Appendix 1

Table 1: Rotated factor matrix: Factors 1, 2 and 3

Table 2 Rotated factor matrix: Factors 4, 5, 6 and 7

Appendix 2. Monash University student profile

Monash University has six campuses in Victoria, and ten faculties. Student enrolment numbers, based on March 1996 data, at the different campuses vary considerably: Clayton (20427), Caulfield (8935); Peninsula (3418), Gippsland (7874), Berwick (427), Parkville (462).

Based on March 1996 date, most of the undergraduate student load (84.6%) is government supported (HECS) and competitively allocated according to prior academic performance. Most (67.0%) students in undergraduate degrees enrolments study full-time, particularly at Parkville (84.2%), Peninsula (69%) and Clayton (67%), but slightly over half (54.6%) at Caulfield, but only about one-fifth (21.8%) study full time at Gippsland. The majority of students are female (53.5%), but this varies across faculties and campuses: more in Arts (73.3%) and Pharmacy (58.9%) but fewer in Computing and Information Technology (CIT) (27.1%) and Engineering (16.4%) in single undergraduate programs; more at Berwick (82%) and Peninsula (70%) but fewer at Caulfield (47%). The modal age of Monash students is about 19 years, but there is actually considerable spread. Almost two fifths (39.7%) of enrolments are 25 years or older; more than a quarter (26.1%) are 30 or older. Age profiles vary with campus. The proportions of students 25 years or older range from few at Berwick (4.9%) and Parkville (16.2%), approximately a third at Peninsula (28.4%), Clayton (32.8%) and Caulfield (38.9%), up to two-thirds at Gippsland. Age profiles also vary across faculties. For instance, such mature students constitute the majority in single degree enrolments in Education (71%), under half (43.9%) in each of Arts and Business and Economics, but just over a quarter in both Science (29.2%) and Engineering (27.2%).

Australia is country of permanent residence of 85.2% of Monash students, but many (35.9%) were born outside Australia, with well over half of these (23.1% of total enrolments) being born in southern, southeastern, or northeastern Asia. A language other than English is the main language spoken at home of 30.8% of students, with almost half of these speaking Chinese dialect. Main languages other than English vary across campuses: Parkville (53.2%), Caulfield (41.1%), and less than a quarter of students at Clayton (29.5%), Peninsula 25.2%) and Gippsland (24.7%). There is also variation across faculties: fewer in Arts (16.4%) and Law (17.9%), but more in Business and Economics (38.8%) and in CIT a majority (52.1%). Most (88%) international students are in undergraduate courses. They do not spread consistently across faculties or campuses, most enrolling in Business and Economics (45%) and in CIT (19.5 %), and 25% are external. International enrolments as a proportion of the total are small (5.4%) at Parkville, constitute about one-tenth at Clayton (9.4%) and Peninsula (12.1%), and one-fifth at Caulfield (19.3%) and Gippsland (21.3%). International students represent about a quarter of total single degree enrolments in CIT (26.5%) and Business and Economics (24.7%) and but very few are in Arts (4.7%), Science (3.5%) and Education (2.0%).

Of the students commencing an undergraduate program, just over half (51.6%) do so on the basis of final year secondary school results, and a fifth (20.2%) on the basis of previous higher education. The remainder come in under a range of provisions through TAFE studies (9.7%), mature age or other special entry schemes (5.8%), or employment experience (1.26%) or professional qualifications (2.39%) and a small number through Open Learning studies (0.3%). Campus profiles differ considerably on proportion of intake based on secondary school results: most at Berwick (89.9%), Parkville (82.9%) and Clayton (73.9%), over half (54.2%) at Peninsula and under half (43.2%) Caulfield, but for Gippsland only about one-fifth (21.1%). For students entering an undergraduate program on the basis of previous higher education studies the proportions are fairly low at Peninsula (11.6%), Clayton (12.5%) and Caulfield (15.1%), but are nearly half for Gippsland (44.7%). Across faculties, secondary school results account for most of the admissions to a single degree undergraduate program in Pharmacy (82.9%) and Science (58.2%), but less than half in Business and Economics (39.8%) and Education (34.4%). Previous higher education studies were often the basis for many single degree undergraduate admissions in Law (50.9%) and Education (37.9%), but seldom in Pharmacy (17.1%) and Engineering (14.6%). The prior academic performance of enrolling students also varies considerably. Over half (54%) of commencing undergraduates apply through VTAC and 40% of these are school leavers, for whom the published TER "clearly in" and "fringe" admission ranks provide the benchmarks for entry levels of other student categories. These scores, a percentile ranking of successful VCE students, range from 97 to 45 for Monash courses. They are consistently very high for Medicine, Law and Pharmacy courses but can vary considerably within faculties by course. TER modal values range above 90 for Clayton and Parkville, between 80-90 Caulfield, 60-70 at Peninsula and Berwick and 40-49 at Gippsland.

Appendix 3. Questionnaires and focus group questions

Questionnaires

Questionaire 1 page 1
Questionaire 1 page 2

Questionaire 2 page 1
Questionaire 2 page 2

1. How did you expect tertiary study and teaching to differ from study in secondary school? From whom, or from what experiences, did you develop those expectations?

2. Have your experiences of tertiary study and teaching matched your expectations?

3. How would you define ‘good teaching’ in the university setting?

4. Have your work patterns and study habits changed in your first year?

5. At this stage, what forms of teaching (lectures, tutorials, discussion groups, demonstrations and so on) and what forms of assessment (essays, short exercises, tests) are most rewarding for you? What most helps you learn? What kind of feedback are you receiving, and what do you need?

6. What are the key differences you’ve experienced as a learner in the transition from VCE to first year?

7. What have you enjoyed about campus life and being a student? Is is what you expected it would be?

8. What have you not enjoyed about campus life and being a student? Are there problems or difficulties you did not expect?

9. If you did have problems with study, finances, deadlines and so on, do you know where to go for help?

10. Did you take part in any mentoring schemes, host schemes, orientation week activities, study and support groups, or academic orientation programs? Were they an effective introduction to student life? Are there other programs or forms of support you think you would have found more useful?

In second semester focus groups and videotaped interviews, Questions 1-9 were repeated, though with additional emphasis on possible differences between ‘early in first semester’, ‘in the middle of the year’ and ‘at the end of your first year’. Two additional questions were asked:

1. Have you, or any of your friends, or people you knew at school, experienced what you would call ‘unsuccessful transitions’? How do you explain the problems? What could or should universities do to help students overcome those problems?

2. What kinds of technologies have you experienced in university teaching (from video and Powerpoint to on-line subjects or distance education)? How do they help or not help you learn? How effective are they, and what role should they play in university teaching?

Appendix 4: Results of selected regressions

The table shows coefficients and t-ratios of explanatory variables for students' first year subject results, based on n pooled observations for various cohorts.

Appendix 5 Relative Teaching Costs Matrix