Marcia Devlin

• AM, PhDMEd, GradDipAppldPsych, DipEd, BA
• Professor at Macquarie University Sydney

Deferral and leave-taking behaviour substantially affects enrolment and retention rates across Australian universities. Almost ten per cent of commencing students defer their university offer every year, while over 20 per cent of continuing students take leave from their university within three years of commencing a Bachelor degree. Our research co...

This study examined the costs of supporting Australian university students from different socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds and whether there are economies of scale. The mixed-methods research in 2018 and 2019 found that substantially higher costs applied for supporting students from low SES backgrounds. These were explained by the costs inher...

This invited Commentary examines responses to the book, Beating the Odds: A practical guide to navigating sexism in Australian universities. The book is relevant to the theme of the Special Issue, as women leading teaching and learning are doing so in a sexist environment that limits their opportunities to lead and that under-values their contribut...

In this Special Issue Harvey and Jones state “It is time for women academics to accept the challenge – to rightfully claim their leadership”. We recognise the many women who have challenged the system, and those whose efforts have been thwarted. We encourage women and men to work together to break down the barriers of gender, race, culture, and rel...

An article published in Higher Education Research & Development (HERD) in 2010 titled, ‘The criteria of effective teaching in a changing higher education context’ argued that an effective university teacher needs to have specific skills and practices that are applicable to a particular context. The article is one of HERD’s most downloaded articles...

The catastrophic disruption to higher education from the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about significant and rapid changes to the delivery of mainstream teaching and learning in higher education institutions around the globe, in particular through the use of online learning. The many examples of innovation and novelty demonstrated by institutions a...

This humorous book about a serious topic will help women learn to beat the current odds for their university career success and achieve their full potential. This funny and practical guide to kicking the system in the butt will give women who read it an unfair advantage and help them fight the odds against them. This book tells it like it is and i...

In this chapter, the focus is on higher education research or what Boyer has called the scholarship of discovery. The concepts of higher education research and the scholarship of discovery may have similarities or differences – such comparisons are not the subject of this chapter. The chapter outlines nine elements of the scholarship of discovery f...

This paper reports on the findings from an Australian study exploring how best to facilitate the success of students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds who are studying at regional universities. Interviews with 69 successful regional students from low SES backgrounds, and 26 staff identified as experts in supporting these students, wer...

This chapter reports on the findings from an Australian study exploring how best to facilitate the success of students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds who are studying at regional universities. Interviews with 69 successful students from low SES backgrounds and with 26 stakeholders experienced in supporting these students were carri...

Students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds often contend with financial issues that have the potential to impact significantly on their success in higher education. Research has shown that students from low SES backgrounds often find themselves under economic pressure to prioritise paid work over their education. Few studies have expl...

Over the last decade, higher education in Australia has made strong progress towards strengthening the participation of students from low socioeconomic (SES) status backgrounds and those from regional and remote areas. These efforts have necessitated a rethink of current models and strategies and the development of more inclusive curriculum, assess...

This chapter explores the use of enabling programs by Australian universities to improve participation and success for students historically underrepresented in the nation’s higher education system. It draws on empirical evidence from a national research project designed to undertake a review of current enabling programs offered by Australian highe...

Student achievement is key to the fundamental objectives and future of all higher educational institutions across the globe. But despite this widespread intention, questions around the extent to which approaches to digitised/online education reflect this commitment often arise. The needs of mass and global student cohorts in higher education may no...

Enabling programs are not-for-degree programs designed to provide the necessary academic and cultural scaffolding for students who do not meet the institution’s usual admissions criteria. The evidence from the study indicates that Indigenous enabling pathways provide an important and effective environment in which the students develop a sense of be...

The objectives of this research project were to: • determine the major, high-level factors that contribute to retention and completion for domestic students from low SES backgrounds who are studying at regional universities; • determine successful approaches to increasing the success of these students; • provide guidance about how to begin addressi...

Widening participation movements inevitably give rise to discussions of the false dichotomy between equity and standards. The assumption is that by allowing differently prepared students into university and thereby improving equity, standards are somehow compromised. A recent national Australian study examined effective teaching and support of univ...

This chapter outlines a case study of the application of the neo-positivist paradigm in the higher education research field. A small scale evaluative study of an attempt to improve teaching and learning provides the case study. The neo-positivist paradigm involves the objective investigation of an aspect of reality, providing a provisional, contemp...

Australian higher education has adopted a widening participation agenda with a focus on the participation of disadvantaged students, particularly those from low socioeconomic status (LSES) backgrounds. As these students begin to enter university in greater number and proportion than ever before, there is increasing interest in how best to facilitat...

The discourse around students from low socio-economic backgrounds often adopts a deficit conception in which these students are seen as a ‘problem’ in higher education. In light of recent figures pointing to an increase in the number and proportion of these students participating in higher education [Pitman, T. 2014. “More Students in Higher ed, Bu...

