Australian Government Misses the Point on Innovation and Research

Dan Tehan, Australian Minister for Education, has announced an expert panel to provide advice on accelerating the commercialization of university research. While the panel is made up of eminent experts from research and industry, the government seems to have missed a key point on how innovation actually happens. 

Calling this "Better commercialising university research", indicates a lack of understanding of the innovation process. It is rarely the case that an academic at a university stumbles across a key discovery, and hands the finding over to business to "commercialize". What most successful projects do is have researchers work with business from the start, to identify what research directions are likely to yield useful results. Some of the researchers acquire business skills, so they can form the link between university and commerce.

In a series of talks in 1998 I suggested adopting an approach which evolved around Cambridge University (UK). In the decades since then, Australian state and territory governments, in partnership with universities and professional bodies, have set up centers at or near universities around Australia, to teach innovation and foster links. The Canberra Innovation Network (CBRIN), adjacent to the Australian National University in Canberra and at the center of a cluster of start-ups, is an example of this approach. University staff and students are formally trained in business development techniques at CBRIN, helped to undertake their own startups and make business contacts.

The government panel is made up of:

1. Professor Michelle Simmons AO, Director of the Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology
2. Dr Alan Finkel AO, Chief Scientist of Australia
3. Ms Laura Tyler, Chief Technical Officer, BHP
4. Mr Dig Howitt, CEO and President, Cochlear
5. Professor Paul Wellings CBE, Vice-Chancellor, University of Wollongong
6. Ms Shemara Wikramanayake, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Macquarie Group
7. Professor Deborah Terry AO, Vice-Chancellor, University of Queensland
8. Mr Jeff Connolly, Chairman and CEO, Siemens Australia and New Zealand
9. Mr Andrew Stevens, Chair, Industry Innovation and Science Australia

Review of Australian Qualifications Proposes Recognition of Microcredentials

A Review of the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), has proposed recognising credit-bearing microcredentials, and implementing a national credit points system is proposed.

The report uses the example of the EdX Micromasters, where students can obtain credit towards up to one-quarter of a Masters (six months of the two years full-time study) for completing a series of online courses. This is a curious choice, as the EdX MicroMasters is comparable to a Graduate Certificate in the AQF, and so not very "micro", compared to recognition of much smaller microcredentials in New Zealand. The NZ micro-credentials are equivalent to 1 to 8 weeks study, whereas the EdX MicroMasters is 12 weeks of study. Also the Report's endorsement of the term MicroMasters (an EdX trademark), is troubling. What is next, Masters degrees rebranded as "DemiDoctorates"? ;-)

The report claims a national credit points system "would make learning outcomes more comparable between different institutions". However, that is likely to be opposed by institutions which strive to differentiate themselves, in particular universities wanting to be be seen to be superior to Vocational Educaiton and Training (VET) institutions, contrary to the report's wish for a credit point scheme to "contribute to parity of esteem between VET and higher education by expressing the equivalence in value of learning from both systems". Also research intensive universities are unlikely to want to be part of a scheme which equates their offerings with that of education focused universities, let alone the VET sector.

I put some thoughts on how to reform Australian higher education last year when invited to give evidence to the an Australian Senate Committee on the Future of Work and Workers, at Parliament House in Canberra, alongside Rob Fitzpatrick, CEO of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), and just after the ANU VC.

Except from the  Review of the AQF Final Report 2019:

"The Panel has proposed a comprehensive set of reforms and an implementation plan that would see a future AQF evolve as follows:

1. A less complex AQF structure with a primary focus on the qualification types in the AQF (Degrees, Certificates etc.).
2. A single and clearer taxonomy comprising eight bands of knowledge and six bands of skills more flexibly applied. Application is not rigidly locked to other bands (or levels).
3. Contemporary definitions of knowledge and skills are used. Knowledge, Skills and Application are defined in terms of action – the information to inform action, the capabilities to take action and the context for action.
4. Using these features, the AQF is refocused on the design of qualifications linked to learning outcomes for individual qualifications.
5. Additional information is included to help define qualification types, particularly for qualifications leading to Nationally Recognised Training delivered through the VET sector, for apprenticeships and for research-oriented qualifications.
6. General capabilities (such as digital literacy and ethical decision making) are identified for use in individual qualifications.
7. A prototype national credit points system is developed for voluntary adoption by institutions and sectors.
8. Qualification types are realigned against the revised taxonomy (based on options outlined in this Report) including the addition of a higher diploma qualification. VET certificates can be more meaningfully titled to reflect their purpose.
9. The Senior Secondary Certificate of Education is more clearly defined and represented in the AQF in terms of its role in preparing young people for a range of pathways into VET and higher education (including with credit).
10. Volume of learning is expressed in terms of hours, not years, and applied as a benchmark for compliance and quality assurance.
11. An ongoing governance body for the AQF is established to give effect to decisions of the Review of the AQF and to provide advice on revisions to the AQF where required in the future.
12. AQF policies are updated or assigned to the relevant agency, with redundant policies removed. The AQF is more consistently referenced and applied in VET and higher education sector standards and guidelines."

From: AQF Review 2019 (numbering and emphasis added).

Reference

Review of the Australian Qualifications Framework Final Report 2019, Peter Noonan, Allan Blagaich, Sally Kift, Megan Lilly, Leslie Loble, Elizabeth More, Marie Persson, Australian Department of Educaiton, 24 October 2019

Potential Improvements and Rorts With New Australian University Performance Measures

Dan Tehan, the Australian Federal Minister for Education, has announced that funding to universities will be "performance-based". Measures will be: graduate employment, first-year student completion rate, student satisfaction with teaching quality, plus participation of Indigenous, low socio-economic status, and regional and remote students. This provides opportunities for better teaching, but also a risk of rorts.

There was a review process, and the final report is available. I was surprised with the relatively mild response from Vice-chancellors, who met with the minister.

What might have worried the VCs was that the Minister said the "core business" of universities was "producing job-ready graduates with the skills to succeed in the modern economy". That is more the job of the vocational sector, including TAFEs. Universities have a far wider, long term role, even if just considering narrow economic outcomes. Universities produce inventions, and experts to implement them, but this process can take a decade, or more. Financial incentives which encourage universities to take a short term view could stop the flow of inventions and highly skilled people, stalling the economy.

Example of for Better Teaching

Having new funding linked metrics could provide an incentive for universities to use better teaching techniques. As an example, last year I designed a learning module to teach students to reflect on their learning, by having them write a job application. I ran this last semester for ANU Master of Computing international students. The module uses the full range of scaffolded m-learning, blended, flipped, peer assessed, group techniques I have been learning over the last six years, as a student of education.

This module was well received by the students, and is being run for all computer science students this semester in the ANU TechLauncher program. These students will have a better chance of getting a job as they will have been formally trained in looking for jobs and have had their application peer reviewed. The learning module is available under a Creative Commons license for free reuse.

The first-year student completion rate can be improved by better scaffolding of the education, project based group work, and a blend of online and classroom education. These techniques are well known, and I explored some in my book "Digital Teaching In Higher Education".

Opportunities for Better Student Performance

Student satisfaction with teaching quality can similarly be improved with better teaching techniques, and in particular with better assessment. But the best way to improve the student experience, I suggest,  is to employ trained, qualified educators. Academics will not willingly undertake teacher training and certification. One way around this is to incorporate the training in vocational degrees. Rather than treat teaching as an afterthought which an academic halfheartedly picks up after their formal education, make it part of the training of all professionals in their degrees.

Participation of Indigenous, low socio-economic status, and regional and remote students can be assisted with wider access to online education. This allows those with cultural, family, or work commitments to study without moving to a city. Also the rigorous design process required for online courses produces better courses, which can take into account the needs of non-traditional students. During my MEd studies I explored how to provide e-learning for high quality education.

