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Keynote speaker:
Dr Krause has teaching experience
in high school and university settings and her commitment to quality teaching
in large first year classes has been recognised through an Outstanding Teaching
Award at Macquarie University. She co-founded the Macquarie Transition Program
and an associated university-wide research and development program on first
year student issues. Her research focus lies in the area of first year student
experience, its connections to subsequent transitions through the undergraduate
years, and policy implications. She also has a particular research interest
in the role of information and communication technologies in university pedagogy
and has co-edited Cyberlines: Languages and Cultures of the Internet. Dr Krause
is currently on secondment to the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at
the University of Melbourne where she conducts research on matters relating
to national and international policy issues in higher education and the first
year university experience in Australia. She has also collaborated with Professor
Craig McInnis to develop the Asia-Pacific First Year Project.
The importance of the first year experience in higher education has gained prominence in Australia and New Zealand since the seminal First Year on Campus (McInnis & James) study in 1995. Passionate efforts have been devoted to developing transition programs and supporting students in their first year of university. The last six Pacific Rim, First Year in Higher Education Conferences have provided a forum for showcasing many of these efforts and inspiring academics, administrators and support staff to do great things in their respective institutions. But how do we channel these passions, inspire policy decision-makers and devise strategies on where to go from here? After presenting a brief overview of current first year initiatives in higher education in Australia and New Zealand, this presentation will address the significant issue of how to embed what we know about good practice in the first year experience into the institutional and national fabric of the higher education sector. Policy implications will be explored and strategies for future directions presented.
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