Collaborative Research Projects

Recent Network of Associate Deans collaborative projects are summarised below. These projects focus on the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (ASSH) disciplines. For further information on individual projects, please contact the DASSH Office.

a. Assessment in ASSH: Scoping Guidelines, Good Practice and Benchmarking
- Project leader: Professor Deborah Gare, University of Notre Dame, WA
- Investigating: Assessment approaches, practice policies and guidelines and their effectiveness

b. Social Inclusion in ASSH
- Project leader: A/Professor Sarah Paddle, Deakin University
- Investigating: Teaching practices, pedagogies and strategies, emphasising diversity and the needs of low SES students
- Project report (pdf, 184KB)

c. First-Year Experience: Recruitment, Transition, and Retention
- Project Leader: Professor Fred D’Agostino, University of Queensland
- Investigating: Attrition rates, demographic profiles, modes of entry, teaching profiles, institutional support, institutional and faculty comparisons and first-year level degree structures.

The above three projects were part of the DASSH Discipline Support Strategy project and funded by DIISRTE's Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) formerly ALTC. The following project is also funded by a new OLT grant received directly by the ADLT Network.

d. Renewing ASSH First Year Curricula in the Context of Discipline Standards
- Project Leader: Associate Professor Theda Thomas, Australian Catholic University
- Investigating: First year curricula for key ASSH disciplines and determining discipline-specific skills and standards required to achieve discipline threshold outcomes.
- Project team: Associate Professor Joy Wallace, Charles Sturt University; Associate Professor Pam Allen, University of Tasmania; Dr Bronwyn Cole, University of Western Sydney; Professor Lynette Sheridan Burns, University of Western Sydney; Professor Jennifer Clark, University of New England; Dr Jill Lawrence  University of Southern Queensland; Associate Professor Adrian Jones, La Trobe University.

There is a strong link between this project and the ALTC Discipline Standards project. Former ALTC Discipline Scholar for Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, Professor Iain Hay, and key member of the History Standards and After Standards projects, Associate Professor Sean Brawley, kindly agreed to act as consultants to the project team. Professor Jennifer Clark and Associate Professor Adrian Jones were members of the History Standards project team. Professor Clark was also a member of the After Standards project team.