One difficulty with online education is that it may not do well with the new metrics.  Online students take longer to complete and drop out at a higher rate. This is not due to any inherent problem with the teaching format, but because these courses attract students who are excluded from campus programs. The same factors which stop them attending on campus also result in lower, slower, completion rates.

Improved Teaching Techniques But Potential Gaming of New Metrics

New teaching techniques can improve completion rates and job outcomes. However, these may also be misused to game the system and manipulate the metrics for financial gain by unscrupulous operators. Coming up with reliable measures to base funding on will take considerable effort. The rorting of the vocational funding system shows how inventive people and organizations can be when it comes to exploiting an education funding system. Some obvious examples of how the new measures could be gamed:

1. Graduate employment: The best students to have for vocationally oriented programs are those who already have a job, or have relevant work experience. Some educational programs require this, as an essential part of work integrated learning (and some professional bodies require it as part of degree accreditation). Due to the difficulty of finding suitable jobs for students, some universities have set up their own consulting companies to employ the students. However, these measures could be misused to make the employment statistics of look better.
2. First-year student completion rate: Students who have already successfully completed a sub-degree program are much more likely to complete their degree. This can be done, by having students undertake a certificate, or diploma at a vocational education institution, in some cases associated with the university. Those students then get degree credit for their VET studies.  Similarly, universities can offer credit for completion of low cost cost online "MOOC" courses. Another approach is to enroll the students in nested program, where they get a sub-degree qualification first. These are all good ways to improve student outcome, but can be misused to game the statistics. Students enrolled at VET, in online MOOCs, and sub-degree programs do not don't count in the university degree statistics, so those who drop out are not counted.
3. Student satisfaction with teaching quality: Progressive assessment, where the student is given small tests through their course, provide better feedback.  This allows students who are not succeeding at a subject to withdraw early, and focus on other studies. I use this approach routinely in courses, and the students like seeing how they are doing. However, this might be used to make the student satisfaction scores look better. Students who fail a course tend to give lower satisfaction scores. However, with progressive assessment, students withdraw before the end of the course. These students are not recorded as a fail, which is good, but also they do not get to fill in the student feedback survey, as it is administered at the end of the course, after they have withdrawn.

Australian draft law prohibiting academic cheating services

Dan Tehan MP,
Minister for Education

The Australian Minister for Education, Dan Tehan MP, released a draft law "Prohibiting Academic Cheating Services", 7 April 2019. This would make it a criminal offense to provide or advertise academic cheating services, with up to two years imprisonment, or more than $100,000 fine. Students who use the services will not be subject to this law, with any academic penalty left to their institution. The law will apply to services provided outside Australia for those in Australia. Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) will undertake monitoring, and can ask a court for an order to have web sites providing services blocked. There is a summary overview of the draft Bill available. The Australian Department of Education has asked for comments by 28 June 2019.

It is not clear to me how well this law will work where services are being provided from outside Australia. Also it is not clear if this also applies to students in Australia enrolled in courses outside Australia.

In my view educators need to accept that students do not see cheating as a serious issue. Giving students stern warnings has proved ineffective. Making it something like a crime requires educational institutions to have complex slow processes, which students can use to avoid penalties. Instead I suggest treating cheating as a learning experience.

Students should be trained and tested on study skills, including how to write assignments. Most students will respond to this. Assessment can be designed so the few students who persist with attempting to cheat never graduate.

What proportion of international students at Australian universities are studying for a computing qualification?

I am writing a paper on how Australia might do education better and I wanted to include a figure on the proportion of computer students. From the Australian Department of Education statistics I calculated that 9% of  international students in 2016 were in “Information Technology”. However, that appears far too low and I would expect 20% to 30%. Perhaps this is because it doesn't include "information systems" business students and "software engineering". Is there a better figure?

Improving retention and completion for students in higher education

The report "Improving retention, completion and success in higher education" (Australian Department of Education and Training, 6 June 2018) makes 18 recommendations to improve student retention.  Many of the recommendations seem a little pointless, such as the first, suggesting institutions give students "the best chance to complete their studies". However, some are more significant, such as recommending nested courses and allowing for trimester structures. Unfortunately the report is of little practical value as it concentrates on internal on-campus students, whereas most Australian students are now studying externally online.

