire course of studies for a group, similar to a conventional course but compressed into a few hours. The Australian minicourse is…

Addresses the dialectic between the "inner" and the "outer" learnings required for counselors to change their roles to becoming supervisors. Describes a course where "parallel process" issues between supervisor, trainee, and client were evident. The bias in the course was that all learning requires a change in…

Outlines the processes undertaken at Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education to identify an appropriate basis for a course to educate information professionals to work in a range of positions inside and outside the library setting. The philosophies, assumptions, and beliefs of the course design team are presented. (Author/CLB)

Describes the changing social context of Asian language teaching in Australian universities and considers the increasing salience of the economic argument for Asian languages found in major reports on languages in education. Reviews major criticisms of this economic argument. (five references) (Author/CK)

Emphasizes five aspects important to a primary school second-language program in Australia: a program rationale; timing of program initiation; teaching milieu; frequency and length of lessons; and locus for the lessons. The article argues that a new language program must be set up for success and a recurrent budget allowing for print materials,…

Accountability, in the sense of educational efficiency, has popular political appeal in Australia. Yet there is urgent need for Australian educators to influence how accountability is to be defined and to determine how it is to be implemented at the school level. One useful definition of accountability, satisfactory to both teachers and the…

Over the last 2 years, 3 Australian universities have been cooperating on a Commonwealth Government funded project on Distance Teaching and Evaluation Skills to identify and disseminate good practice in the professional development of distance educators. A specific and supportive professional development intervention to foster the evaluation of…

Discusses the Queensland Languages and Cultures Initial Teacher Education Program (LACITEP), in which 50% to 80% of the subjects taken are delivered through Japanese immersion. Notes that the promotion of second-language learning is a common aim of all immersion classrooms and provides insight into how the LACITEP Health and Physical Education…

A culturally appropriate oral health training course tailored to the needs of rural Aboriginal health workers was developed in Western Australia. The course is taught in three modules ranging from introductory material to comprehensive practical and theoretical knowledge of basic dental health care. The program encourages Aboriginal health workers…

Discusses the possibility of most students attaining a communicative proficiency in a language other than English. A case study of a school is presented that includes information and opinions gathered from parents and an outline "depth" curriculum for this school. (14 references) (Author/CK)