Widening participation movements inevitably give rise to discussions of the false dichotomy between equity and standards. The assumption is that by allowing differently prepared students into university and thereby improving equity, standards are somehow compromised. A recent national Australian study examined effective teaching and support of univ...

At the heart of this book are people enrolling at university for the first time and entering into the broad variety of social relations and contexts entailed in their ‘coming to know’ at, of and through university.

The Australian government has set ambitious targets for increased higher-education participation of people from low socioeconomic backgrounds. There is, thus, a pressing need to explore how best to empower these students with what they require to progress and succeed at university. The paper draws on a literature review and qualitative data from a...

This chapter explores a set of principles that underpin ensuring that the learning needs of all students are addressed in next generation learning spaces. With increasingly diverse higher education environments and populations, higher education needs to move from seeing student diversity as problematic and deficit-based, to welcoming, celebrating a...

The growing interest in the higher education sector in publishing pedagogical research has led to a focus on professional development for staff who wish to engage in this endeavour. This paper describes and evaluates a specific programme designed to help university staff to prepare and submit a high-quality paper to a peer-reviewed journal. Feature...

The Australian government has set ambitious targets for increased higher-education participation of people from low socioeconomic backgrounds. There is, thus, a pressing need to explore how best to empower these students with what they require to progress and succeed at university. The paper draws on a literature review and qualitative data from a...

The widening participation agenda in Australian higher education heralds changes that demand fresh thinking in university leadership and management of learning and teaching. The findings from interviews, across two national studies in 16 Australian universities, with 50 staff and 89 successful students from low socio-economic backgrounds, provide t...

Interest in the university student experience is a relatively recent phenomenon. As a health professional, depending on your specific profession, on when you were educated into your profession, and on whether you took a vocational or university route into your profession, the notion of “the student experience” may be new to you or something about w...

As the Australian higher education population further diversifies as a result of federal government policy changes, the collective understanding of effective university teaching in the Australian context will need to evolve to incorporate such shifts. The Australian Government has set clear targets for increased university participation of people f...

Student engagement has rapidly developed a central place in the quality agenda of Australian universities since the introduction of the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE). The AUSSE is based on one developed in the USA. The main arguments given for adopting this survey in Australia are that it provides a valid instrument for measurin...

This resource has been developed as part of a national research project, Effective teaching and support of students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds: Resources for Australian higher education . This guide provides practical advice about the teaching characteristics and strategies that contribute to the success of students from low socioeco...

The Australian Government's response to the 2008 Bradley Review of higher education has set clear targets for increased university participation of people from low socioeconomic status backgrounds. Using a ‘success-focused’ methodological approach, this research documents the factors that a sample of 53 later-year, low socioeconomic status backgrou...

This article examines the conceptual frames that might be used to consider the success and achievement of students from low socio-economic status in Australian higher education. Based on an examination of key literature from Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and North America, it is argued that Australia should avoid adopting either a defi...

This project developed as a result of some inconclusive data from an investigation of whether a relationship existed between the use of formative assessment opportunities and performance, as measured by final grade. We were expecting to show our colleagues and students that use of formative assessment resources had the potential to improve performa...

The so-called 'Melbourne Model' has recently been adopted by the Council of the University of Melbourne, Australia after a long consultation process and widespread media attention. It proposes the design of new subjects which offer what are referred to as 'different ways of knowing' from students' 'core' disciplines, partly through 'the delivery of...

In higher education, interdisciplinarity involves the design of subjects that offer the opportunity to experience ‘different ways of knowing’ from students’ core or preferred disciplines. Such an education is increasingly important in a global knowledge economy. Many universities have begun to introduce interdisciplinary studies or subjects to meet...

This was the closing Keynote address

Invited workshop at The University of New England

The Bradley/Gillard reforms of higher education will bring significant changes to universities in Australia over the next decade. Not least among these changes will be the expansion and diversification of the student population. The challenges these changes will inevitably bring will be examined alongside some of the ways in which they might be bes...

In addition to the intrinsic commitment that higher education institutions, and the individuals and teams within them, have to the achievement and success of non-traditional students, the links between government widening participation policy, performance measurement and funding to universities will now provide an additional incentive. The future g...

The criteria of effective teaching in higher education are understood to comprise particular skills and practices applied within particular contexts. Drawing on the literature and using Australia’s understanding of effective teaching, this paper examines the notion of effective teaching. The paper specifically compares dimensions derived from robus...

This book is an attempt to document our knowledge of interdisciplinarity in higher education, with an emphasis – though not exclusively – on the Australasian and South-East Asian region, and to a lesser extent on Europe. The book is being published at a time when interdisciplinary higher education is enjoying a resurgence of interest globally, chal...

In Australia, there has been a tendency to rely on quantitative indicators of university teaching quality. This has occurred partly because the indicators are perceived as objective and reliable and partly because they are relatively simple to gather and collate. A national project currently underway is based on the assumptions that teaching qualit...

