The impact of prerequisites on student success and academic rigour

Discipline specific prerequisites requirements are an integral to most course structures and discipline sequences. At Monash University a move to provide increased flexibility in subject choice at the undergraduate level was partially addressed by allowing students more choice in pre-requisite requirements. To address concerns of the impact of these changes a study was designed to examine student success in Biochemistry in relation to their prior studies. The study cohort were students undertaking Biochemistry as part of the B.Sc. degree, in which students enrol in Biochemistry as single subjects or as part of required major/minor sequences. Biochemistry studies commence at year 2 and build on previously learned concepts taught by biology/chemistry departments. The relaxation in pre-requisite requirements resulted in students undertaking Biochemistry with prior studies ranging from strong backgrounds in both chemistry and biology to minimal backgrounds in these disciplines. Data was collated on students prior studies including; final year of school (chemistry/biology), 1st year university (chemistry/biology), 2nd year Biochemistry and 3rd year Biochemistry. Analysis of examination results indicated that prior studies in related subjects correlated with academic success. The issues of how university decisions are made, how we improve student success and the impact on academic content and rigour must be considered

Are our students engaged with their learning?

Many academics are reporting that students appear to be disengaged from their studies and from university life in general, as reflected by a lack of attendance at lectures, participation in general University life and interaction with peers and staff. This study investigated student's engagement with their academic studies and their perception of being a member of the university community. Student participants were enrolled in second and third year Biochemistry and Pharmacology units of the Bachelor of Science at Monash University. Data was collected from student questionnaires, usage data from Blackboard (the Monash student online web platform) and attendance numbers at lectures. The data obtained indicated that the students did minimal preparation before classes and lecture attendance was low (frequently less than 50% of enrolled students attending). Although academics frequently cite the increased flexibility of the learning environment (including recording of lectures and the availability of electronic lecture notes) as a major factor encouraging non-attendance at lectures, this was rarely mentioned by students as a contributing factor. The most common reasons identified by students for non attendance at lectures were timetabling issues (clashes, lectures too early in the morning and long breaks between classes), other academic commitments (assignments and tests), paid work commitments, travel time and the lectures themselves (content and presentation). In all units surveyed, online formative assessments were provided and students were encouraged to use these throughout semester to develop continuous learning habits. However, the usage data indicated that the major use of the online formative assessments was immediately prior to summative assessment tasks (mid semester tests and end of semester exams) rather than for continuous learning throughout the semester. Online learning activities which did not clearly relate to assessable tasks were rarely accessed. Questions related to engagement with the peers and academics revealed that greater than 50% of the student did not work with other students outside of class and did not interact with their lecturers. Less than 85% interacted with unit convenors. These data indicate that while the students in the study were engaged in some aspects of their studies ways of encouraging greater engagement with their studies and university life need to be explored

Building the capacity of academics to assess higher order skills through improved assessment design

Across the sciences, high-stakes assessment (such as end-of-semester exams) often consist largely, if not solely, of multiple choice questions (MCQs). MCQs have advantages in large-scale testing, including automated marking and high reliability (Haladyna 2004). But in biomedical education, MCQs usually test knowledge recall (the lowest “Remembering” category in the cognitive domain of Blooms taxonomy). Psychometric analysis of MCQs exams in biochemistry and physiology from four universities has shown that they contained a substantial number of questions that were too easy for the cohort and lacked questions testing higher-order skills such as problem-solving, and knowledge analysis and application . It is possible to design MCQs that test higher-order cognitive processes—the UMAT and GAMSAT medical entrance exams routinely include MCQs which test higher-order cognitive skills. But to write questions of this standard requires skill and effort. The objectives of this workshop are: To build academic capability to design and write MCQ exams that test students’ capacity to solve problems and apply their knowledge/competencies in new contexts; and to improve the validity of assessment by adopting a rational assessment design approach, including mapping of questions against subject learning objectives

Synergystic connections between teaching-research nexus and graduate attributes: a case study

This paper is a case study from Monash University where the teaching-research nexus has been used to engage students and fulfil the generic attributes of Monash graduates. The strong synergistic connection between teaching and research is already proven. Units that teach new topics, provide teachers with personal engagement, connect developments in research with curricula is perceived to be current and intellectually stimulating by the student. This paper illustrates further interrelationships with Monash graduate attributes. Student Project Cases, a unit in the second year medical curriculum is an interdisciplinary teamwork activity, where students research current literature to present a written document and an oral presentation on a medical disease. The topic was “Human papillomavirus and cervical cancer”, the research area of the teacher. Topic objectives were aligned with Monash graduate attributes and designed to engage students in global concerns, develop ethical values, learn cross-cultural sensitivities to disease prevention, develop research skills and communicate findings in a team to peers. Student feedback indicated high motivation, engagement and excitement in being included in a community of scholars. Such students are critical, creative, responsible and effective global citizens, a hallmark of true Monash graduates

