Projects

Our Projects

We have a strong focus on performing research to inform educational practice.

Analytics and assessment

Defining and assessing the utility of assessment categories in health professional education

Investigators: Ilic D, Diug B, Maloney S, Mundy M, Davis E, Gibson S, Sarkar M, McKenzie S, Mak V, Darcy R.

Assessment is a key component of any health professions degree. Robust assessment processes are fundamental in ensuring graduates practice safely and professionally while optimising health outcomes of patients and populations. The overall aim of this study is to create, apply and test consistent definitions and categories for assessment types (i.e. an assessment framework) in the health professions, in the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences (FMNHS).

Funding: Learning & Teaching Grant, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences | 2019

Psychometric validation of a tool used in the assessment of professionalism for pre-clinical medical students

Investigators: McArdle A, Karim N, Tara M, Reser D, Ilic D, Barton P, Presley M.

Professionalism, defined as “the ability to meet the relationship-centred expectation required to practice medicine competently”, is a core competency for medical graduates. Lapses in professionalism may risk patient’s health and lead to disciplinary action. Development of an objective, fair, consistent, accurate, and robust means of assessing professionalism beginning from the earliest stages of training will maximise opportunities for Monash medical graduates to develop critical communication and inter-personal skills that underpin success in healthcare delivery. This project aims to develop and psycho-metrically validate a professionalism assessment tool for pre-clinical medical students.

Funding: Monash Education Academy | 2019

Defining and assessing the utility of assessment categories in health professional education

Investigators: Ilic D, Diug B, Maloney S, Mundy M, Davis E, Gibson S, Sarkar M, McKenzie S, Mak V, Darcy R.

Assessment is a key component of any health professions degree. Whilst some assessment types are clearly defined to both learners and educators, many are open for interpretation. This project aims to develop an assessment framework, which defines categories for assessment types. This framework will be applied to map the assessments utilised programmatically across courses, and individually across units. It will also explore whether student performance differs across these assessment categories. This project will deliver an evidence-based assessment framework that will provide learners and educators with a consistent understanding of the basic form and structure of assessments. It will provide educators with a tool to develop and evaluate programmatic approaches to assessment.

Funding: Learning & Teaching Grant, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences | 2019

Research- and practice-based development of a framework and guidelines for Assessable Online Discussion (AOD)

Investigators: Darcy R, Ilic D, Gasevic D.

Online discussion forums have become a key pedagogical component of online education. Participation in online discussions is more effective if it is linked to assessment. There is ongoing debate, however, on what should be assessed in online discussions, and how that assessment should be implemented. This project will undertake a systematic review of literature in regards to assessable online discussion (AOD), and investigate the use of AOD in units within the Master of Public Health courses. The results of the review and investigation will be used to develop a framework and guidelines for AOD in the MPH, with the ultimate goal to develop a model for best practice AOD that potentially will be incorporated into Faculty and University policies and guidelines.

Funding: Monash Education Academy (MEA) | 2018

Developing psychometrically validated tools for assessing medical students' competency in research knowledge and skills

Investigators: Ilic D, Diug B, Campbell D, Sadasivan S, Bell R.

The current MBBS degree is in transition to a MD in 2020. A key aspect required for the current degree to meet the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) for a MD is the presence of specialized knowledge and skills in research. This current proposal aims to develop a suite of psychometrically validated tools that will assess MBBS student competency in research knowledge and skills. This will provide the Faculty with evidence to demonstrate student competency at the AQF level 9, which is currently lacking in the MBBS degree and a key requirement for its transformation into a MD.

Funding: MBBS Development Grant Scheme | 2015

Cost and value

The Cost and Value of Implementing Active and Flexible Pedagogies

Investigators: Maloney S, Ilic D, Rivers G, Li J, Foo J, McDonald S, Reupert A, Brookes R.

Educational demand has outstripped our space-management supply. As a result, strategies to maintain the growth and accessibility to educational offerings are being considered. This project will provide a greater understanding of the relationship between innovating pedagogy, and its impact on resource utilisation.