The report notes that the attrition rate for external students is about two and a half times that of internal students and the number of such students is rising. What the report does not point out that this is partly a correlation, not a causal relationship. The factors which cause students to enroll externally also result in the dropping out at a higher rate.

The report suggests that "Curricula for external courses must be designed with the external student in mind and must utilise the benefits of contemporary technology in course design". However, the report doesn't address the change which has already taken place in Australian higher education: most students now study externally online off-campus. Most of these students are officially enrolled as internal on-campus students, but don't come to lectures and only attend where required. 

Rather than address the needs of these students, government policies and some university practices are trying to force these students to attend when they do not need to or want to. Instead, I suggest the curricula for all courses needs to be designed with the external students in mind. Universities and government policy makers need to accept that students stopped coming to class years ago and change policy and practice accordingly.

"Recommendations

Expectations of completion in the current context

1. As a first priority, institutions should ensure students who have the capacity to succeed in higher education are given the best chance to complete their studies through the appropriate provision of academic and other support services as required of them by the Higher Education Standards Framework.

Supporting students to make the right choices

2. School students and mature-age people need better access to effective career advice. The National Career Education Strategy, due to be released in 2018, should be closely monitored to identify improvements in the area of student career advice, including study options and pathways, and information about the post school learning environment. This strategy should also be expanded to include mature-age students or a separate strategy should be initiated for this cohort.
3. Career advice cannot be left to schools. Every higher education institution should ensure that their students are given the opportunity for career planning and course advice on entry to the institution and as they require it throughout their studies.
4. Where and how student success, completions, retention and attrition data is made accessible to students should form part of considerations by the Department of Education and Training in the establishment of a new online information platform.

Supporting students to complete their studies

5. Every institution should have its own comprehensive student-centred retention strategy, which is regularly evaluated. These strategies could include institutional retention benchmarks and, as appropriate, processes for entry and exit interviews, the integration of data-based risk analytics and targeted support interventions, a suite of support services and a means to re-engage with students who have withdrawn.
6. Institutions should automatically review the enrolment of all students who have not engaged in their studies to an agreed level by the census date.
7. Institutions should pay particular attention to ensuring their support services are meeting the needs of external students who are not regularly attending campus because these students are identified as at risk of not completing their studies.
8. Every institution should have an institution-wide mental health strategy and implementation plan.
9. Institutions should increasingly offer nested courses, which are appropriate and compliant with the Australian Qualifications Framework, to provide students with a greater range of exit options with meaningful qualifications.

Sharing best practice

10. There is already a wide variety of approaches to sharing best practice within the higher education sector. However, these approaches are not always scalable or frequently evaluated. Peak bodies should collaborate to develop streamlined processes to collect and disseminate best practice, with support from the Department of Education and Training. A dedicated website could be established for this purpose.

Clarity of definitions and enhancing transparency

11. The higher education community should work together with the Department of Education and Training to ensure a greater understanding and clarity of definitions in attrition, retention, success and completions data. The Department should continue to measure and publish adjusted attrition, retention, student success and completions data.
12. At present some institutions have a trimester structure of teaching and this can lead to different timings for assessment, graduation and reporting. As a result, students who complete Semester 1 and 2 and enrol in Semester 3 but not Semester 4 are recorded as not completed. Consequently, the definition of attrition should be changed to reflect the trimester teaching structure.
13. The adjusted attrition rate should be the primary measure of attrition published for domestic commencing bachelor students.
14. The Department of Education and Training should further develop and publish the calculation of attrition rates that take into account key student characteristics so as to better reflect institutional differences.
15. The Department of Education and Training should report attrition among non-university higher education providers on a similar basis to its reporting of Table A and B universities.
16. The Department of Education and Training should publish attrition data at more disaggregated levels, for example, by institution, by study area and by student characteristics.
17. The Department of Education and Training should establish a common student identifier to better understand student pathways across tertiary education with a view to working with State and Territory Governments to establish a common student identifier across all levels of schooling.

