The lived experience of academic practice: academics’ beliefs and their practices of assessment

This thesis details a study of a group of academics at an Australian university and how their beliefs impacted their assessment practice. Despite the extensive discussions in the extant literature relative to the importance of teachers’ pedagogical beliefs, the multidimensional nature of academics’ beliefs and their relevance to assessment practice has been sparsely addressed. This thesis offers an in-depth response to this lacuna and this study found that an academic’s beliefs do have a role in their assessment practices. The theoretical framework providing the lens for this study consisted of a combination of the theory of reasoned action (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010) and the theory of personal knowledge (Polanyi, 1958, 1974, 1996, 2012). These theories provided a framework for an understanding of how beliefs drive action. This study deployed a qualitative approach involving a case study method, enacted through a naturalistic, interpretivist lens using a phenomenological approach informed by a lifeworld-lived experience philosophical stance. It was through an investigation of the complex and nuanced facets of academics’ beliefs that insights into how beliefs impacted on and influenced assessment practices are offered here. The significance of this study lays in the understandings it provides for how quality assessment could be better developed and maintained and how academics’ understandings around their implementation of quality assessment might proceed. This thesis also explored the creative and intuitive processes academics bring to situations of uncertainty in their practice

Eliminating helper phage from phage display

Phage display technology involves the display of proteins or peptides, as coat protein fusions, on the surface of a phage or phagemid particles. Using standard technology, helper phage are essential for the replication and assembly of phagemid particles, during library production and biopanning. We have eliminated the need to add helper phage by using 'bacterial packaging cell lines' that provide the same functions. These cell lines contain M13-based helper plasmids that express phage packaging proteins which assemble phagemid particles as efficiently as helper phage, but without helper phage contamination. This results in genetically pure phagemid particle preparations. Furthermore, by using constructs differing in the form of gene 3 that they contain, we have shown that the display, from a single library, can be modulated between monovalent (phagemid-like) and multivalent display (phage-like) without any further engineering. These packaging cells eliminate the use of helper phage from phagemid-based selection protocols; reducing the amount of technical preparation, facilitating automation, optimizing selections by matching display levels to diversity, and effectively using the packaged phagemid particles as means to transfer genetic information at an efficiency approaching 100%

Style or substance: how Australian universities contextualise their graduate attributes for the curriculum quality space

Graduate attributes are now a fixture in higher education. They are perceived as statements of desirable graduate learning outcomes, yet this space is becoming increasingly crowded. In this study, we examine how universities contextualise their graduate attributes statements for the curriculum quality space. We analysed the way Australian universities represent the aims and function of their graduate attributes statements on publicly available web pages, in policies and in documents. Identified themes included the way graduate attributes were conceptualised and framed, their location, and how their integration with strategic internal documents and relevant external, sector quality standards was represented. Based on our findings, we make three recommendations. First, that universities critically examine their statements to ensure there is alignment with strategic institutional and sector aims and outcomes. Second, that they develop detailed policy implementation plans to contextualise and integrate them with key strategic, policy, and regulatory documents. Third, that universities develop a standards framework to articulate the relationship between their graduate attributes, other desired graduate learning outcomes, and relevant sector standards

Development of Phage-Based Single Chain Fv Antibody Reagents for Detection of Yersinia pestis

detection. by flow cytometry and whole-cell ELISA. strains, whereas phage displayed scFvs were found to be easy to purify/label and remarkably stable. Furthermore direct fluorescent labeling of phage displaying scFv allowed for an easy one-step flow cytometry assay. Slight cross-reactivity was observed when fixed cells were used in ELISA. F1 antigen. We describe implementation of different methods for phage-based immunoassay. Based on the success of these methods and the proven stability of phage, we indicate that the use of phage-displayed, rather than phage-free proteins, might generally overcome the shortcomings of scFv antibodies

The Learning Centre: Supporting student success

LAPs have been empirically shown to contribute to student success through opportunities for academic development and personal growth. But this success is a shared responsibility between administrators, academics, professional staff, and the students themselves. The Learning Centre builds upon a holistic and integrated service model to improve student outcomes through quality learning support initiatives and strong collaborative networks This support applies to both staff and students Together, we can work to maximise student success at USQ and beyond

A comprehensive analysis of filamentous phage display vectors for cytoplasmic proteins: an analysis with different fluorescent proteins

Filamentous phage display has been extensively used to select proteins with binding properties of specific interest. Although many different display platforms using filamentous phage have been described, no comprehensive comparison of their abilities to display similar proteins has been conducted. This is particularly important for the display of cytoplasmic proteins, which are often poorly displayed with standard filamentous phage vectors. In this article, we have analyzed the ability of filamentous phage to display a stable form of green fluorescent protein and modified variants in nine different display vectors, a number of which have been previously proposed as being suitable for cytoplasmic protein display. Correct folding and display were assessed by phagemid particle fluorescence, and with anti-GFP antibodies. The poor correlation between phagemid particle fluorescence and recognition of GFP by antibodies, indicates that proteins may fold correctly without being accessible for display. The best vector used a twin arginine transporter leader to transport the displayed protein to the periplasm, and a coil-coil arrangement to link the displayed protein to g3p. This vector was able to display less robust forms of GFP, including ones with inserted epitopes, as well as fluorescent proteins of the Azami green series. It was also functional in mock selection experiments

Analysis of putative thiamine biosynthetic genes from the phytopathogen Mycosphaerella graminicola for fungicide target validation

Available from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DXN062715 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Learning and teaching benchmarking in Australian universities: the current state of play

Benchmarking is a formalised evaluation process by which a university can measure the standard of their policies, processes, programmes or strategies through comparison with other universities. Currently, there is a paucity of research that focuses on the documentation associated with external benchmarking undertaken by Australian universities. Given that Australia's higher education regulatory body requires universities to reflect the purposes of external benchmarking within policy frameworks and for external referencing to be overseen by peak academic governance bodies such limited research is of significance. This paper contributes to the literature by investigating whether documented structures, policies and guidelines are in place to inform learning and teaching external referencing processes. Using a qualitative documentary thematic analysis, policies, procedures and guidelines found on university governance websites were investigated and analysed. The findings indicate that many Australian universities are at risk of not meeting mandatory regulatory requirements

A quest for student success: exploring the contributions of co-curricular learning opportunities on student success as defined by TEQSA risk assessment framework

Co-curricular learning programs are constantly at-risk of being culled or reduced during times of tight budgeting. Data from programs demonstrating even small impacts enable better understanding of university students’ experiences. The focus of the study is to explore the impact of co-curricular learning programs or activities on student success at a regional Australian university. Co-curricular learning programs are constantly challenged as they are often the first to be culled or reduced, particularly, in times of economic downturn or tight budgeting. This article reports on a multiple case study approach that uses both quantitative and qualitative data to explore the extent of and relationships among a number of co-curricular learning offerings, provided by a centralised University Learning and Teaching Unit, on student success. The study explores a number of student success outcomes as defined in the risk assessment framework of the newly established Australian regulatory body, Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA). This article concludes that the multiple case studies demonstrate that small experimentation and constant assessments, regardless of the size, do matter and can help explain a slice of the whole university student experience. The study extends our understanding of the student success puzzle and has implications for the continued development and existence of co-curricular learning programs