Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'University extension Victoria Melbourne'

This thesis examines the perceptions of lecturers, graduates and employers of personal and interpersonal skills development in an accounting degree at Victoria University. The development of personal and interpersonal skills in students in higher education has been the focus of discussion amongst accounting educators, accounting practitioners and the accounting profession for many years. There is a general consensus on what skills are necessarily sought to ensure success within the accountancy profession but very few previous studies on how those personal and interpersonal skills are being developed. This research study presents a research framework which emphasises the complex interrelationships between an accounting curriculum, accounting lecturers, accounting graduates and employers of graduate accountants and their perceptions of how personal and interpersonal skills are developed. A case study approach, combining archival, qualitative and quantitative methods, is used to investigate how a Bachelor of Business Accounting degree in one Australian university facilitates personal and interpersonal skills development. The case study results indicate that the curriculum, as the vector for skills development, has both explicit and implicit references to skills outcomes. Graduates� perceptions of many of the personal and interpersonal skills considered in this study are closely related to the curriculum findings. However, there appears to be a lack of convergence between lecturers� perceptions, the curriculum and graduates� perceptions. Employers generally agree that graduates display most of the personal and interpersonal skills, albeit at a low level, in the workplace. There are curriculum implications arising from the results of this research for accounting academics who design and develop accounting programs where the value of graduates� personal and interpersonal skills are acknowledged. As a first step, academics need to improve accounting curricula by explicitly integrating personal and interpersonal skills in their subjects. Communicating to students the explicit nature of personal and interpersonal skills development and making them aware is the next step.

This Master of Arts thesis presents the results of research undertaken on two collections of Egyptian antiquities held at the University of Melbourne. The first collection belongs to Queen’s College and is known as the Dodgson Collection. The second collection, known as the Petrie Collection, forms a small part of the larger Classics and Archaeology Collection, belonging to the Centre for Classics and Archaeology and is housed at the Ian Potter Museum of Art.
Prior to undertaking the research for this thesis little was known of these collections and their origins. Through consultation and analysis of archival sources and published material it was possible reconstruct the genesis and history of these two collections of Egyptian antiquities.
The Dodgson Collection was bequeathed to Queen’s College in 1892 by the Reverend James Dodgson. This much was known, however it was unclear as to how James came to posses the material. My research has uncovered that the collection was created by Aquila Dodgson, brother of James, who lived in England. Aquila was greatly interested in ancient Egypt and became a friend of the English Egyptologist, Flinders Petrie. It was through this friendship that Aquila was able to acquire ancient Egyptian artefacts, some of which now reside in the Dodgson Collection at Queen’s College.
Equally under recognised, very little was known about the second collection, comprising thirty two Egyptian artefacts, commonly referred to as the Petrie Collection. It was assumed the collection had been acquired from Flinders Petrie as a result of a list and a number of handwritten notes found in the Classics and Archaeology Collection archive. My research into the collection and the archive material has discovered that the collection had been created by two brothers, Edward Eustace Miller and Everard Studley Miller. Some items had been acquired whilst on a trip to Egypt during the Australian summer of 1910–1911, although the bulk of the collection was given to Everard (living in Melbourne) by his brother Edward (living in London), who had acquired the material while working for Flinders Petrie in Egypt in 1920. The collection made its way to the University of Melbourne in 1957 after the death of Everard, who had bequeathed the material to the Classical Association of Victoria in 1956. The Association gave the collection to the then Classics Department in early 1957.

This research regards universities as highly influential entities. Aside from producing and disseminating knowledge, one of the purposes of higher education is to contribute to the intellectual development of a society. In addition to this original purpose universities also have unique characteristics which, when recognised, can help them with designing new and creative approaches to marketing communication strategies. To identify these distinctive qualities, this study implemented an interpretive communication audit that focuses on the specifics and characteristics of international communication activities at Victoria University (VU). Specifically, this study set out three key research objectives: to identify specifics and characteristics of a university that can serve as a valuable source for designing new approaches to university marketing; to explore the creative potential of students to actively contribute to the development of university marketing and to test the viability of an interpretive communication audit within the university framework, while using the subjective insight and experience of a researcher. Emphasising the interpretive approach, this thesis analysed the interpretations of the University’s communication given by the international and domestic students of VU. In particular, focus groups and action groups, in which 29 VU students participated, served as specific methods for collecting these individual opinions and understandings. Following the philosophical and methodological practice of an interpretive communication audit, this thesis used students’ as well as the researcher’s own interpretations for developing creative feedforward that gives concrete recommendations on how to work with the University’s communication activities. The outcome of this mainly reveals how a university can benefit from cooperating with students on developing marketing strategies. Additionally, the last chapter of this thesis sets out specific ideas Victoria University can use for preparing new communication activities.

This project analysed the development of a selection of international and national mentoring programmes in higher education institutions and specifically at Victoria University. Based on the analysis of successful international and national mentoring programmes, the performance of past Victoria University mentoring programmes and research on current mentoring programmes at the University, this thesis has developed core principles of a standardised mentoring programme.

