24 August 2005
24 August 2005
Many of you will have read of the rankings of the learning and teaching performance of Australia's universities in the media. These were compiled from data released to universities by the Department of Education, Science and Training.
The data are to be used as the quantitative component of university assessments to determine how much, if any, the universities will receive of the $250 million set aside over the next three years in Stage 2 of the Learning and Training Performance Fund.
Fifty-five per cent of the quantitative ranking was based on performance in three components of the Course Evaluation Questionnaire (CEQ), which is administered annually to students who graduated the year before. Roughly equal weighting was assigned to the ranking in the CEQ scales assessing generic skills, good teaching and overall satisfaction.
Twenty-two per cent was assigned to the rankings in the graduate outcomes, as assessed by the Graduate Destination Survey findings for the proportion of students in full-time employment and further full-time study. The final 23 per cent was assigned to the rankings for commencing student success, as assessed by the inverse of the attrition rate and by the student progress in each unit. For the purpose of determining which universities receive funding and the extent of that funding, the quantitative data will be modulated by an expert panel to take into account statements by each university relating to 'context'.
When all the data were aggregated, Monash University ranked 14th out of the 38 universities evaluated. There are three ways in which we could respond to this process and the resultant ranking. I think the third is the appropriate response.
The first response is to say the methodology is so flawed that the results are random and meaningless. It is true assigning universities an ordinal rank as the basis for quantitation gives a degree of separation that would not appear justified by the marginal real numerical differences. The results were based on old data as the most recent CEQ recorded the response of students who graduated in 2003. Success in obtaining full-time employment would more likely relate to the geographic location and consequent employment environment and on the course of study rather than on the quality of teaching and learning. And student progression rates could reflect soft marking and low standards rather than high-quality learning and teaching.
The second response is to say that 14th out of 38 is pretty good and given how hard Monash University is striving to improve its research performance, we should be satisfied with that until we achieve optimal outcomes in research. However, several other Group of Eight universities did very well in the rankings, confirming that good research and good learning and teaching are not mutually exclusive. Ideally, they reinforce and strengthen each other.
The third response, and the one which we must follow, is to do everything we can to improve our performance in learning and teaching. Although student evaluation is only one measure of this, it is one we must take seriously. The outstanding performance by several of our Group of Eight companion universities in the rankings reflects sustained efforts by many of them to improve learning and teaching and was based very much around the use of feedback from student evaluations. Our introduction of routine student evaluations of every unit will provide an immediate 'short-loop' indicator of the need to take steps to improve performance in learning and teaching and will provide an indicator of our progress. This will eventually translate into better outcomes in the CEQ.
Our determination to improve the educational experience for our students is integral to our objective to become one of the great universities of the world. We would be just as determined to do this whether or not the Learning and Teaching Performance Fund existed. But we should leverage off the indicators used in the evaluation process to ensure that we do everything we can to optimise our performance and the outcomes for our students.
24 August 2005
Monash IT professionals will take a lead role in developing technology that will provide better access to research data and encourage research collaboration, after receiving $3.2 million from the Federal Government.
Their project, Dataset Acquisition, Accessibility and Annotation e-Research Technologies (DART), builds on an earlier project - Australian Research Repositories Online to the World - that collated published research and made it more accessible to researchers and the general public.
DART will take this a step further by storing datasets as well as the published research and making it possible to include annotations on datasets and publications. The DART project will be one of the first activities undertaken by the newly established e-Research@Monash Centre.
The bid team was led by Dr Andrew Treloar from the Information Technology Services division and the research is being done in collaboration with colleagues at James Cook University, the University of Queensland and the Cooperative Research Centre for Enterprise Distributed Systems Technology.
Dr Treloar said people had a tendency to store data on their own or departmental computers which took up a lot of space, made it difficult to send the data on to others and placed the data at risk if the computer crashed.
"It also makes it difficult for researchers to find out whether anyone else has done any work in particular areas," he said. "DART will provide a central location that can be easily searched by researchers and other interested parties. It will also facilitate general discussion by enabling people to make comments on publications and datasets."
Dr Treloar said the project would use changes in technology to benefit the research community. "We're really trying to think about how we better support data-intensive research collaborations that require high quality network access.