The rates of higher education access, participation and completion for Indigenous students are much lower than those for non-Indigenous students in Australia. This paper argues for a research-led focus on what works in terms of Indigenous student equity in higher education. Undertaking independent evaluation of existing initiatives and leveraging t...

A handbook to support institutions in developing and embedding effective policies and practices in peer review of teaching.

Studying and Working: A national study of student finances and student engagement A key determinant of the new relationship between students and universities in Australia is the changing nature of higher education funding arrangements and the shift towards ‗user-pays'. In 2007 Universities Australia, the peak body for universities in Australia comm...

PEER review is a well-established practice in higher education to monitor and enhance the quality of research. Why, then, do we tend to avoid peer review as a legitimate process through which to evaluate and improve the quality of teaching?<br /

Using a recent study that examined the effectiveness of a particular approach to improving individual university teaching as a case study, this paper examines some of the challenges inherent in educational research, particularly research examining the effects of interventions to improve teaching. Aspects of the research design and methodology and o...

This short paper explores the relevance of the scholarship of teaching to advancing Deakin University’s mission and core commitments, to teaching and learning and to its staff. The concept of the scholarship of teaching is defined and a discussion of the relevance of the concept to Deakin is then presented. Some broad guiding principles for impleme...

There is much complexity to the term ‘higher education research’. This paper explores the notion and provides some background for ongoing discussion with members of the College of Distinguished Deakin Educators (CDDE) and other staff stakeholders at Deakin University.

The ways in which universities and individual academics attempt to deter and respond to student plagiarism may be based on untested assumptions about particular or primary reasons for this behaviour. Using a series of group interviews, this qualitative study gathered the views of 56 Australian university students on the possible reasons for plagiar...

The term ‘interdisciplinary’ is used increasingly in the rapidly changing context of higher education. It is often used loosely, and is frequently confused with ‘multidisciplinary’ and ‘cross- disciplinary’. Collectively, however, terms such as these have become catch-cry. But what do these terms mean and what are the implications for higher educat...

A guide to support institutional leaders facilitate discussions on using Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE) 2 data with university stakeholders. About this guide Purpose In essence, the AUSSE results provide information that universities can use to improve the quality of the undergraduate student experience and their learning outcome...

The Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE) provides data for each institution on student engagement that is both generalisable and sensitive to institutional context. The data can help universities monitor and enhance the quality of education. This guide suggests how Australasian universities might use AUSSE data in a productive manner t...

There is one account in the literature of the application of a solution‐focused approach to individual teaching development at university level (Devlin, 20039. Devlin , M. 2003. A solution‐focused model for improving individual university teaching. International Journal for Academic Development, 8(1/2): 77–89. View all references). The solution‐fo...

Teaching development can play a critical role in ensuring the quality of teaching and learning in universities. However, a proportion of teaching development currently carried out and discussed in the literature is underpinned by a set of assumptions that may not be accurate. These assumptions are related to the part that university teachers' belie...

Countless cases of plagiarism are detected across the Australian higher education sector each year. Generally speaking, policy and other responses to the issue focus on punitive, rather than on educative, measures. Recently, a subtle shift is discernable. As well as ensuring appropriate consequences for plagiarists, several universities are beginni...

In recent years, conceptions of teaching held by academic staff have achieved an increased focus in the scholarly and practical work of teaching developers. Views on the impact of conceptions of teaching on improving university teaching, as well as their significance in doing so, vary from those that advocate changing conceptions as a necessary fir...

This project developed as a result of some inconclusive data from an investigation of whether a relationship existed between the use of formative assessment opportunities and performance, as measured by final grade. We were expecting to show our colleagues and students that use of formative assessment resources had the potential to improve performa...

Student evaluations of teaching are increasingly used to measure the teaching of individual academics in Australian higher education. The outcomes of these evaluations are variably made available to the individual academics themselves, to university management and to the public. However, communicating evaluation outcomes to each of these audiences...

Leadership, professional and other transferable skills are embedded in the expected attributes of Australian research postgraduates at the successful completion of their degrees. This paper reports on the development of an evaluation process for a postgraduate transferable skills program at The University of Melbourne, Australia. Existing and emerg...

This guide forms part of a large suite of work around assessment (Assessing Learning in Australian Universities Ideas, strategies and resources for quality in student assessment, by James, R., Mcinnes, C. and Devlin, M.). This particular guide was written by M. Devlin

Most Australian universities have made attempts of various kinds to address plagiarism. Some have responded in recent times with a primary focus on catching and punishing plagiarists, often assisted by computer software packages. Others have taken a more holistic approach incorporating foci on policy, assessment regime and student preparation and e...

One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. Helen Keller Deakin University has set itself the ambitious goal of becoming a national leader in teaching and learning and in the provision of high quality flexible education. The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sally Walker, recently reinforced the target of Deakin being in the top thir...