Australian mathematics and science students have low participation in WIL, posing implications for student employability. To better understand this problem, an examination of the industry-placement and coursework-incorporated WIL offered across the Faculty of Science at a large research-intensive university was undertaken. The aim of the study was…

This paper addresses the question of the relative importance of work-integrated learning placement quality, structure (whether part-time or full-time), and duration (in weeks), for producing employability outcomes. Additionally, we explore whether the quality of those placements is more, less, or equally important than the structure and duration.…

While there is a wealth of research evidencing the benefits of active-learning approaches, the extent to which these teaching practices are adopted in the sciences is not well known. The aim of this study is to establish an evidential baseline of teaching practices across a bachelor of science degree program at a large research-intensive…

Undergraduate students entering university arrive with certain expectations as to how their degree program will equip them to enter the world of work. Students are aware of the competitive nature of the modern day labor market and, as seen in this study, there is a majority belief that their program of choice and the good reputation of the…

Research into work-integrated learning continues to show through a variety of small-scale and anecdotal studies, various positive impacts on student learning, work-readiness, personal and cognitive development and other outcomes. Seldom are these research findings strongly generalizable because of such factors as small sample sizes,…

This study reports the results of a survey of student study times and perceptions of workload in undergraduate and graduate accounting courses at a large Australian public university. The study was in response to student feedback expressing concerns about workload in courses. The presage factors of student workload and assessment in Biggs' 3P…

There is international agreement that quantitative skills (QS) are an essential graduate competence in science. QS refer to the application of mathematical and statistical thinking and reasoning in science. This study reports on the use of the Science Students Skills Inventory to capture final year science students' perceptions of their QS across…

There remains a lack of empirical evidence about the relationship between the level of mathematics studied at high school and within tertiary degrees and primary school pre-service teachers' success in curriculum subjects. Further, there is little evidence to inform the structure and delivery of mathematics teacher preparation. In this study, the…

Concern that too many Australian children, particularly Indigenous children, are not ready to start school has spurred a series of changes to the pre-school sector. Included among these changes are nationwide mass surveying and the introduction of a unified curriculum framework together with moves towards standardised entry assessment. Focusing on…

This article presents the results of audit data compiled from a case study introducing e-portfolios into a Music Education degree program, and highlights the key challenges faced from the initial stages of student use to curricular embedding and student adoption. This article discusses the technological, social and educational impacts inherent in…

This study investigated the relationships and interactions between childcare quality (Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale-Revised edition [ECERS-R]/Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale-Extension [ECERS-E]) and children's social skills (SSRS) in different sociodemographic areas within one Australian city. Multiple regression analysis…

In this contribution to the special issue on Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU), we outline how the Sport Education curriculum model constitutes an organisational framework within which a TGfU pedagogy might productively be located and utilised. In addition, we describe our application of the development-refinement process to the progress of…

A study of 20 representative primary schools in New South Wales, Australia, revealed that a high degree of principal supportiveness as measured by the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire was associated positively with curriculum decision making by staff groups and negatively with curriculum decision-making by individual teachers. (PGD)

Twelve articles present excerpts from several national reports of countries participating on the Second International Science Study (SISS) of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement. The SISS examined science achievement and its correlates in participating countries and studied trends from 1970 through the…

In many countries there remain substantial sex differences in enrolments in elective science courses, despite concerted efforts in recent years to alleviate them. This paper explores the reasons for these differences by comparing models of male and female enrolment intentions in elective courses in biology, chemistry and physics. The models are…