"The way in which we publish research really hasn't changed much in the past 200 years -- we haven't fully responded to the implications of the new technologies for how research is stored and made available. We still largely provide static documents, which don't allow us to easily enter into dialogue around the research," he said.
As part of the DART project Dr Asad Khan, from the Faculty of Information Technology, will make available large datasets derived from sensors and experimental instruments.
The project has been funded by the Department of Education, Science and Training, under the Research Information Infrastructure Framework for Australian Higher Education. Initially, the DART project will focus on datasets from project member institutions but there are plans to support related activities for research undertaken across all Australian universities.
24 August 2005
Monash researchers have been awarded more than $700,000 in grants for their depression research in the beyondblue Victorian Centre of Excellence Research Grants.
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| Dr Teresa Iacono and her team have received $150,000 in the beyondblue grants to investigate depression in people with intellectual disability. |
Beyondblue is a national, not-for-profit organisation working to address issues associated with depression, anxiety and related substance misuse disorders in Australia.
The Monash grants were dedicated to the memory of former professor of primary care research at Monash Jeffrey Richards, who died in April this year.
Dr Litza Kiropoulos and her team from the Department of General Practice were awarded $220,000 to examine depression literacy in Greek and Italian people aged over 45 and to develop and evaluate a depression-specific IT resource to help improve depression literacy and decrease stigma.
Dr Teresa Iacono and her team from the Centre for Developmental Disability Health Victoria at Monash, with researchers from Deakin University, received $150,000 to investigate depression in people with intellectual disability.
Professor Bruce Tonge, head of psychological medicine, and Associate Professor Neville King, from the Faculty of Education, received two grants, for projects being undertaken with the Frankston Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
One of the projects is a follow-up study to assess the long-term effectiveness of psychological treatments, antidepressant drug therapy and a combination of the two treatments for depressed adolescents.
The other project will compare the effectiveness of cognitive behaviour therapy treatment on its own and augmented with anti-depressant medication in the treatment of children aged six to 13 who have an anxiety disorder and refuse to go to school.
The project will also investigate longer-term outcomes to determine whether the treatment of school refusal can prevent depressive disorders later in life.
Associate Professor David Clarke and his team in the Department of Psychological Medicine have been awarded $100,000 for their project testing an intervention for people with depression and cardiac failure.
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| Minister for Health, Ms Bronwyn Pike (left) and beyondblue chief executive officer Ms Leonie Young with Professor Bruce Tonge who received two grants in the recent funding announcement. |
24 August 2005
Acclaimed keyboard artist and Monash University organist Mr John O'Donnell will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Sir Louis Matheson Pipe Organ next month with a special performance of classic works.
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The performance will be at 2 pm on Sunday 4 September at the Robert Blackwood Concert Hall at Monash's Clayton campus.
The Sir Louis Matheson Pipe Organ is considered one of the finest instruments of its kind in the world.
It was installed at the Robert Blackwood Concert Hall in 1980 after taking master organ builder and designer Juergen Ahrend more than two years to construct in Germany. Mr Ahrend is widely recognised as one the finest organ builders and restorers of the current era.
Mr O'Donnell is an internationally renowned organist, harpsichordist, choral conductor and musicologist.
He has been involved with the Sir Louis Matheson Pipe Organ from its conception in 1973, when he advised on the project, to its installation at Monash in 1980 and up to the present.
"The Sir Louis Matheson Pipe Organ is the only large organ in Australia built entirely according to classical principles," Mr O'Donnell said.
"It represents a style of organ building from the golden age of the instrument and its music -- from the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Playing this instrument is sheer pleasure -- everything works to perfection."
Mr O'Donnell has selected five celebratory works for the occasion, including Praeludium in E Minor by Nicolaus Bruhns, which he played at the organ's inauguration in 1980.
The musical program will feature:
For bookings, telephone +61 3 9905 1111 or email boxoffice@adm.monash.edu.au.
24 August 2005
A team of Monash engineering students has won an international competition for its design of a cost effective, environmentally friendly power source for homes in developing nations.