Accountability and regulation

18. TEQSA already has sufficient powers in relation to provider compliance with the Higher Education Standards Framework in terms of the identification and tracking of students at risk with support strategies in place, analysis of student performance and evidence on reasons for attrition. TEQSA should continue to take account of every institution’s retention performance in assessing whether these standards are being met."

    From:  "Improving retention, completion and success in higher education" (Australian Department of Education and Training, 6 June 2018)

Minister for Education at EduTech 2018

Greetings from EduTech 2018 in Sydney where Senator Simon Birmingham, Minister for Education and Training just closed day1.

Senator Birmingham started by asserting that education is "... the cornerstone of economic growth and prosperity in this country ...". The minister suggested that while technology will change work, it is not to be feared.

At the Future of Work Senate inquiry on Monday I was asked for my estimate of what proportion of jobs will be eliminated by technology in the next few years. The previous speaker had suggested more like 10% than 40%. I suggested more like 40%, but no one really knows. What we do know is that while the economy may benefit overall from efficiency, hundreds of thousands of individuals will suffer in the process. We need government programs to help retrain these people and provide support.

The minister point out Australia does not just export minerals and produce, it exports high technology products. Unfortunately Australia, I suggest, does not recognize or support its innovators. Moodle is a product used by universities an schools around the world, developed in Perth WA by Martin Dougiamas. If you ask a technology educator anywhere in the world they probably know Moodle. Unfortunately Moodle HQ does not get the recognition and support they deserve from the Australian Government and are now looking to expand in Spain.

The government’s education reform agenda will not see Australia succeed if it fails to recognize and reward our local talent. The current situation with technology reminds me of computer networking in the early 1990s. Government officials were telling each other that their IT policies were on track. At the same time academics were telling those of us working in IT that the Internet and the World Wide Web, were about to revolutionize the industry. That is now happening with education: most of what the Minister talked about was support for obsolete forms of education.

If the Minister really wants to "... ensure every Australian student is supported to be ready for the future ...", he needs to start putting in place policy and procedures for the future of education, not the past. What we need is to train and support school teachers in new ways of teaching, and re-train university academics.

Government policy assumes that students learn mostly in classrooms, but that is changing. Students will learn online, wherever they happen to be. Classrooms will still needed for specialized skills and as a place to learn to work together, but only some of the time.

The way we achieved a change to the Internet and Web in government was with an informal group of politicians, public servants, academics and industry people. Those of us in the public service were able to get advice on what worked from world leaders in the field (some of whom worked at ANU). With systems implemented we could then write the policy for our ministers to endorse (and let them take credit for it as their initiative). While sometimes jokingly called the "Internet Cabal", this was not done in secret, with conference presentations on what to do. Something similar is needed for education.

Narrow Focus on Completion Rates for Australian University Students is Discriminatory

The Australian Education and Training Minister, Simon Birmingham, wants universities to have a “laser focus” on student outcomes. The minister points out that six-year completion rates for university students had dropped to their lowest levels on record. This is based on the latest Completions Rates of Higher Education Students - Cohort Analysis, 2005-2015 from the Australian Department of Education and Training (November, 2017). However, the results are not as bad as the minister suggests and implementing the Minister's advice would make the situation worse, not better.

The key messages from the department's report were that 9 years after the 2007 students commenced, 73.6% had completed, almost the same as for 2005 and 2006. For 2010 students, 66.0% of students had completed after six years. This was the lowest completion rate since statistics collection commenced in 2005. However, it is only 0.9% lower than the average for other years. There is a similar 0.9% drop from 2011 to 2012.

A 0.9% drop in student completions does not look good. However, there has been a large increase in enrollments in the last few years. Students who were unable to attend university are now able to. It is likely that the same factors which previously prevented these students from attending university are now delaying, or preventing, completion of their completion.

