This case study research, informed by an Indigenous Research Paradigm, sought to ascertain the impact of a university's decentralised health faculty Aboriginal engagement program. It involved analysis of health faculty and other faculties' 2016-2020 student commencement, enrolment, completion, and retention data. The health faculty was more likely…

Pre-tertiary enabling programs have become an increasingly popular pathway to university in Australia in recent years, however little is published about how well enabling students fare once they start university. This paper examines and compares first-year retention and academic outcomes of students that entered Murdoch University between 2014 and…

Establishment of online communities in distance education has been linked to improved engagement, retention, and learning outcomes. This study investigates how online community building was fostered in the text-based Discussion Board (DB) and multimodal VoiceThread (VT) in one of the postgraduate units offered by Open Universities Australia.…

For Australian university students living out of reach of a campus and studying online, the growing presence of Regional University Centres (RUCs) is changing their student experience for the better. People from regional areas of Australia are historically under-represented at university. Those who begin university are at higher risk of not…

Personal characteristics contributing to success in higher education has become an important area of focus in recent years. Duckworth's (2007) grit framework shows positive correlations with a range of academic outcomes. This article explores the characteristics of grit in a study of female students who identified as mothers during their enrolment…

This qualitative multisite case study examined how the teachers and school leaders at three public schools in New South Wales State of Australia perceived SpringBoard21 (SB21) influenced their school to become a learning organization. Additionally, the study examined perceptions of what collaboration looks like, what actions foster member…

Australian and international research documents the limited access of young people transitioning from out-of-home care (OOHC) to further and higher education. This paper examines the processes, outcomes, and key findings of the Raising Expectations project, a collaborative university and industry approach to promote higher education among care…

The "Next Generation Science Standards" framework outlines scientific and engineering practices as a key element of student development. Educators are just beginning to discover effective and meaningful ways to teach science content to students with intellectual disability; however, the literature on teaching science practices is still…

The online delivery of training is well established in the vocational education and training (VET) sector, and it is not unusual for a course to include training that is delivered online in one or more units. However, little is known about the online delivery of entire qualifications in VET and how this works, given the overarching role of the…

Background: This study examined whether Motivational Interviewing (MI) follow-up calls improved the extent to which a specific therapeutic technique (Key Word Sign) presented in training was retained and implemented by staff supporting people with an intellectual disability.Method: Thirty-eight residential support workers who attended Key Word…

The uptake of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) has been substantial and they continue to flourish as an educational delivery model. Much of the available literature regarding student retention and completions in MOOCs comes from university-designed courses. The Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector has lagged behind its university…

"Riawunna" is an Aboriginal word meaning "a place of learning" for Aboriginal people, from entry level to tertiary studies, at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) and operates on Hobart, Launceston and Burnie campuses. The Riawunna Centre was established to encourage Aboriginal people to aspire to higher levels of education, and…

This article reports on the development and implementation of the Student Success Program, a strategic, University-wide, consistent approach to increasing the success and retention of first year students, during 2014. To this end, a centrally coordinated process integrated historic student, application, enrolment, academic performance and learning…

This article reflects on evidence drawn from an evaluation of the impact of a scholarship programme for students from disadvantaged backgrounds at Macquarie University, Sydney. In addition to evidence of improved retention rates, the article suggests that qualitative data derived from a number of interviews with scholarship recipients highlight…

A strong feature of the widening participation agenda is improving the aspirations of groups that are underrepresented in higher education. This paper seeks to reposition the utility of this as a focal point of educational interventions by showcasing the success of a mentoring program that takes a different approach. The Australian Indigenous…