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| Team co-leaders Mr John Luo and Mr Chris Beckett with a part of the winning prototype. |
The final-year students arrived home this week after presenting their prototype power inverter in the finals of the 2005 International Future Energy Challenge in Denver, Colorado.
The team spent 18 months developing the device which converts energy from renewable sources such as solar panels into electricity for domestic use, and then distributes any unused energy to local or national power grids.
Associate Professor Grahame Holmes of the Department of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering supervised the 10 students who competed against teams from the US, Germany, Brazil and South Korea.
Monash team co-leader Mr John Luo said the win provided a chance to promote Australia. "We talked about the quality of engineering in Australia and about our country's big engineering industry and its capabilities," Mr Luo said.
"I think our victory also puts Monash on the map, and we all made good contacts while we were there."
The win provided a cash prize of US$11,000 to be split between Monash University and the team.
"But the money is not the point at all," said Mr Luo. "We did it for the educational impact and the chance to make a difference." The Monash team also took the award for the most outstanding teamwork.
Vice chancellor Professor Richard Larkins congratulated the team. "Their win against some very stiff competition is testament to the hard work and cooperation of everyone involved. It is great that a Monash team has been successful in this competition that was focussed on the efficient supply of energy, a key issue for our future," he said.
More information is available at the Monash Future Energy Team website.
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| Monash future energy team with Associate Professor Grahame Holmes on the right in red. |
24 August 2005
A new journal dedicated to communicating original academic research about business to a wider general audience has been launched by Monash.
Monash Business Review, initiated by the Faculty of Business and Economics and the Graduate School of Business, aims to identify the key trends affecting Australian business and how they will shape its competitive environment.
To be published three times a year in print and online, Monash Business Review will adapt research outcomes and present them in an easy-to-read format, so that findings can be readily understood by business people and academics.
Contributing editor Mr Gregory Hywood, former publisher of The Age, last week launched the journal at the Park Hyatt Hotel. Guests included former Prime Minister Mr Bob Hawke; businessman Mr Lindsay Fox; Business Council of Australia president Mr Hugh Morgan AC and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade assistant chairman Mr Wang Jinzhen.
Mr Hywood said globalisation, the emergence of China and the challenges of attracting and managing a skilled workforce were the key current trends.
"Our first issue provides readers with a unique insight into the demographics of the China market, an examination of the changing face of the workforce and an explanation of how and why Coles Myer outsourced its call centre to India and then retreated," he said.
"These articles are just the beginning of a commitment to uncover issues of importance and interest to the business community."
Faculty of Business and Economics dean Professor Gill Palmer said the journal would unlock academic information and provide vital direction and tools for industry and business.
"As an innovative bridge between industry and academia, the Monash Business Review offers a novel way for business and academic research to engage," Professor Palmer said.
"The Monash Business Review invites contributing papers from around the world – from academics, individuals and business."
Monash staff and students can access Monash Business Reviewonline at www.epress.monash.edu/mbr. The journal can also be accessed remotely via the library's online catalogue system, http://www.lib.monash.edu/.
24 August 2005
Monash researchers have been awarded more than $440,000 for e-research projects in the Australian Research Council e-Research grants, announced last week.
Researchers from the faculties of Information Technology; Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences; Science and Arts are leading three funded projects and are partners in a further two.
The Monash led-projects include developing a collaborative online environment and workbench to investigate protein folding, using grid technology to further studies in Australian climate variability, and developing algorithms for the improved transfer of data relating to biological discoveries.
Monash is also a partner in a University of Sydney led project, which will develop a Grid Enabled Multi-Level Instrument Network for use in e-research. The project will leverage middleware (which enables interaction between hardware and network environments), web services and e-Science software developments in the US and UK to provide remote access and data analysis for e-Research.
In a separate collaboration, Monash researchers will work with the University of Queensland to investigate grid software infrastructure for large-scale data resource sharing between research institutions, initially focusing on environmental sciences data.
Deputy vice-chancellor (Research) Professor Edwina Cornish said Monash recognised the importance of eResearch to the future competitiveness of Australia's research effort and was investing in enabling services to support Monash researchers adopting eResearch methods.
"Monash has made a significant commitment to eResearch through the establishment of the Monash eResearch Centre," she said.
