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File Ref: F68748
MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE EDUCATION COMMITTEE HELD ON
MONDAY 28 nOVEMBER 2016 IN THE SENATE ROOM
PRESENT:
Dean, Coursework Studies as Acting Chair (Professor Grady Venville)
Dean of Graduate Research School (Professor Kate Wright)
Pro Vice-Chancellor (International) (Mr Iain Watt)
Deans of Faculties, or nominee:
Dean, Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts (Professor Simon Anderson)
Dean, Faculty of Arts (Professor Helene Jaccomard for Professor Krishna Sen)
Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics (Professor John Dell)
Dean, Faculty of Education (Professor Helen Wildy)
Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences (Professor Wendy Erber)
Nominee of Dean, Faculty of Science (Professor Brendan Waddell)
President of the Guild of Undergraduates (Ms Madelene Mulholland)
President of the Postgraduate Students’ Association (Mr Peter Derbyshire)
Academic Secretary as Executive Officer (Dr Kabilan Krishnasamy)
OBSERVERS
President-elect, Guild of Undergraduates (Mr Nevin Jayawardena)
President-elect, Postgraduate Students’ Association (Mr Owen Myles)
Executive Officer, Board of Graduate Research School (Ms Rebecca Stuart-Coombe)
APOLOGIES
Acting Vice-Chancellor as Chair (Professor Dawn Freshwater)
Chair of Academic Board (Professor Cara MacNish)
Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education Innovation) (Professor Gilly Salmon)
Dean, Faculty of Arts (Professor Krishna Sen)
Dean, Faculty of Business (Professor Phillip Dolan)
Dean, Faculty of Law (Professor Erika Techera)
Dean, School of Indigenous Studies (Professor Jill Milroy)
Co-opted member (Hon Dr Elizabeth Constable, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow)
WELCOME
The Chair welcomed members to the meeting of the Education Committee.
DECLARATIONS OF POTENTIAL FOR CONFLICT OR PERCEIVED CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
No conflict(s) or perceived conflict(s) of interest were declared.
1. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES
RESOLVED – 15/16
to confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Education Committee held on 30 August 2016.
Members noted that the minutes were available from the Committee’s website.
2. Items for communication dealt En Bloc
Members noted the following items in part 1 of the agenda:
· Meeting Dates in 2017 for the Education Committee – Ref F68748
· Assessment and Feedback Futures for UWA – Ref F76456
ITEMS FOR THE ATTENTION OF THE ACADEMIC COUNCIL
3. Changes to committee constitutions within the education portfolio from 2017 – ref: F81562
At its meeting of September 2016, the Academic Board resolved by R41/16 to endorse and recommend to the Senate that the University establish the following new faculties:
· Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Education;
· Faculty of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences;
· Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences; and
· Faculty of Science.
In light of the new academic structure and faculty sub-structures, the membership of the following committees is proposed to be revised for effective from 2017:
· Education Committee – Ref: F68748;
· Curriculum Committee (standing committee of the Education Committee) – Ref: F68752; and
· Education Futures Strategy Group (standing committee of the Education Committee) – Ref: F68756
Amendments, in ‘tracked changes’, to the constitution of the above listed committees were before the Committee for its endorsement and referral to the Academic Council for approval. Members noted that the constitutions have been amended to read as follows:
“(i)an undergraduate coursework student nominated by the UWA Student Guild;
(j) a postgraduate coursework student nominated by thePresident of the Postgraduate Students' Association;”
While there was recognition that the undergraduate student body should be duly represented in the committees within the education portfolio, it was argued and agreed by the Committee that the President of the UWA Student Guild should have the flexibility to appropriately choose and decide on that representation. For instance, it was suggested that students who might be in their first or higher years of their postgraduate degree course might be more suited to and have adequate knowledge and experience to participate in and contribute to the work of the committees within the education portfolio from the point of view of undergraduate students. It was therefore, asserted that the constitutions should not be prescriptive but expressed in broad terms aligned with current legislative drafting practice.