When Australian law teaching began in 1857, few lawyers in common-law systems had studied law at university. The University of Melbourne's new course joined the early stages of a dual transformation, of legal training into university study and of contemporary common law into an academic discipline. Victoria's Supreme Court immediately gave the law school what was known in America as 'diploma privilege': its students could enter legal practice without passing a separate admission exam. Soon university study became mandatory for locally trained lawyers, ensuring the law school's survival but placing it at the centre of disputes over the kind of education the profession should receive. Friction between practitioners and academics hinted at the negotiation of new roles as university study shifted legal training further from its apprenticeship origins. The structure of the university (linked to the judiciary through membership of its governing council) and the profession (whose organisations did not control the admission of new practitioners) aided the law school's efforts to defend both its training role and its curriculum against outside attack.
Legal academics turned increasingly to the social sciences to maintain law's claim to be not only a professional skill, but an academic discipline. A research-based and reform-oriented theory of law appealed to the nascent academic profession, linking it to legal practice and the development of public policy but at the same time marking out for the law school a domain of its own. American ideas informed thinking about research and, in particular, pedagogy, although the university's slender financial resources, dependent on government grants, limited change until after World War II. In other ways the law school consciously departed from American models. It taught undergraduate, not graduate, students, and its curriculum included history, jurisprudence and non-legal subjects alongside legal doctrine. Its few professors specialised in public law and jurisprudence, leaving private law to a corps of part-time practitioner-teachers. The result was a distinctive model of state-certified compulsory education in both legal doctrine and the history and social meanings of law.

Communication skills are essential to the practice of medicine, and are now included in most medical curricula. Training in communication skills requires an experiential approach to teaching and assessment that focuses on mastery of performance. Simulated patients were introduced to the Communication Skills course for third year medical students at The University of Melbourne in 1995. This thesis describes the evaluation from the first two years of their use, and is set within the body of literature regarding this innovative educational method. The fundamental research question was: Did the introduction of simulated patients represent an improvement and enrichment in the teaching of communication skills to third year medical students? A qualitative evaluation was undertaken by focus groups with students, tutors and simulated patients, and by student questionnaire. (For complete abstract open document)

This study is an evaluation of Victoria University’s Workplace Learning Melbourne West (WLMW) work placement service to employers. Local Community Partnership’s (LCPs) like Workplace Learning (WLMW) are funded to coordinate work placements for vocational students and enable them to integrate about 10 days on-the-job learning in industry with classroom study. To keep enterprises engaged in the program the study canvasses employers’ perspectives on the work placement service with a view to improving program effectiveness. Work placements constitute a growing element in the senior secondary curriculum and the demand on employers to provide or grow opportunities for students is intense. The study sought to identify the changes required to manage the increased demand for work placements more effectively taking into account the needs of enterprises to improve the quality of the work placement service delivered and employer satisfaction with it.

The research project was framed around the need to convert a static page web site into a database driven web site using Microsoft technologies Active Server Pages and SQL server 7. The methodology used for the software development was the object oriented use case approach of Jacobson. Although a single software application was originally thought to be the best design strategy, the solution which emerged as being the preferred framework resulted in two software applications being developed. Thus, the JIPAM Web Site Dynamic Database System is comprised of an application developed in ASP to allow online access to the journal and a second application to maintain the contents of the database which was developed in C++.

This research project examines perceptions and attitudes towards science of a group of Technical and Further Education students studying Beauty Therapy at Victoria University. Many members of this group displayed a high level of science anxiety as described by Mallow, (1978). They lacked confidence in their science ability and were very anxious about passing the science units in their Beauty Therapy courses, despite having successfully passed science subjects at school. Previous observations on Beauty Therapy students showed that most succeeded in their science units but still lacked confidence in their ability to apply their knowledge. The science units in Beauty Therapy are complex and require a detailed knowledge of Human Biology, Anatomy, Physiology, Skin Biology, Cosmetic Chemistry, and Microbiology. The participants in the study were interviewed using a semi-structured interview working together with a questionnaire to establish background information. The probes covered the participants’ experiences in science at school together with their attitudes towards science and influences from other areas. The aim was to identify factors which undermined the confidence of these participants. The interviews were recorded and the transcripts were analysed for themes using a progressive coding process. The themes were grouped into clusters. The study showed clearly that the participants’ confidence in their science ability was undermined by their school experiences in science. It related to attitudes and pedagogies employed by a particular science teacher in their secondary school. Participants described enjoying science previously. Particular aspects identified were an inability to get help when they needed it; the use of sarcasm or derogatory remarks to discourage questions; boring lessons mostly composed of copying notes from the board or textbooks; lack of relevance and a lack of enthusiasm displayed by the teacher. This led to a situation where participants dreaded their science lessons and in some cases truancy.

The purpose of this study was to enhance the clinical experience of undergraduate nursing students through an investigation into a Flexible Clinical Education Model offered at Victoria University. Clinical education is a vital component of the undergraduate nursing curriculum that provides students with the opportunity to develop the knowledge, attitudes and skills needed to function effectively as a qualified nurse. Despite the commitment of universities to produce competent graduates, there is continued debate regarding models of clinical education that provide best practice in the clinical learning environment.

