Gerard Michael Rayner

Strategies that challenge: exploring the use of differentiated assessment to challenge high-achieving students in large enrolment undergraduate cohorts

Academics teaching large and highly diverse classes are familiar with the inevitable effect this has on promulgating teaching and assessment practices to ‘middle of the distribution’, thus ignoring the distribution extremes. Although the literature documents a wide range of strategies for supporting poor-performing students in large class settings, very little work has been reported on catering for more capable students who may feel frustrated and poorly challenged in such settings. This paper reports on the introduction of alternative assessment tasks into two first-year science units of study, with the aim of providing more challenging learning opportunities for high-performing students. It analyses student engagement with and perception of alternative assessment, and concludes that such opportunities are well received by students, even when no additional marks are available nor special credit recognition given for completing an advanced task.

Building Greater Capacity in Science Education: A partnership between a Secondary Science School and a Research-Intensive University

Abstract nPartnerships between universities and secondary schools are highly valued for a range of pedagogical, transition and outreach benefits to students, teachers and more broadly, society. Teachers in schools provide a rich insight into how university teaching staff can better engage students and provide them with deeper learning experiences. Universities can provide on-campus student incursions for learning activities, work experience opportunities, research projects with academics and lectures by specialist researchers. This chapter describes the range of benefits arising from a partnership, established in 2009, between the John Monash Science School (JMSS) and Monash University, co-located in outer suburban of Melbourne, Australia. The JMSS–Monash partnership has generated a number of innovative and dynamic educational programmes, which have positively impacted the learning and engagement of students across geographic divides. The partnership is rich, and has broadened and deepened as the partners have learned more about each other’s capacities, and envisioned what is possible in an educational landscape bereft of innovation and challenge to existing norms. By thinking creatively and acting bravely, the partners have shone a light on a brighter future in science for Australian students.