"We anticipate that eResearch will have a big impact on the quality and scale of Monash's research in areas as diverse as structural biology, engineering and climate modeling."
24 August 2005
Monash researchers are part of a group that has been awarded almost $500,000 to study the use of spirometry -- the measurement of air entering the lungs -- in managing chronic respiratory diseases.
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Professor Michael Abramson (pictured), Associate Professor Frank Thien and Dr Rosalie Aroni, from Monash; Dr Nabil Sulaiman from the University of Melbourne, and Ms Nory Side from mobile spirometry service Pulmetrics, received $487,427 in the federal government's Department of Health and Ageing Primary Health Care Research Evaluation and Development grants.
Their three-year study will investigate why spirometry is rarely used in GP clinics and how the technique could help better manage chronic respiratory diseases.
Spirometry is regularly used by respiratory specialists to measure the function of lungs during breathing, but is rarely used in general practice.
The technique, which uses a hot wire and turbine or another form of flow transducer device that people blow into, can be used to test whether a person has asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Professor Abramson said people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were often misdiagnosed, or not diagnosed at all.
"With treatment, symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma can be controlled, but if these illnesses are misdiagnosed, correct treatment can not be administered and people suffer needlessly," he said.
The study is intended to change the culture of diagnosing and treating respiratory illnesses in general practice and primary health care clinics across Australia.
24 August 2005
Halal food is now available for staff and students at Monash's Clayton campus.
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Under Islamic law, halal food must be prepared in a specific way; this extends to the way animals are slaughtered and prepared.
Mr Mohamed Mohideen, a lecturer in the Department of Microbiology and member of the Monash University Mosque Committee, said he was pleased Monash's Islamic community was now able to enjoy halal food on campus.
"Monash has more than 500 Islamic students and staff -- who previously had to bring their lunch from home or go off-campus to find suitable food," he said.
A wide variety of halal food is on offer at Monash Meeting Point - in the Campus Centre - including biriyani, rice, chicken, meat dishes and cakes.
Signs are displayed to indicate the food is halal, and it is separate from non-halal food.
Mr Mohideen said the university, the Monash University Islamic Society and Monyx - which coordinates food and beverages at Clayton -- had collaborated to provide halal food on campus.
"It's very important for Muslims to be aware of what they're eating because it's an intrinsic part of their religion and not just a dietary requirement," he said.
"Most people wouldn't realise, but some breads are held together with beef gum and some cheeses contain rennet.
"Both of these are animal products and if they come from non-halal sources are prohibited under Islamic guidelines."
Monyx and Monash Meeting Point have agreed to regular spot checks of the food by the Muslim community, which will ensure it remains within halal guidelines.
Monyx site manager - food and beverage Ms Jude Glenny said it was important for the diverse needs of Monash staff and students to be recognised and provided for.
"It is our long term strategy to work closely with all food providers to continue to meet any gaps in food offerings that are identified," Ms Glenny said.
The Muslim community at Monash has acknowledged the support of the vice-chancellor in providing halal food at the Clayton campus.
Some halal food is available at other campuses and it is hoped the range will be expanded in future.
24 August 2005
Monash is likely to take part in several federal government research collaborations involving the design and production of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), following a tour of the American aerospace industry by Monash professor of telecommunications and information engineering Greg Egan.
Professor Egan recently returned from the tour of key aerospace companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin, as well as newer companies such as General Atomics and Aerovironment that are working on UAVs.
UAVs are pilotless aircraft that fly either by radio control or on a pre-programmed course. Their civil uses include coastal security surveillance, fire spotting, and environmental monitoring such as spotting algal blooms in major waterways.
"General Atomics and Aerovironment is a leader in environmentally friendly electric technologies and successfully flew a solar-powered UAV to 98,000 feet over Hawaii," Professor Egan said. "The company has expressed strong interest in using the Monash UAV test range at Port Welshpool near Wilson's Promontory in Victoria.
"While UAVs are most widely known for their obvious military applications, I found that companies are extremely keen to expand into civil applications."
Professor Egan is director of the Monash Centre for Telecommunications and Information Engineering, a federally funded centre that has been active in UAV development since 1999.