This research demonstrates the ways in which computer games can provide a context for effective skill acquisition and knowledge transfer in vocational education and training (VET). In particular, it focuses on how they might increase learner engagement in theoretical subjects. The study examined the rationale behind making a pedagogical shift from content delivery to designing experience. It further investigated whether games-based learning has the potential to add meaning and relevance to VET outcomes through considering the impact of the game components of narrative, fun and gameplay in a games-based learning activity system. The study utilised a Design Based Research methodology, within an Activity Theoretical framework.

The steady decline of students’ competency in mathematics has become known as the “Mathematics Problem”. Researchers identified that the level of student engagement is one of the most important factors affecting the academic performance of mathematics students. Strong link between students’ attitudes towards the use of technology for learning mathematics and their achievements also has been identified by recent studies. The mathematical problems have a multidimensional source and are initiated from the students’ personal characteristics and attitudes. Thus attitude is important educational concept about learning mathematics with technology. The association between student engagement and the use of ICT suggests that a positive attitude toward the use of ICT in learning mathematics is an important outcome in itself, especially when ICT is used. Student engagement can be influenced by a plethora of factors. These factors include student personal characteristics, learning experiences, perceptions, three aspects of engagement (cognitive, affective and behavioural) and attitudes towards the use of technology in learning of mathematics. This study is aimed at further investigating the factors that might be affected by the use of ICT with two major purposes: (1) to investigate the complex interrelationships between students’ demographic factors, mathematics confidence, access to technology outside university, confidence with technology, perception towards the use of technology for learning and attitude towards learning mathematics with technology, cognitive, affective and behavioural engagement; and student achievement and (2) to determine if the use of ICT impacts on the level of student engagement and achievements in mathematics.

In my role as a music educator I have observed that students experience significant challenges, and even disengagement and disillusionment, as they attempt to negotiate tertiary music study. This study aims therefore to explore the music backgrounds and learning experiences of music students undertaking tertiary music study at VU in order to evaluate why students might not be enjoying their time at university as much as they perhaps ought to be.

The primary objective of this thesis was to improve the learning experience and academic outcomes in Victoria University’s first-year introductory accounting unit; specifically in relation to the use of technology to augment traditional modes of teaching and learning. To achieve this, the Blended Learning Assessment Framework was devised and tested in the first year accounting unit. The application of this conceptual framework identified the extent to which e-Learning is currently used in this unit and its effectiveness in supporting the diverse needs of this student cohort.

The issue of graduate employment has long been a focus in research, particularly in accounting education. Increasingly, higher education institutions promote this aspect to help them attract and retain high-quality students and maintain their competitive advantage in the market place. Given its importance, the present research analyses the association between the three self-efficacy factors of the general self-efficacy scale (GSES): initiative, effort and persistence on accounting near-graduate employment outcomes. Currently, no studies in accounting education have analysed this association in this context, so this research constitutes a contribution to the literature. Furthermore, there is limited research on the association of overall general self-efficacy (GSE) with accounting student employment outcomes. In addition to the three-factor GSES structure, the present study also includes students’ individual characteristics (i.e., gender, age, residency, study mode and language), and WIL participation as potential factors impacting near-graduate accounting students’ employment outcomes. Furthermore, the study also examines the potential association between the three factors of the GSES with students’ participation in WIL programs during their degree course. The three-factor self-efficacy construct, based on a trait-like method, was adopted instead of the overall GSES structure, as the former approach enables a deeper analysis of the GSE concept via the employment of separate independent variables. Consequently, the importance of the individual factors and their impact on employment and WIL participation is clearly and distinctively revealed. The study sample consisted of 337 near-graduate accounting students from Victoria University and Swinburne University of Technology, both based in Melbourne, Australia. The research employed logistic regression, as well as Lasso and R-glmulti statistical techniques, to examine the main research questions. In addition, Mann-Whitney U tests and Pearson chi-square tests were conducted to examine the association between accounting students’ individual characteristics (gender, age, residency, study mode and language) and the three factors of GSES (initiative, effort and persistence). The study results indicate that two out of the three GSES factors (specifically, initiative and persistence) showed a significant relationship with the employment outcomes of near-graduate accounting students. The study results also confirmed prior research findings, which found that individual characteristics (i.e., language, study mode, residency and age) were significantly associated with employment outcomes. Furthermore, the results showed no significant association between the three self-efficacy factors and students’ WIL participation. The results of this study provide some important implications for accounting higher education with regard to improving the employment outcomes of accounting near-graduates. These include: (i) developing closer links with industry to improve student familiarity with workplace requirements; (ii) incorporating WIL programs into the accounting curriculum, such as in a professional degree program; (iii) tailoring parts of the curriculum, where possible, in order to improve student self-efficacy; (iv) promoting WIL and providingwider opportunities to access the program; and (v) examining the need for higher education reform to improve international student access to WIL participation during degree courses.