The difference in the students is likely to also explain the different completion rates of students at different universities and those using different instructional techniques. This is not though any fault of the university, or lack of commitment on the part of the student, but due to the same circumstances which previously stopped the student enrolling.

Were universities to follow Minister Birmingham's suggestion for a “laser focus” on student outcomes, there would be undesirable social outcomes. To increase the student completion rates, universities would be forced to exclude low income students and others from disadvantaged groups, those from regional areas and students who have families. Universities would select only wealthy city kids.

As an alternative to a discriminatory student selection policy, I suggest that the Australian Government and the Universities agree on broader outcomes targets. One way to do this would be to lengthen the target completion time for degrees from nine to twelve years. Shorter term measures could target nested qualifications, so that students receive a vocationally useful qualification after completion of the equivalent of one or two years full time study, not a three year bachelor degree. In addition universities should be encouraged, to have measures which will help students study, such as introductory study skills courses and teaching staff with teaching qualifications.

An additional measure to increase university completions would be to encourage more students to enroll in Vocational Education and Training, before, or as an alternative to, university.

Lastly, but perhaps the easiest measure to implement, would be for universities to use academics who have been trained in how to teach. Research by Bryant and Richardson (2015) found that students with a teacher having a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education did better than those who just a PHD but no teaching qualification. It may not be popular with academics, but it would be a relatively simple administrative measure to require academics who teach to have a teaching qualification.  This is already the case for the VET sector, where teachers are required to have at least a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.

Reference

Bryant, D., & Richardson, A. (2015). To be, or not to be, trained. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 37(6), 682-688. URL https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2015.1102818

Improving retention, completion and success in higher education

The discussion paper "Improving retention, completion and success in higher education" from the Higher Education Standards Panel, was released by the Australian Department of Education and Training, 9 June 2017. This seventy nine page report provides a comprehensive overview of efforts to measure and improve the retention of students in Australian university. It points out that many strategies have had limited success and asked what more can be done.

As the paper points out, Australian university students complete at about the same rate as in comparable countries. The report discusses categories of students less likely to complete, such as those who are part time, distance students from low socio-economic groups (p. 45). In a way this reflects the success of Australian Higher Education policy. Such students would previously have been excluded from higher education. Any policy to improve retention rates should be carefully designed so it does not inadvertently exclude these students (or allow an unscrupulous provider to deliberately do so to improve their statistics).

One change the points to  is "From 1 January 2018 Commonwealth support will be available to students at public universities in approved sub-bachelor courses." (Page 14). As the paper notes, this will provide a better transition to degree programs and for shorter work related qualifications.

However, sub-degrees present challenges for universities which are not used to offering such short, practical programs. Those institutions which offer vocational and educational training (VET), through an associated TAFE or Registered Training Organization (RTO) will have an advantage in staff and procedures to suit these shorter programs.

In discussing teaching quality, the paper notes that enrollments in Graduate Certificates in Teaching (the traditional qualification a university lecturer is expected to have) has been declining (p. 50). The paper suggests this be addressed by individual universities. However, perhaps a more centralized policy is needed. VET staff have a very high rate of completion of the equivalent qualification: a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. This is because the qualification is required for VET teachers. No similar requirement exists for university lecturers.

I suggest requiring university lecturers to have a teaching qualification at least the same level as VET teachers: AQF level 4 Certificate IV, while retaining the option of a Level 8 Graduate Certificate. Those academics who also teach in the VET sector would be likely to opt for the Certificate IV and those exclusively in the university system the Graduate Certificate. In either case, this education should focus on practical aspects of teaching, with only as much theory as needed to support it. This should be offered on-line, using techniques including an e-portfolio and recognition of prior learning, both for convenience and to provide familiarity with the environment lecturers will be increasingly working in. and with the option of completion through an

Senior university academics should be expected to have completed a more extensive qualification on teaching, supervision and university administration. A Level 6 Advanced Diploma, or Level 9 Masters Degree would be appropriate.