He said the federal government had approached Monash with several potential large-scale joint research projects as a result of the aerospace tour that also involved representatives of Australia's computer and manufacturing industries.
"The trip opened up potential for several significant areas of research, provided useful industry contacts and raised Monash's profile," Professor Egan said.
"Monash now has an opportunity to contribute directly to UAV research and development.
"US companies such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Advanced Ceramics, Aerovironment and Marvin Engineering were interested in Monash's wind tunnel and vibration testing facilities for a range of aerospace-related activities, including testing airframe structures, and aerodynamic and vibration analysis," he said
Mr David Mitchell, manager of the federal government's UAV Development Project, welcomed Professor Egan's participation.
"We appreciated the support and contribution Professor Egan made to promoting not only the capabilities of Monash University but the whole industry group," Mr Mitchell said.
24 August 2005
Monash poet and Monash Student Association arts and media manager Mr Philip Norton will this week launch his new science-inspired poetry collection "Teach Yourself Atomic Physics".
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| Phil Norton, author of "Teach Yourself Atomic Physics". |
Mr Norton performed his interpretations of quantum mechanics and the speed of light on ABC radio program PoeticA as part of National Science Week last week. His collection of poems is being launched at the Melbourne Writers' Festival this week.
Mr Norton first began writing as a teenager in Chicago where he participated in poetry slams, or live poetry competitions.
"Slams are like hip hop battles except without the music," Mr Norton said.
"There are judges and set criteria. It's poem against poem, poet against poet."
"I was lucky enough to not only be influenced by these awesome experiences but also be part of the birth of what is now a worldwide phenomenon known as Fusion Poetry."
Mr Norton has published two poetry collections, edited Short Fuse - an anthology of New Fusion poetry - and is currently working on a post-modern novel, Gristle.
He has also collaborated with Sonic Animation, an Australian dance duo, for the track "This is not a love poem" for which he wrote and spoke the lyrics.
His latest publication "Teach Yourself Atomic Physics" is a collection of humorous poems that explore physics.
Mr Norton said he aimed to make science and poetry more accessible to the general public through his poetry performances.
"New fusion poetry combines the structure and tradition of page poetry with the accessibility and excitement of live performance," he said.
"Through my poetry I like to play around with the idea of making science, which can be quite a cold, distant and abstract area of study for some, more personal and accessible."
"I do live performances involving video projection and electronic music that I've composed. I'm really pleased that by doing so, I'm showing the world of poetry to an increasingly larger audience."
National Science Week is an annual nationwide festival that aims to increase community awareness and understanding of the role of science, technology and innovation in everyday life and in our future.
As part of the festival the Faculty of Science launched 'Einstein's Lighthouse -- The Australian Synchrotron', a free public lecture series by seven of Monash Science's researchers who discuss synchrotron use in their research.
The Australian synchrotron, located at the Clayton campus, is advancing research and development in areas including medical research, forensics and engineering.
"Teach Yourself Atomic Physics" by Philip Norton will be launched at The Age Melbourne Writer's Festival on August 27, 6 pm at the Malthouse Theatre. It is available at the Monash Bookstore for $16.95.
Further information about the 'Einstein's Lighthouse -- The Australian Synchrotron' lecture series is available at the Faculty of Science website.
24 August 2005
One hundred Year 12 students from across rural Victoria gained an insight into health sciences at Monash during the school mid-semester break.
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| Third year biomedical science student and Wildfire member Steven Myers, far right, tells year 12 students what to expect studying at Monash. |
The students visited the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at the Clayton campus to learn about the courses on offer and student life at university.
Members of the Monash Rural Health Club, Wildfire, led small groups of students on a tour of the campus that included the faculty's anatomy museum.
The program was funded by the Victorian Universities Rural Health Consortium. Students also visited three other universities during their Melbourne visit.
Ms Heather Kelly, project coordinator of the consortium and project officer with Monash's School of Rural Health, said the students were particularly interested in new developments in physiotherapy, occupational therapy and social work at the Peninsula campus.
Another 25 students considering medicine as a career visited Monash in early July for a medicine workshop.
The workshop included tours of the university, particularly the medicine department, and students had the chance to speak to staff and current students about study options.
This program was jointly funded by Monash and the University of Melbourne.