Keynote speakers

Dr. Christine Asmar is a Senior Lecturer in Indigenous Higher Education at Murrup Barak - Melbourne Institute for Indigenous Development, in the University of Melbourne.

As a Teaching Fellow of the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) her Fellowship was titled: Indigenous Teaching in Australian Universities: Developing Research-based Exemplars for Good Practice (www.Indigenousteaching.com).

Christine has done research with Muslim university students in both Australia and the United States, but in recent years has focused on Indigenous issues in Australian higher education, often in collaboration with Associate Professor Susan Page of Macquarie University. In addition to the Fellowship, she has shared 2 research grants from AIATSIS, the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. With over a decade of experience as an academic developer, Christine is now able to bring her research interests and teaching expertise together in contributing to the work of the University of Melbourne's new Indigenous Institute.

Plenary panel: The readiness of school leavers for university

Panellists:
Steve Hoath, Executive Officer, Tertiary Institutions Service Centre
Professor Robyn Quin, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education), Curtin University
Professor Arshad Omari, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Edith Cowan University
Professor Bev Thiele, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), Murdoch University
Professor Phil Hancock, Associate Dean of the Business School, University of Western Australia
Keith McNaught, Director of the Academic Enabling and Support Centre (AESC) at The University of Notre Dame Australia

Abstract

A new post-compulsory education system came into place in 2010, with new requirements for secondary graduation and university entrance. The old system of Tertiary Entrance Exam (TEE) and Wholly School Assessed subjects was replaced by courses at stages 1, 2 and 3, where stage 3 courses are required to achieve an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR).

The panel session will be based around Steve Hoath’s (Tertiary Institutions Service Centre) analysis of the 2010 (and 2011) year 12 results, which show that decreasing numbers of year 12 students are studying subjects which enable them to enter university. The percentage of students achieving an ATAR is also substantially lower in WA than in some other states. This panel session will examine these issues and others, and the panel will discuss their implications for universities in WA.

The full presentation is available to download.

	Steve Hoath has been the Executive Officer of the Tertiary Institutions Service Centre (TISC) since 1997. He started his career as a mathematics teacher in a senior high school for nine years, and then was seconded to the Isolated Students Matriculation Scheme to help write the Mathematics II and III course materials for upper secondary correspondence students. Steve then moved to the Secondary Education Authority and was responsible for the state Certification of Year 11 and 12 students and overseeing the setting, conduct and marking of the TEE Examinations for nine of these 12 years.
	Professor Robyn Quin is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) at Curtin University. Her responsibilities include: the quality assurance processes of teaching and learning across the university; curriculum development, curriculum review, teaching and learning policy development, teaching and unit evaluation, Student Support Services, the Library, Student Central, the Centre for e-Learning, and the Centre for Aboriginal Studies.
	Professor Arshad Omari is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) and Vice-President with key responsibilities for the Edith Cowan University (ECU) student experience, academic profile and load planning, quality assurance, human resources, risk management and audit assurance and the ECU web presence. Professor Omari has previously held the positions of the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Education and Arts, and prior to that, the Head of the School of Communications and Contemporary Arts. Prior to joining ECU he taught in Computer Science at the University of Western Australia. His research has been focused upon the development and application of online technologies, and in particular the effectiveness of these in teaching, learning, communication and online community.
	As Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), Professor Bev Thiele has responsibility for faculties; quality assurance; teaching and learning; organisational capacity; social justice and equal opportunity; library, and information technologies. Having arrived at Murdoch in 1977, Professor Thiele's academic career was in teaching and supervision in the areas of, first, women's studies and subsequently, gender and cultural studies. Her research has been focussed on women's social and political issues and in gender and organisational culture.
	Phil Hancock is currently Professor of Accounting and Associate Dean of the Business School at the University of Western Australia. He is also Chair of the Australian Business Deans Council Teaching and Learning Network. Phil has been involved in a number of ALTC projects and in 2010 was Chair of the Accounting Learning Outcomes working party which developed the threshold learning outcomes for Bachelor and Master degrees in Accounting. He has published widely in accounting and accounting education and is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Accounting Education. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and CPA Australia and is a member of a number of state and national committees. In 2006 he received a national Carrick Institute citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning.
	Professor Keith McNaught is the Director of the Academic Enabling and Support Centre (AESC) at The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA), Fremantle campus. The AESC also services students on the University’s Broome campus. Prior to his work in the university sector, Keith’s teaching career commenced in 1982, and involved primary, secondary and specialist teaching roles. He was also a Deputy Principal and Principal in the Western Australian education system. At UNDA, he worked in Mathematics Education for several years. Keith’s doctoral studies, completed at Curtin University, focused on mathematics anxiety in pre-service teachers. Keith has a strong personal and professional interest in working directly with both adults and children who are reluctant to engage with mathematics.