The globalisation of knowledge and advances in educational technology have far-reaching implications for the teaching and learning environment of a world-class university. Educational institutions and providers are operating across national boundaries, using a wide range of technologies, to meet the increasingly diverse learning needs and circumstances of students. Our University has embraced this challenge and continues to sustain high quality interactive learning with increased flexibility and innovation in access, content, delivery and assessment.
We firmly believe that teaching and learning is integral to the work of a research-intensive university -- a principle strongly emphasised by the respected Boyer Commission in the United States. We will continue to develop a high-quality undergraduate program in which teaching and learning takes place in an atmosphere of research and scholarship. Our priorities include the improvement of flexible teaching and learning; continuing to attract the highest quality undergraduate and postgraduate students in Australia and overseas; enhancing the teaching and research nexus; improving the environment for postgraduate study; improving teaching and learning infrastructure; and facilitating and encouraging collaboration.
We have focused on these priorities and established significant initiatives which will continue to be developed in 2000 and beyond. For example, initiatives with an emphasis on flexible teaching and learning include:
- investment of $1.45m in the establishment of the Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning to promote more flexible teaching and learning.
- introduction of a new medical curriculum which is designed to support multi-disciplinary courses, innovative teaching practices and flexible program delivery;
- web-based teaching developments in Engineering;
- computer mediated learning in Arts;
- establishment of an Institute of Advanced Studies which will encourage cross-departmental and cross-disciplinary research activity; and,
- introduction of a Teachers-in-Residence Scheme in Science, which will improve the UWA-secondary school interface with particular regard to the use of new learning technologies in science.
The University's market dominance of the top performing tertiary entrance students surpasses that of any Australian university (more than 75 per cent of the top five per cent of the State's school leavers applied for admission). However, we are not complacent about our good performance in this area and during 1998/1999 a study was undertaken on students' first year experience to identify issues which may cause conflict, difficulties and problems. Using this data, we will continue to ensure the experience of first year students is improved in 2000 and beyond.
We have also invested significant new funding in the establishment of additional student scholarships, both postgraduate and undergraduate. For example, the University has introduced a range of new awards for undergraduate students in 2000, such as the Leadership Awards Program, the Vice-Chancellor's Awards of Distinction, Rural Students Awards, Millennial Awards, and Honours Scholarships. In particular, the University's tradition of recognising and rewarding excellence as well as providing equitable access, is embodied in the Leadership Awards which provide opportunities for all of the State's secondary schools to nominate the student most likely to succeed in higher education.
Our University is fully committed to ensuring equity and access, whilst at the same time attracting top quality students. Our student population is characterised by diversity with regard to gender, race, age disability, sexual orientation, cultural background and socio-economic status, and the diversity of the University's students and staff reflects its strong international links. Our University also operates a Centre for Aboriginal Programs to increase the participation of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders in tertiary studies. In order to assist teachers to develop courses and teach to a diverse student population the University established a comprehensive policy on teaching with diversity, which has recently been updated and includes an explicit 'duty of care' towards students.
Crucial to the success of the University's research-intensive mission is the value we put on the provision of undergraduate and postgraduate education which is fully integrated with our research culture and activities. The establishment of a School of Postgraduate Research Studies, and the high priority given to enrolling postgraduate research students and to ensuring high standards of postgraduate student supervision are examples of the importance we place on the nexus between teaching and research. Within this context, we have been assessing the place of research centres within our University and also the role of research-only staff in relation to teaching and supervision. These reviews will continue into 2000.
We recently introduced a Teaching Internship Scheme for promising doctoral research students to develop teaching skills and to undertake a program of professional development activities during the course of their PhD candidature. The scheme reflects our goals in supporting high quality teaching and learning and fostering the nexus between teaching and research while enhancing the future employment prospects of the interns.
A major upgrade of teaching facilities will commence in 2000, with an initial budget of approximately $1 million. This process, which will continue for many years, will ensure the establishment and retention of high quality teaching and learning facilities.
The University recognises that its future success will depend in part on forging strong links with other universities and institutes of learning, with industry, commerce and the professions, and with a wide range of community groups. This outward-looking approach is the cornerstone of our priority to support collaborative ventures, benchmarking arrangements and strategic partnerships both in Australia and internationally.
The strength of the University's teaching and learning can in part be gauged by a range of performance indicators on student retention, progress, completions and destinations. In the Federal Government's national report The Characteristics and Performance of Higher Education Institutions (November 1998) our University was ranked highly in a number of areas relating to teaching and learning:
- the highest retention rate of all universities nationally (85 per cent compared to a national mean of 78 per cent);
- the third highest proportion of student load passes (90 per cent compared to an 'expected' value of 86 per cent based on national means);
- the highest full-time graduate employment rate (84 per cent compared to a national average of 75 per cent); and,
- the highest proportion of Bachelor degree graduates continuing to full-time study (39 per cent compared to a national average of 21 per cent).
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