In recent years, research policy has increasingly prioritized the societal impact of academic work, emphasizing external relevance, public value, and collective benefit. In many countries, a wealth of data has been generated by national assessments that require universities to submit narratives on their contributions outside the academy. Despite…

Purpose: This study explores the perceptions of Australian employers regarding the benefits and challenges of micro-credentials within higher education and enablers of their effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative approach that included 11 semi-structured interviews with employers affiliated with an Australian university was…

Vocational decisions made at school have significant long term impacts on young people's life chances, their opportunities for securing decent jobs and economic growth for themselves, their families and communities. In the short term, their aspirations dictate the decisions they make about educational pathways in post-compulsory years of schooling…

Strengths-based initiatives for university students to identify and develop their strengths are increasing in popularity in the tertiary sector. An understanding of strengths provides students with greater resilience in their transition in and out of university. While such strengths-based initiatives have been studied among first-year student…

Background: Coaching is grounded in three knowledge components: professional, interpersonal and intrapersonal knowledge. Coach development research has shown that coaches value contextual, in situ, learning with mentors more highly than formal, mediated programs that are offered by sporting bodies, which often provide generic content. Purpose: The…

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic precipitated a rapid roll-out of virtual health care services to people with intellectual disabilities. Limited evidence is available for clinicians to guide virtual care delivery. Method: Twenty-three studies were identified through systematic searching of 16 databases. Extracted data were mapped to the NSW…

Learner engagement, loosely defined as the extent of a student's cognitive and emotional investment in both academic and co-curricular activities, is argued to make a positive impact on both the student experience at university and student learning outcomes. Universities often implement co-curricular activities and programs to drive learner…

Communication and interaction in neurotypical environments can be challenging for autistic individuals, potentially disrupting the parent-child relationship. In Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) that facilitates improved interactions between autistic children and their parents, RDI Consultants play key roles in enabling parents to…

Humans use stories to explain natural processes, to explore alternatives, to resolve issues, and to imagine different possibilities and futures. Stories are a fundamental way people connect to their natural surroundings. But are some stories better for this than others? This study uses an experimental design to explore the impact of three types of…

Autistic advocates emphasise the need for neurodiversity-affirming and strengths-based approaches to support services; however, little is known about broader community perspectives regarding the appropriateness of offering early support services to autistic children. This co-designed mixed-methods study employed surveys to gather insights from 253…

Despite a large number of Sino-foreign joint education programmes, little research has examined the pre-departure academic preparations of students on these programmes. This study aims to fill the research gap by interviewing 22 Chinese students on 2 + 2 programmes studying at an Australian host university. Findings show that while more than half…

Student bullying behaviours are a significant social issue in schools worldwide. Whilst school staff have access to quality bullying prevention interventions, schools can face significant challenges implementing the whole-school approach required to address the complexity of these behaviours. This study aimed to understand how schools' capacity to…

Australia's higher education sector has seen substantial developments in equity and inclusivity as a result of initiatives which work to improve the numbers and experiences of students from a wide diversity of backgrounds. This practice report shares learnings from a recent national project about the impacts of a wide range of access and equity…

For over two decades now, the application of Citizen Science to Education has been evolving, and fundamental topics, such as the drivers of motivation to participate in Citizen Science projects, are still under discussion. Some recent developments, though, like the use of Artificial Intelligence to support data collection and validation, seem to…

Background: We evaluated a transition to retirement intervention that adapted strategies used to support employment of people with intellectual disability in mainstream workplaces. The intervention facilitated their independent participation in mainstream community groups and volunteering. Methods: We randomised 29 older Australians who…