School of Education
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The School of Education, in the Faculty of the Professions, has a history of over 120 years of educational research and in teacher education in South Australia. The School currently offers a range of degrees at both undergraduate and graduate level, including a Bachelor of Teaching and Graduate Diploma in Education, Masters programs (coursework and research) and a Professional Doctorate.
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School of Education
University of Adelaide
Level 8 Nexus 10 Building
10 Pulteney Street
ADELAIDE SA 5005
Tel: +61 8 8313 0694
Fax: +61 8 8313 3604
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Browsing School of Education by Author "Able, A."
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Item Metadata only Academic, industry and student perspectives on the inclusion of “vocational knowledge” in a ‘learning and teaching academic standards statement’ for agriculture(Queensland University of Technology, 2014) Botwright Acuña, T.; Kelder, J.; Able, A.; Guisard, Y.; Bellotti, W.; McDonald, G.; Doyle, R.; Wormell, P.; Meinke, H.This paper reports on the perspective of industry stakeholders in a national project to develop a Learning and Teaching Academic Standards (LTAS) Statement for the Agriculture discipline. The AgLTAS Statement will be aligned with the Science LTAS Statement published in 2011 and comprise a discourse on the nature and extent of the Agriculture discipline and a set of Threshold Learning Outcome (TLO) statements specific to Agriculture. Agricultural research and teaching relies on strong links with industry due to the applied nature of the discipline. Without these links, sustainable and profitable practice change in agricultural systems cannot be achieved. A pilot project, in 2011-2012, with academic staff from three Australian universities identified vocational knowledge as a potential focus for a TLO. The AgLTAS project provides the opportunity to validate or refute this TLO by seeking input from a wider group of stakeholders, including industry. National consensus is being sought by a process of iterative consultation with academics, students and industry stakeholders and tested across four Australian universities. We have collected qualitative and quantitative data from industry participants who attended a series of workshops across most Australian States and Territories and through an online survey. Surprisingly, and contrary to the findings of the pilot project, industry representatives considered vocational knowledge of lesser importance to the need for students to attain highly developed problem solving and communication skills that can generate new opportunities and innovation in agriculture. Industry-specific (vocational) knowledge was generally regarded as attainable during on-the-job training after graduation. This finding prompts the question whether the AgLTAS Statement should be linked to professional accreditation that may be attained after graduation.Item Metadata only Implementing the threshold learning outcomes for agriculture at two Australian universities(Deakin University, 2016) Acuna, T.; Kelder, J.-A.; McDonald, G.; Able, A.The national Learning and Teaching Academics Standards statement for agriculture (AgLTAS) defines the nature and extent of the discipline; and provides threshold learning outcomes (TLOs) that define what a graduate should know, understand and do at graduation. The AgLTAS standards are endorsed by the Australian Council of Deans of Agriculture and can be used to communicate to potential and current students the minimum standards of their degree, but can also be used to inform curriculum design. While the AgLTAS document provides explanatory notes to assist educators to further understand the intent of the TLOs there are no exemplars on how the AgLTAS standards can be implemented. This paper presents two case studies of how academics at the University of Tasmania and the University of Adelaide used the AgLTAS to map their respective agriculture curricula. Curriculum mapping was used to evaluate the links between the curriculum and the target learning outcomes, and to identify gaps and areas for improvement. Results include the curriculum maps but also a survey of academic staff and their reactions to the TLOs, plus a reflective commentary on what we believe are the next steps and implications of the AgLTAS for curriculum development, industry engagement and graduate employability in the agriculture discipline.Item Metadata only The development of student research skills in second year plant biology(University of Sydney, 2014) Loveys, B.; Kaiser, B.; McDonald, G.; Kravchuk, O.; Gilliham, M.; Tyerman, S.; Able, A.In 2011, students in Agricultural Sciences and Viticulture & Oenology were first provided with opportunities to develop research skills in plant biology through the course Foundations in Plant Science II. Students worked in small groups and completed an open-ended research project under the guidance of an academic mentor. Each group of students were given the freedom to plan and manage an experiment; collect, analyse and interpret data independently and to present their results both orally and in writing. Students reported that the group project was a positive experience where they were able to develop skills in scientific report writing. In 2012, students were challenged by aspects of the research project including experimental design and identifying published papers to support their hypotheses. In 2013, when we provided more support and structure using on-line and in-class tutorials, students were better able to work in groups, source appropriate literature and analyse data using statistics as their confidence in research and questioning ideas had improved.