One aspect of the paper which I find troubling, is the lack of appreciation for the change which on-line education has made, and will make, to Australian Higher Education. The assumption seems to be that most university students do, and will continue to, attend lectures on a campus regularly as full-time students. However, like the education provided by universities, this thinking needs to be flipped. University academics are well aware that only about one third of students attend the average lecture and that students have jobs and families. However, most academics have not been trained in how to provide education to this majority of students.

In March I completed a Masters of Education in Distance Education, focused on how to provide a quality education at a research orientated university catering to international students. Some of my colleagues have asked what the trick is to getting students to do the study expected of them. The trick, as I explain it, is to experience being a student so you understand what they are going through and becoming competent in your profession of teaching. It is then very much easier to teach, once you know how to do it and why.

Is the Growth in Australian International Education Sustainable?

Simon Birmingham, the Minister for Education and Training, has pointed to "... surging international student numbers.. " at Australian institutions, up 15% on March 2016. However is this growth rate sustainable? Can Australian institutions provide instructors, facilities and the quality of education, with this growth rate? What are the risks from depending on students from a few countries?

The International Student Data Monthly Summary from the Department of Education and Training shows 30% of the students are from China and 11% India. A dispute with China in particular (such as conflict over the South China Sea), resulting in a loss of students, would have a significant effect on Australian institution's finances.

While universities get most of the media attention, this is only just only half of the international students at 54%. Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector makes up 23%. While VET is growing at the same rate as universities (15%), I suggest there is scope for more growth in this sector. The challenge is to provide VET training which governments and employers in the region will find credible. If Australian VET providers can find a way to convince stakeholders that students actually undertook the training and are competent to the level certified, this sector could expand. This may require techniques similar to the livestock export industry, where there is individual tracking.

Just as a consumer of premium beef can see which farm a steak came from and the details of the farmer, credible VET certification may require the employer to see who trained the applicant in what, when and perhaps even video of the applicant undertaking their training and assessment.

The other threat to Australian's inbound international education industry is, of course, on-line learning. At present on-line courses, are not seen as a premium product, with questions over the quality of the education and the integrity of the assessment system. The VET sector could help change this perception, with its results based approach to training and assessment and flexibility.

Australian universities have recently experimented with vocationally relevant skills, micro-credentials and competency based assessment, but these have been routine in the VET sector for decades. It is much easier to convince an employer than a VET graduate has the required skills for a job, where there is a list of skills specific to that job, every one of which the student has been certified competent in. In contrast, a university graduate may, or may not, have been tested against some of a list of vague aspirational goals listed for a degree.

However, Australia suffers from its divided higher education system which sees universities separated from VET and no education focused institutions to fill the gap in between. Solving this problem is the key to further expansion of international education and lowering the cost of domestic higher education.

Completion Rates of Australian Higher Education Students

The Australian Department of Education has issued a report on Completion Rates of Higher Education Students: Cohort Analysis (2016). In response, the Australian Education Minister, Senator Simon Birmingham, issued a media release urging university students to "... research options as completion rates dip" (18 January 2017). This was reported with the headlines such as "Nation of dropouts: University completion rates drop to a new low" (Liz Burke, 18 January 2017). However, I suggest the situation is not that bad and not the fault of the students. Australia's regional universities do not have a low completion rate, but even so there are some simple steps the government could encourage the universities to take to improve it.

The Cohort Analysis found the completion rates were: 39.2% after four years, 45.7% after six years and 73.5% after nine years. This is for a bachelor's degree, which is designed to take three years for a full-time student. Also, the study found that capital city universities had much higher completion rates than regional ones.

Not surprisingly, the Analysis found that part-time students take longer to complete. However, there are very few real "full-time" students. University students do not sit around campus relaxing: they have jobs and family commitments which conflict with their studies.
The Minister "... has urged students to research where they choose to study if they plan to go to university ..." (Media Release, 18 January 2017). This is unfortunate, as the minister seems to be blaming the students. The Minister suggests that the Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) website can help students “make the right choice, first time”. However, I tried this website recently and found it of little practical use. In any case, more information will not help to choose between a set of inflexible programs.