Funding: Monash Education Academy (MEA) Interfaculty Transformation Grant | 2017

Determining the cost and value of the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI), Situational Judgement Test (SJT), and UMAT in undergraduate medical course selection

Investigators: Hay M, Maloney S, Foo J, Ilic D, Rivers G.

This aim of this project is to undertake a cost and value analysis of three widely used selection tools - the UMAT, the SJT, and the MMI. This will be achieved by applying the principles of cost and value analysis of medical education to medical student selection. The overall aim of the project is to accurately determine the economic cost and value of each selection tool.

Funding: UMAT Consortium | 2017

AMEE Guideline and Checklist for applying cost and value research methodology to teaching and learning

Investigators: Maloney S, Ilic D, Rivers G, Foo J, Walsh K, Cleland J, Reeves S.

High-quality research into education costs can inform better decision making. Improvements to cost research can be guided by information about the research questions, methods and reporting of studies evaluating costs in health professions education. This project aims to appraise the overall state of the field and evaluate temporal trends in the methods and reporting quality of cost evaluations in health professions education research.

Funding: Office of the Vice-Provost (Learning and Teaching) | 2016

‘In-house' example of applying cost and value to assessment practices

Investigators: Maloney S, Ilic D, Rivers G, Foo J, Walsh K, Cleland J, Leech M.

The mini-CEX and OSCE are mainstay assessments implemented across health curricula worldwide. Various studies have examined the reliability of the mini-CEX as a workplace-based assessment, and the OSCE as a high-stakes assessment. This project examines the impact of cost in developing and implementing these assessments in practice, and the practical implications when trading off between cost and value.

Funding: Office of the Vice-Provost (Learning and Teaching) | 2016

A 360-degree analysis of the cost of an underperforming student within health professional education

Investigators: Maloney S, Rivers G, Ilic D.

Failure by students in health professional clinical education intertwines the health and education sectors, with actions in one having potential downstream effects on the other. It is unknown what economic costs are associated with failure, how these costs are distributed, and the impacts these have on students, clinicians and workplace productivity. This study examines the additional economic costs associated with failure by students in health professional clinical education.

Funding: Office of the Vice-Provost (Learning and Teaching) | 2015

Determining the cost-effectiveness, and impact on student value, for implementing BTBL agenda within a first-year marketing unit

Investigators: Maloney S, Tojib D, Rivers G, Ilic D.

Over the last decade, teaching and learning has shifted away from a traditional didactic format, to one that is grounded in blended learning. In facilitating such a move, educators must translate teaching and learning materials to suit a different teaching modality. Such changes come at a cost – both monetary and opportunity. This project examines the cost of flipping a curriculum from a didactic format into a blended learning format.

Funding: Office of the Vice-Provost (Learning and Teaching) | 2015

Graduate employability

Curriculum design for graduate employability: an evidence-based approach

Investigators: Howard B, Czech D, Sarkar M, Ilic D.

Over 80% of students enter university to enhance job prospects, yet a university degree no longer seems to guarantee job security. In Australia, universities have responded by focusing on developing graduate attributes and/or employability skills. Whilst we know that the development of these skills is important, data indicates that the translation of attribute policies into effective curricula may be lacking. This project aims to systematically review the literature to determine best practice curriculum design for employability. Through the establishment of an employability Community of Practice, we will translate the systematic review findings in accordance with current practices, resources and perspectives of Monash academics and professional staff. From this process, we will generate contextualised, evidence-based recommendations for developing curricula that support the employability of learners at Monash.

Funding: Monash Education Academy (MEA) | 2019

Work readiness – understanding the needs and experiences of health graduates in the workplace

Investigators: Howard B, Ayton D, Czech D.

