The curricula in higher education not only provides guidance and direction for students, but aligns with industry standards to safeguard quality offerings in specific programs. While there has been increasing focus on the importance of the curriculum particularly for first year university students, very little is known about the curriculum and…

The purpose of this study was to examine policy making that led to the National School Reform Agreement and its effects on national and state-level curriculum reforms. Content analysis method was used to reveal the philosophic positions on education held by experts appointed to conduct the national policy reviews and the opinions of education…

Historically, mixed arrangements have been in place between educational institutions and podiatrist registration bodies to evaluate the capacity of courses to adequately prepare new graduates for clinical practice. The national scheme for the registration of health practitioners introduced in 2010, followed by a national system for accreditation…

It is important, but very challenging, to design degree programs, so that the sequence of learning activities, topics, and assessments over three to five years give an effective progression in learning of generic skills, discipline-specific learning goals and accreditation competencies. Our CUSP (Course and Unit of Study Portal) system tackles…

Australian Government policy initiatives to increase young peoples' participation in higher education are pursued in this paper. It argues that pedagogy and curriculum have a direct influence on student engagement. The interrelationships between pedagogical practices, curriculum based on a well-being framework, and the shaping of subjectivities…

Background: Children and young adolescents are reaching puberty earlier. Providing information about such changes before puberty can help them develop in a more competent and informed manner. Context and Objective: UNESCO's "International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education" forms a comprehensive, evidence-based, authoritative…

In 2011 members of the School of Philosophy and Theology at The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) Sydney campus, designed two standards rubrics as part of a project aimed at undertaking research within the area of assuring graduate attributes and capabilities in Australian universities. The standards rubrics designed were oriented towards…

Successful curriculum development in any school subject requires a clear and established set of elements: agreed and widely appreciated goals; effective criteria for the selection of important knowledge content; and an explicit and well-integrated explanatory base for authentic problem-solving related to the subject goals. The article shows that…

The purpose of this article is to identify some key areas of the Australian curriculum that remain sites of struggle and contestation. We propose that there remain a number of contentious points in relation to the national curriculum. These points relate variously to the content and form of the curricular documents; assumptions about knowledge,…

This document is a revised version of the National Consumer and Financial Literacy Framework (the Framework) originally developed in 2005. It articulates a rationale for consumer and financial education in Australian schools; describes essential consumer and financial capabilities that will support lifelong learning; and provides guidance on how…

A curriculum is a knowledge structure outlining what is to be learned in what order. The Australian curriculum for English emphasises creation of a "coherent" and "cumulative" "body of knowledge about how the English language works", with learning that is "portable and applicable to new settings across the school…

Science schooling enjoys high status. Scientific capability is perceived as critical in underpinning economic success in advanced societies. Science achievement, at all levels, has become a global competition in which nations want to be seen to triumph. Governments periodically pay close attention to science education with a view to ensuring it…

The purposes for teaching basic sciences (service courses in which staff and students are drawn from different faculty) as part of a professional curriculum in Australia are examined with the conclusion that their value is not in their immediate usefulness alone but in their contribution to a liberal education. (JT)

This document is an English-language abstract (approximately 1,500 words) of a Western Australian report on secondary education. In Western Australia, secondary education is offered over a period of five years following seven years of primary education, the age of entry being over twelve years of age. Government secondary schools are…

Described is the science course syllabus utilized for secondary science education in Queensland, Australia. Included are educational aims, course design, and assessment procedures. (SL)