Melbourne Model Milestone

Why would the University of Melbourne, Australia’s leading research University and ranked among the best in the world, undertake such a radical reform of its curriculum? Why undertake such a comprehensive review that would turn its curriculum on its head and begin in 2008 the transformation of the institution to one with a far greater graduate school focus along North American and European lines than that of the traditional Australian undergraduate university?

After all, Victoria’s oldest university was at the top of its game, with its courses in demand locally and on the international market, while it continued to attract students of the highest calibre.

The answer lies in the changed conditions facing graduates in the early stages of the 21st century. “We know that today’s graduates face far more flexible and uncertain career paths than has previously been the case, so we felt a responsibility to prepare our students to adapt to these conditions,” says Provost, Professor John Dewar, the senior academic officer of the University.

“Employers were telling us that graduates, while technically competent, were not sufficiently flexible, creative or adaptable problem-solvers.

“In addition, students were being forced to make life decisions about careers at a very early age, usually well before leaving school. This does not always lead to well considered career choices.

“Our new model degrees have been designed to rise to these challenges.”

2010 will see the completion of the first of its three degree cycles when its inaugural Melbourne Model undergraduate cohort completes one of the six new generation degrees and considers moving on either to graduate studies or into employment.

“Our students are now more mature and better able to make life decisions,” Professor Dewar says.

“They have been given the opportunity to think globally and locally and to develop as leaders, which is entirely appropriate for a university which holds the position that Melbourne does.”

Professor Dewar says the Melbourne Model has proved a success during the initial first three years of implementation.

“We experienced very strong demand for the new undergraduate degrees this year as evidenced by the increased ENTER scores required for entry into Science, Biomedicine and Arts. That’s a very good measure of the volume of demand and a measure of the quality of the students who want to come here to study these degrees,” Professor Dewar says.

“Overall, the ratings we’re getting from students for the quality of teaching and their overall satisfaction with their experience at the University – which was an important objective of introducing the model – are steadily improving.

“We’re progressively opening up new or refurbished learning and teaching spaces, such as the Brownless Medical Library, which are integral to the reinvigoration of the learning and teaching experience.”

The breadth subjects, in which students gain knowledge and understanding across a broader range of disciplines, enabling them to develop insight, experience, and new ways of thinking in areas distinct from the main fields of study in their degree, have also worked well.

“Breadth has been a real success of the model – particularly the number of students who have enrolled in languages – we have a really healthy language program now as a result of the decisions students have made, thanks to the breadth model,” he says.

“And the same can be said about Indigenous Australian Studies – I’m very proud of the fact that we’ve got very high numbers of students enrolling in that subject.”

University research shows that two thirds of Melbourne’s final year students are considering postgraduate studies within the next five years, a figure rising to 82 per cent among Australian Melbourne Model students. Combined with graduate students coming nationally and from around the globe, the character of the University will be transformed as it moves to an equal balance of undergraduate and postgraduate students.

 “We will see a rise in the age of the student population and there will be more students on campus with a broader life experience.

“Graduate students will be highly motivated, they will have high expectations of the new facilities being developed specifically for graduates, such as the recently opened space designed for the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences; and they will demand very high levels of engagement and intellectual stimulation from their academic teachers and supervisors.

“When, in due course, people see the graduates from these new professional degrees, they will be very impressed.”

Professor Dewar describes the more hands-on approach in the new graduate schools as “transformational”.

“In the new Masters of Teaching and Doctor of Medicine, for example, much more time is spent in clinical practice than before.”

He says early adopters of the graduate school model have already observed the benefits of the beginnings of this transformation of the University.

“Melbourne Law School and the Melbourne Graduate School of Education both report their cohorts are exciting and rewarding to teach,” he says.

The further move to graduate school entry in medicine, architecture, engineering, dentistry and other professions will also have a significant impact on the professions themselves in coming years.

“The professional bodies have reacted extremely positively to the new Melbourne Model graduate professional degrees, as they have been progressively re-accredited,” Professor Dewar says.

“The graduate schools will have much deeper connections with their professional communities. The relationships will be much more permeable and the partnerships tighter. This is setting a new standard for professional education in Australia.”

http://gradexpo.unimelb.edu.au/