Members also agreed to the proposition that the flexibility to exercise judgement on who should be represented in the education committees should also be extended to the President of the Postgraduate Students’ Association.
[Executive Officer’s note: The constitutions have been amended accordingly to incorporate the above feedback – see Attachment A]
RESOLVED – 16/16
that the Education Committee endorse the changes to constitutions of the Education Committee, Curriculum Committee and the Education Futures Strategy Group, as outlined in the attached, and refer them to the Academic Council for approval, effective from 2017.
4. CHANGING UWA POSTGRADUATE COURSE TYPE: PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE DOCTORATES & CLINICAL DOCTORATES – REF: F8433, F74872
Members were advised that the University currently categorises its postgraduate coursework courses into one of ten ‘postgraduate coursework course types’. It was noted that these types have been mapped to the relevant Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) qualification titles and levels in the University Policy on: Courses – Postgraduate Coursework:
AQF Level / AQF Course Type / UWA Postgraduate Coursework course types8 / Graduate Certificate / Graduate Certificate
Graduate Diploma / Graduate Diploma
9 / Master's (Coursework) / Master's degree course by coursework
Master's degree course by coursework and dissertation
Professional Practice Masters
Master's (Extended) / Master's degree course (Extended)
Professional Practice Doctorates (e.g. Juris Doctor, Doctor of Medicine)
Clinical Doctorates
Master's (Research) / Master's degree course by thesis and coursework - RTS compliant
10 / Doctoral Degree / Professional Doctorates by thesis and coursework - RTS compliant
Members had before them a proposal to amend the policy by:
· deleting the term ‘Professional Practice Doctorates’ and replacing it with ‘Professional Practice Masters (Extended)’, including a new definition for that course type; and
· amending the term ‘Clinical Doctorate’ to read as ‘Clinical Master’s (Extended)’.
The two course types proposed to be changed were originally approved by the University in 2010 to refer to professional postgraduate courses that have a volume of learning longer than the normal 96 credit points for master’s courses. Members noted that the changes were proposed in order to:
· avoid confusing or misleading current or prospective students by using the term ‘doctorate’ to refer to the master’s degrees currently classed as ‘Professional Practice Doctorates’ or ‘Clinical Doctorates’;
· ensure consistency with the AQF definition of ‘doctorate degrees’; and
· ensure consistency between the course types used at UWA.
RESOLVED – 17/16
to recommend to the Academic Council that:
(i) the Professional Practice Doctorates be no longer used as a UWA course-type, and that the existing courses under this course type be re-categorised accordingly;
(ii) the Clinical Doctorates course type be amended to read as Clinical Master’s (Extended) course type, and that the existing courses under this course type be re-categorised accordingly
(iii) the proposed amendments to the University Policy on Courses – Postgraduate Coursework (UP15/7), as set out in schedule 1 of the agenda attachment, be approved
(iv) That the proposed definition of Professional Practice Masters (Extended), set out as follows, be approved: “A professional practice masters (extended) is a course normally requiring the equivalent of at least three years of full-time study post a bachelor's degree and comprising Level 4 and Level 5 units. Admission is on the basis of a degree of this University or equivalent and may involve a sequential pathway (including a specified undergraduate major). The degree is the first professional qualification for those entering into Medicine, Dentistry, Law, and Podiatric Medicine. Though consisting predominantly of coursework, these courses are named Professional Practice Master’s (Extended) on the basis of the duration of study required and established international nomenclature. Award: Doctor of... or in case of Law the award: Juris Doctor (AQF Level 9”.
5. International Baccalaureate Comparable ATAR Adjustment – REF: F12716
The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma has been a Secondary Education qualification taught in over 140 countries worldwide. Currently, IB Diploma scores have been converted into an ATAR for the purpose of admission to UWA.
Members had before them a proposal which aimed to implement a new approach for admission to UWA for International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma students from 2018, including:
· closer alignment between the entry standards for IB students with the performance of IB students when they study at UWA;
· an adjustment commensurate with the language bonus currently afforded to students with an Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR);
· an adjustment commensurate with the mathematics bonuses that are proposed for University entry in 2018; and
· clarification and communication of the indicative IB score for all UWA courses.
