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The Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success acknowledges Indigenous peoples across Australia as the Traditional Owners of the lands on which the nation’s campuses are situated. With a history spanning more than 60,000 years as the original educators, Indigenous peoples hold a unique place in our nation. We recognise the importance of their knowledge and culture, and reflect the principles of participation, equity, and cultural respect in our work. We pay our respects to Elders past, present, and future, and consider it an honour to learn from our Indigenous colleagues, partners, and friends.

You are reading: Improving student outcomes in online learning – the development of national guidelines for Australian universities: Dr Cathy Stone

Event information

A presentation by Dr Cathy Stone (the University of Newcastle) at Massey University, New Zealand will provide an overview of the project funded by the Australian Government Department of Education & Training, under the 2016 NCSEHE Equity Fellows Program. For this research,151 members of staff involved in online education were interviewed, across 15 Australian higher education institutions and the Open University UK. The interviews investigated the types of practices, supports and retention strategies being developed and implemented within these institutions, by academic and professional staff, with the aim of improving student retention and academic success. Together with evidence from the international literature, the research findings have informed a set of National Guidelines for Australian institutions, for improving student outcomes in online learning.

The full report and National Guidelines can be accessed at: https://www.acses.edu.au/publications/opportunity-online-learning-improving-student-access-participation-success-higher-education/.

About the speaker

Dr Cathy Stone is an independent consultant and researcher in the field of post-secondary student equity, retention and success. For many years Cathy held senior management roles in student support services at the University of Newcastle, Australia, where she continues as a Conjoint Associate Professor in Social Work. As an active researcher, Cathy’s publications focus particularly on the experiences of mature-age, first-in-family and online students. Cathy’s work with Open Universities Australia between 2011-14 developed her strong interest in the online student experience. In 2016, as an Equity Fellow with the NCSEHE, Cathy undertook a national research project into improving outcomes for online students.

More information and registration here.