campusreview.com.au
Mixed response
Larger universities fare worse in students’ rating
of education quality: QILT survey.
S
tudents were slightly less positive about the overall quality
of their education last year.
The latest QILT Student Experience Survey has found
that 78 per cent of students rated the quality of their entire
educational experience positively. It was the lowest mark in the
survey’s history, but with the highest mark being 80 per cent, it
wasn’t cause for alarm.
When their higher education experience was broken down,
students were generally happy with learning resources, with
84 per cent of students rating learning resources positively.
However, when it came to learner engagement, just 60 per cent
viewed that positively.
ADHD myths busted
New research into attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder aims to clarify misconceptions.
E
vidence shows that ADHD is a neurodevelopmental
disability, and its symptoms shouldn’t be simply put down
to ‘bad behaviour’.
That’s something Associate Professor Helen Boon from James
Cook University wants cleared up in schools. She says there is still
NEWS
The vast majority (81 per cent) also gave a positive rating to
teaching quality and skills development.
Rehabilitation (86 per cent), agriculture and environmental
studies (84 per cent) and psychology (82 per cent) had the highest
proportion of positive ratings, while those on the lower end of the
scale were dentistry (68 per cent), computing and information
systems (72 per cent) and engineering (73 per cent).
The universities with a greater proportion of positive overall ratings
included the University of Divinity (93 per cent), the University of Notre
Dame Australia (88 per cent) and Bond University (87 per cent). The
report authors said these universities have small numbers of students,
and their results are consistent with previous research showing a
negative association between institution size and student ratings.
Under two-thirds (63 per cent) reported a positive experience
at the University of New South Wales, down from 74 per cent
last year. Deputy vice-chancellor Merlin Crossley connected the
result with the introduction of a three-semester structure but was
confident the figure would rise in coming years.
Minister for Education Dan Tehan said the survey results were a
reminder to all universities to focus on the student experience.
“We have made four student-centric measures the key drivers
of our performance-based funding model: graduate employment
outcomes, student success, student experience, and participation
of Indigenous, low socio-economic status, and regional and
remote students,” Tehan said.
“I encourage all universities to look deeply at the results for
their institution and continue to focus on how to improve the
student experience.” ■
some resistance among teachers to recognise the condition, and
that some still believe ADHD symptoms are simply attributable to
children being naughty.
To enhance teachers’ understanding of ADHD, Boon looked
at 174 neuroimaging studies involving MRI and fMRI scans that
compared the brain function of people diagnosed with ADHD
against a control group.
And, she says, the studies were unanimous.
“The ADHD group was found to have significant neural
anatomical and processing differences,” Boon says.
“The brain circuitry in someone with ADHD is different from
someone without – no question.”
Boon says Australian parents in particular have reported that
teachers have an inadequate understanding of ADHD.
She adds that teachers’ knowledge of the condition is often
founded on inaccurate beliefs and often represents deep cultural
values associated with family discipline and upbringing.
How ADHD is understood informs teacher education and
practice, Boon says, and teachers can be instrumental in identifying
ADHD and influencing its diagnosis.
“It’s therefore imperative that teacher educators, education
departments and local jurisdictions provide up-to-date education
and professional learning for teachers about ADHD,” she says.
Boon recommends that students with ADHD be granted
access to targeted funding under the Disabilities Act, in common
with other children who have disabilities such as hearing or
vision impairment.
“With the right training for teachers it is definitely possible to plan
successful educational support for those with ADHD,” she says. ■
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