Australia needs, I suggest, flexible offerings for students. It is not reasonable to tell students to choose from one of the fixed, three-year degree programs, and expect nothing in their life to change for the next six to nine years. It does not help for the system to label a student who wants to change their studies or has to withdraw due to job or family commitments as a failure.


Students change courses because they learn more about their interests as they study (if students knew everything before they started they would not need to study). Also, students are forced to drop out because the programs do not provide the flexibility which the complexities of life demand. A student who can't attend the campus due to a job change or family commitments is forced to withdraw from their studies.

Students do not use other entry pathways, because they have no way of knowing they will need those pathways, until after they are enrolled in a fixed program in the higher education system.

The minister's suggestion that students look at the reputation of the university they want to attend is not particularly helpful. The completion rates of universities are, to a significant part, not due to the teaching quality of the university, but the circumstances of the students. A student with a job and family commitments in a regional area can't just decide to abandon their job and kids to study in the city.

For the last seven years, I have been a part-time graduate student at two Australian universities (ANU and USQ), a Vocational Education and Training institution (CIT) and a North American on-line open university (Athabasca University). My area of study was education. I have had to read a lot of textbooks and papers on education, including on how to create better degree programs. Also, I have had the pleasure of talking to international and Australian researchers looking at student retention, such as Dr. Cathy Stone at the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education,

It happens I have been a student at one of the Australian universities with the highest completion rate (ANU) and the lowest (USQ). This difference is not due to there being anything wrong with USQ (I thought the courses very good) and is consistent with differences seen around the world. City and regional universities cater to different students, with different needs, resulting in different completion rates.

One thing I learned is that being a student is very hard work and very frustrating. There is no way to know exactly where and what you want to study before you start to study. As I wrote in the Capstone e-Portfolio for my degree:

"... students need support to fit their studies into their lives. This can be through careful course design, giving the student small frequent nudges, scaffolding assignments and allowing them to be based on real-world problems. Also, frequently assessed work is an aid ..."

One of the most useful things I found was being able to supplement campus-based courses at one university (ANU) with on-line courses at another (USQ). Being able to obtain vocational certification (at CIT) based on my university study and work experience was also useful. In North America, I found being able to delay choosing what sort of degree I was doing (coursework or research) until after enrolling and completing introductory courses was very useful. Had I not had that option, I would not have completed my studies successfully and would not have been awarded a degree (today).

There are some steps the Australian government can take to increase completion rates for degrees and in also reduce the cost of unrecoverable student loans. One step would be to encourage universities to offer nested programs and guarantee mutual recognition of courses. A student who has had to suspend studies before completion of a degree should be awarded a sub-degree qualification, not left with a massive debt and nothing to show for it.

Students could receive a certificate after six months, diploma after a year and an advanced diploma after two years, with the option to suspend students at any of these checkpoints and return to complete their degree later. This would reduce the figures for non-completion of degrees as the students who left with a sub-degree would not be counted as non-completions. This would also reduce the student loan cost as students would not fee pressure to continue studies past a checkpoint and so not incur further debt unnecessarily.

A student who has to change institutions should have prior study recognized and not be penalized for the change. A student who wants to supplement their studies with a course at another institution should be free to do so.

Universities should not have arbitrary attendance requirements for courses. Unless a course requires physical attendance, the student should be able to study and undertake assessment on-line. Students should be offered projects and assessment relevant to real world work and have the option to undertake this in the workplace, not on campus.

Universities should require teaching staff to be qualified to teach, and in particular qualified to design and deliver engaging on-line education. There is more to e-learning than just recorded lectures.

Teaching is a skill which needs to be learned. I was a reluctant student of education, thinking that I had already learned all I needed to know the on-line job at one of Australia's (and the world's) learning institutions. However, having been encouraged to study education as a discipline, I found there was much I could learn which not only was beneficial for my students but made teaching less stressful for the teacher.

The Australian Government could encourage measures to reduce non-completion and lower cost through the way it funds institutions directly and through student loans. Government funding could be contingent on the intuitions introducing these measures.