The University of Southern Queensland is dedicated to providing quality programs and degrees in a flexible and supportive environment. In just over 50 years, it has become a prominent teaching and research institution providing education worldwide from three regional locations – Toowoomba, Springfield and Ipswich.
Yesterday’s announcement of a $22 million grant for a Direct Instruction program - a direct method of teaching using lectures and demonstrations - to improve literacy outcomes for remote Indigenous children…
Could company-funded P-TECH schools like in the US work in Australia? Is this where education is headed?
Flickr/IBMphoto24
Prime Minister Tony Abbott visited a P-TECH (Pathways in Technology Early Career High) school in New York last week, hinting it’s a model of education we should consider implementing in Australia. The…
Children at “the Home” in Ireland, 1924 (Connaught Tribune, 21st June 1924)
@Limerick1914
Yet another horrific story of historic abuse has emerged in Ireland. In what has become a disturbing pattern, it was mostly the international media who reported that the remains of 796 children and babies…
Earth was treated to a magnificent show during the Perseid meteor shower in 2010. Will the northern hemisphere get a similar show with the Camelopardalis shower on Saturday?
ESO/S. Guisard
Jonti Horner, University of Southern Queensland and Tanya Hill, Museums Victoria Research Institute
Across North America, Europe and Japan, skywatchers will be out in force this weekend with high hopes of catching a never-before-seen meteor shower. Predicted to peak this Saturday, May 24, the shower…
Education Minister Christopher Pyne wants Australia to have universities comparable to Harvard, but at what cost?
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Proposed changes in the budget to higher education fees and loans have sparked widespread protests by students. They argue the university sector without a cap on fees, as the budget proposes, will become…
Budget results are in: universities will be able to charge students whatever they want from 2016.
AAP
The government has unveiled a higher education deregulation agenda in Tuesday’s budget, including continuation of the demand driven system in public universities. In a major shake-up, universities, TAFEs…
Education Minister Christopher Pyne thinks of education as a cost to government, but really it’s an investment.
AAP
Tonight’s budget will produce few surprises for education funding. The deregulation of university fees, increased support for independent public schools, re-prioritised research funding and a commitment…
Now you see it – and now you don’t.
Christina L. F./ Flickr
Tanya Hill, Museums Victoria Research Institute and Jonti Horner, University of Southern Queensland
Everyone’s favourite ringed planet – the magnificent Saturn – is well worth some extra attention in the coming days. Tomorrow night, it reaches opposition, shining at its very best and brightest, directly…
Beta Pictoris b spins faster than the fastest spinning planet in our solar system.
ESO/L. Calçada & N. Risinger (skysurvey.org)
Tanya Hill, Museums Victoria Research Institute and Jonti Horner, University of Southern Queensland
Over the past two decades, almost 1,500 exoplanets have been discovered orbiting distant stars – but Dutch astronomers have determined for the very first time just how fast one of those exoplanets is spinning…
Two dozen ships anchored outside Gladstone harbour in 2008, waiting to load coal.
milton.v1/Flickr
We are in the coal business. If you want decent hospitals, schools and police on the beat we all need to understand that. – Queensland Premier Campbell Newman, June 2012. It was a rare moment of unscripted…
Do we know where to find the most credible information in an age of digital literacy?
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Being literate used to be about knowing how to read. In the 21st century it also means knowing how to negotiate through the torrent of information coming at you from all directions. Information Fatigue…
Protesters are furious at recent decisions over the Great Barrier Reef, but how much power does its official guardian have?
AAP Image/Supplied by Greenpeace
Seeing the fierce debate sparked by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority chairman’s recent article on The Conversation about the Abbot Point coal port expansion, I can sympathise with the dilemma…
Years of schooling separate the rich kids from the poor kids.
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The Conversation is running a series, Class in Australia, to identify, illuminate and debate its many manifestations. Here, Stewart Riddle outlines the correlation between low socioeconomic backgrounds…
Tony Abbott is looking for simple solutions to complex problems in Indigenous education.
AAP/Alan Porritt
The sixth annual update on Closing the Gap provides an unsurprising picture of slow progress on addressing issues of Indigenous disadvantage. The update presents a mixed bag of small improvements in life…
The sun is our nearest star and the source of all our light and heat on Earth but recent reports have highlighted an ongoing steep decline in solar activity. This story is a reminder that our sun is a…
The emphasis on grammar and language construction in the current national curriculum is stronger than in many previous state curricula. So why the attacks on it?
AAP/Stefan Postles
Kevin Donnelly, the conservative education critic who is set to review Australia’s national curriculum, has a long history of partisan criticism of teachers, teaching subject associations, academics and…
NAPLAN tests are showing up the gaps in Australian education.
Exam image from www.shutterstock.com
The latest results from National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests show Year 5 Indigenous students have made real improvements in their reading scores. The national report of NAPLAN…
Jetstar Hong Kong remains grounded, as it awaits government approval.
danzden/Flickr
The downgrade of Qantas’ credit rating to junk status by Standard & Poor’s has sparked serious concern for the future of the airline. But the fact is the airline industry has largely been unprofitable…
International tests show a decline in Australian educational outcomes, but even more serious than that, is the story of educational disadvantage.
Class image from www.shutterstock.com
The 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results out today will no doubt see shock headlines about Australia’s falling education standards and our failing school system. PISA – which…
The latest report into Australian education shows some positives and some negatives.
School image from www.shutterstock.com
Educational outcomes in Australia are showing signs of improvement, particularly in the early years and in Year 12 attainment, according to the latest reports from the Council of Australian Governments…