Engineering mechanics is a core course for mechanical engineering university students. In recent years, the lecturers of a second-year undergraduate engineering mechanics course faced many new challenges arising from ever-increasing class sizes, as well as evolving learning styles and expectations of new generation students due to advances in…

To support the review of the National Curriculum, the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) was commissioned by the Department for Education in the spring of 2011 to produce a report detailing curricular arrangements in a number of high-performing educational jurisdictions. The principal source of information for this report has been…

Purpose: This article outlines the development of extension as a discipline in Australia, its organization, and the ideological changes that have occurred from the second half of the nineteenth century through to the present. Design/Methodology/Approach: It considers the evolution of extension across the different states of Australia from a…

This paper describes research underpinning a course, developed in Australia, on ethics for engineers. The methodology used, that of identifying the principal ethical issues facing the discipline and designing the course around these issues, would be applicable to other disciplines and in other countries. The course was based on the assumption that…

Describes a teaching-learning framework for nursing education that has learning outcomes at its center. Elements discussed include learning climate; shared culture; input factors (student, teacher, and institutional characteristics); course design, content, organization, and objectives; the psycho-socio-political-economic environment; and…

The organization of education in Australia is briefly described. Revisions and development of physics curricula, including British and American projects, are discussed. (TS)

Processes of change are noted as a course for the postgraduate Diploma of Education (La Trobe University, Australia) is created. Outcomes indicated there should be a careful and totally honet examination of beliefs and attitudes before the notion of innovation is considered. (JB)

Differences in educational practice and culture of a British distance university and Australian traditional university are the basis for analysis of curriculum development methods. It is proposed that, although generally individual faculty design new courses, there are good reasons (efficiency, cohesiveness, professional development, academic…

Describes an environmental studies course for first year high school students and the rationale behind the course development. (BR)

The decline in foreign language study in New South Wales is described, and suggestions are made for change in course content and organization to make foreign language study interesting and helpful to a larger number of students. (RM)

Year-long team projects with external clients provide a well recognized opportunity for students to gain industry experience, whilst being supported and guided by staff to minimize risks. Each group should be supervised to ensure that they have enough direction and confidence to approach a new problem of significant size, without being daunted. A…

The Australian Language Levels (ALL) Project offers a coherent model for elementary and secondary language curriculum design. Book 2 of the four-volume series elaborates on each of the major features of the ALL Project proposal for language curricula outlined in Book 1, focusing on the syllabus, suggesting possible content at different…

The role of collaborative research to support curriculum change is discussed, drawing on experiences with the Australian Adult Migrant English Program during a period of extensive change. The research undertaken was to assess the impact of competency-based curriculum on classroom practice and course design. The research project engaged 30…