The changes were proposed in order to better recognise the language and mathematics study that an IB student might have undertaken, in line with the current recognition of these subjects for students admitted by ATAR. This reflected the tendency for IB students to perform better than other UWA students admitted at equivalent ATARs under the current method of conversion.
While there was unanimous support for the proposed new approach to admitting International Baccalaureate Diploma students to the University, it was pointed out that Admission should as a standard practice and where relevant in the future, consider providing benchmarking details in the proposal to enable the committee to make a more informed decision.
RESOLVED – 18/16
that the proposed approach, as set out in the agenda attachment, to admitting International Baccalaureate Diploma students to the University be endorsed and referred to the Academic Council for approval for implementation from 2018.
6. Educational Principles – REF: F27505
The University of Western Australia has been committed to those educational values which imbue student learning at all levels, summarised within its Educational Principles. The University’s Educational Principles have recently been considered and revised in light of Recommendation 10 of the 2015 Review of Courses (undergraduate degrees), which recommended that:
“… the University amends its Educational Principles to include digital literacy to the list of educational values which imbue student learning at all levels, and that major coordinators investigate embedding digital literacy in their major where feasible and appropriate.”
By R9/15, the Education Futures Strategy Group (EFSG) resolved to recommend that:
· the Curriculum Committee consider the implications of the addition of the statement ‘to acquire skills in numeracy’ to the University’s Educational Principles; and
· the University undertake a wider review of the Educational Principles.
In so considering, the Curriculum Committee at its meeting held on 14th September resolved by R99/16 to recommend to the Education Committee that:
· the phrase ‘to acquire skills in numeracy’ not be included in the Educational Principles;
· the phrase ‘to acquire the skills needed to embrace rapidly changing technologies’ be replaced with ‘to acquire the skills needed to engage with rapidly changing technologies’ in the current Educational Principles; and
· a comprehensive review of the Educational Principles be undertaken as part of the third phase of the University’s Review of Courses.
In considering the revised Educational Principles, members noted the following points in the ensuing discussion:
a) It was agreed that the word ‘embrace’ should be replaced with the word ‘engage’ in the following statement: “to acquire the skills needed to embrace engage with rapidly changing technologies”.
b) It was clarified that the acquisition of skills in numeracy was an additional statement that was initially proposed by the EFSG, but had been suggested to be removed by the Curriculum Committee.
c) There was strong support from members of the Education Committee for the inclusion of numeracy skills as an educational principle. Some members however, questioned the timing of its inclusion for the following reasons:
- First, it was suggested that its inclusion should be considered as part of a comprehensive review of the educational principles, which were noted to be developed in 2008. It was pointed out that the Educational Principles were in fact long overdue for a review.
- Second, the proposed inclusion might also have a major impact on a number of UWA courses, particularly in certain disciplines such as those in the humanities and law. Further, it was suggested that any review of course content to reassess the extent of embedding the revised educational principles should be pitched at a level higher than the majors for undergraduate courses.
d) One member suggested that the principle “to acquire skills in information literacy” should be amended to read as “to develop skills in numeracy and information literacy”. There was some discussion with regard to replacing the word “acquire” with the word ‘develop’, and it was agreed that such skills should not be treated as an end goal that all students must attain but rather as a set of skills that students should develop as part of their education. Notwithstanding this, members agreed that these suggestions could be considered as part of the comprehensive review of the Educational Principles in due course.
RESOLVED – 19/16
to endorse and recommend to the Academic Council that:
- the statement be amended to read as: “to acquire the skills needed to engage with rapidly changing technologies”, effective immediately; and
- a comprehensive review of the Educational Principles be undertaken as part of the third phase of the University’s Review of Courses.
Signed:
______
CHAIR
/ / 2016gned:
and recommend Law hasd to the agenda,ILtion Committee held on 20 June 2016.
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