Where’s the transformation? Unlocking the potential of technology-enhanced assessment

This study provides insight into technology-enhanced assessment (TEA) in diverse higher education contexts. The effectiveness of using technology for assessment in higher education is still equivocal, particularly in regard to evidence of improvements in student learning. This empirical research explores the affordances that technology offers to assessment for transforming student learning. A systematic literature review, guided by an analytic survey tool, was used to identify and interrogate recent scholarly articles published in 19 international journals. From a total of 1713 articles, 139 articles were identified as being focused on the use of technology for assessment. The analytic tool guided the rigorous exploration of the literature regarding the types of technology being used, the educational goal, the type of assessment, and the degree of “transformation” afforded by the technology. Results showed that, in the sample investigated, TEA is used most frequently for formative peer learning, as part of the task design and feedback stages of the assessment cycle, and that social media has been a major affordance for this. Results are discussed with a view to fostering a future culture of inquiry and scholarship around TEA in higher education

Using a Professional Development Program to Enhance Undergraduate Career Development and Employability

Students in the final year of their Bachelor of Biomedical Science at Monash University participated in focus group interviews about perceptions of their employability. They felt they had limited employability skills and they were unaware of their non-medical/research careers options. In response to these issues a team of academics and careers staff developed a professional development program that aimed to build students’ career development skills, careers knowledge and their ability to articulate their skills to employers. Each semester (starting from year one) students have an employability lecture and a careers development activity (assessed) linked to the development of an electronic portfolio. On completion of the program, students will have developed life-long career management skills and produced a transferrable profile that reflects their experiences, skills, knowledge and capabilities. We report on the initial introduction of the program into the first year of the Bachelor of Biomedical Science in 2015. This process has been associated with changes in students’ careers certainty. We have also experienced issues with the integration of the careers and academic staff in the program and a need for staff and student training with the unfamiliar portfolio platform

Using videos to improve the student laboratory experience

The planned “ideas exchange” session will focus on our experiences in using videos as pre-laboratory exercises and post-laboratory tutorials to enhance and improve laboratory classes. Laboratory classes are an integral component of a Bachelor of Sciences undergraduate degree and are designed to develop proficiency in technical skills, provide an opportunity to place theory in context, develop critical thinking skills and promote enquiry based learning. There is increasing evidence that pre-laboratory preparation is beneficial to student learning as students who are well prepared for their laboratory classes are reported to more readily acquire laboratory skills, be more confident to carry out the specified activities during class and derive maximum benefit from their laboratory experience. Similarly post-laboratory tutorials or “wrap-up” sessions are an effective means of concluding a learning exercise and useful to provide feedback on data generated for report writing and reflection. Brief videos specific to several laboratory classes have been prepared which provide both the pre-laboratory exercises and the post-laboratory tutorials which anecdotally has improved the laboratory experience and facilitated increased student engagement. Such experiences in class will be paramount in developing our students as independent learners, researchers, critical thinkers and generators of knowledge and as such is an issue directly aligned with the conference theme on developing students

Plasmodium knowlesi: Reservoir Hosts and Tracking the Emergence in Humans and Macaques

Plasmodium knowlesi, a malaria parasite originally thought to be restricted to macaques in Southeast Asia, has recently been recognized as a significant cause of human malaria. Unlike the benign and morphologically similar P. malariae, these parasites can lead to fatal infections. Malaria parasites, including P. knowlesi, have not yet been detected in macaques of the Kapit Division of Malaysian Borneo, where the majority of human knowlesi malaria cases have been reported. In order to extend our understanding of the epidemiology and evolutionary history of P. knowlesi, we examined 108 wild macaques for malaria parasites and sequenced the circumsporozoite protein (csp) gene and mitochondrial (mt) DNA of P. knowlesi isolates derived from macaques and humans. We detected five species of Plasmodium (P. knowlesi, P. inui, P. cynomolgi, P. fieldi and P. coatneyi) in the long-tailed and pig-tailed macaques, and an extremely high prevalence of P. inui and P. knowlesi. Macaques had a higher number of P. knowlesi genotypes per infection than humans, and some diverse alleles of the P. knowlesi csp gene and certain mtDNA haplotypes were shared between both hosts. Analyses of DNA sequence data indicate that there are no mtDNA lineages associated exclusively with either host. Furthermore, our analyses of the mtDNA data reveal that P. knowlesi is derived from an ancestral parasite population that existed prior to human settlement in Southeast Asia, and underwent significant population expansion approximately 30,000–40,000 years ago. Our results indicate that human infections with P. knowlesi are not newly emergent in Southeast Asia and that knowlesi malaria is primarily a zoonosis with wild macaques as the reservoir hosts. However, ongoing ecological changes resulting from deforestation, with an associated increase in the human population, could enable this pathogenic species of Plasmodium to switch to humans as the preferred host