“Today, many young people enter university solely to prepare for their careers”. As a result, universities are focusing on improving graduate work readiness. Degrees that do not include mandatory work placements or set career pathways (e.g. health sciences) are particularly relevant. This study aims to look beyond employment rates and provide insight into whether we have equipped recent health and biomedical science graduates for their chosen careers. We will explore their needs, barriers and enablers of work readiness. Results from the study will inform the development and implementation of work ready programs for the Faculty’s non-vocational courses.

Funding: Learning & Teaching Grant, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences | 2019

Pathways to the Public Health Workplace

Investigators: Ilic D , Marais D, Baird M, Robertson W.

Work-integrated learning opportunities for students are essential for their development of key employability skills, consolidation of learning (as a capstone experience), and ensuring their ‘work-readiness’. This project aims to develop, implement and evaluate virtual workplace based public health capstone unit for the Monash University Master of Public Health (MPH) course.

Funding: Monash-Warwick Alliance Education Fund | 2018

Evaluating health students' work readiness as evidence-based practitioners

Investigators: Ilic D, Maloney S, Brown T, Davidson Z, Wright C, Diug B, Williams B.

The Monash Graduate Attributes aims to ensure that graduates are (i) responsible and effective global citizens and (ii) critical and creative scholars. However, the question remains – how can these attributes be effectively and reliably evaluated? This project develops a suite of tools to assess the level of student competency in the Monash Graduate Attribute of creating critical and creative scholars. Student cohorts include physiotherapy, radiation science/therapy, occupational therapy, paramedics, biomedical science and nutrition & dietetics. This project provides students and educators with a unique measure of this key Monash Graduate Attribute, and provide evidence to inform student work readiness (as critical thinkers).

Funding: Learning & Teaching Grant, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences | 2017

Strategies to empower students to initiate challenging conversations around professional practices with workplace supervisors

Investigators: Maloney S, Kent F, Williams C, Ilic D, Bowles K.

We know that most health professional students will encounter practice in the clinical environment that they will recognise as being either out-dated, or unsupported by the evidence base. Unfortunately, we also know that the power-imbalance frequently causes students to remain silent during such encounters, forgoing the opportunity to influence clinical practice. This research aims to engage clinical educators in identifying practical approaches for empowering students to engage in discussions concerning best-practice.

Funding: Learning & Teaching Grant, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences | 2017

Students as change-agents – Equipping our students on clinical placements with practical approaches to counter observations of out-dated or poor practice

Investigators: Maloney S, Galbraith K, Ilic D, Kent F, Williams C, Denniston C, Bowles K, Harrison C, Clemans A.

Workplace integrated learning (WIL) is utilised for advancing student learning and professional socialisation within health education programs. It provides an apprenticeship style approach, where students are supervised and assessed by their qualified peers. Education within these WIL settings is often characterised by a two-way exchange of information between the student and educator. This project examines the use of students, as knowledge brokers, for clinicians.

Funding: Monash Education Academy (MEA) Interfaculty Transformation Grant | 2016

Scholarship of education

Factors associated with undergraduate students’ academic and clinical performance success in an innovative nursing curriculum: a mixed-methods study

Investigators: Fooladi E, Zanjani ME, Brand G, Karim MN, Walker L, Vance S.

Research exploring factors that influence nursing students’ academic and clinical performance success in entry to practice nursing education programs in Australia is scarce. This study will identify important factors that influence nursing students’ clinical and academic performance in the current curriculum, including types of academic support accessed. The findings from our study will inform the effectiveness of the provided support and whether curriculum changes meet the student needs, and how we can advance nursing education and make an important contribution towards future improvements in nursing courses.

Funding: Learning & Teaching Grant, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences | 2019

Why do students plagiarise? A systems-based approach to inform teaching & learning policy and practice

Investigators: Ayton D, Drieberg M, Diug B, Ilic D.

Plagiarism occurs when an individual uses someone else’s work without acknowledging the original source. This research aims to better understand the phenomena of plagiarism using a systems approach. A systems approach investigates the relationships between different components and factors, including the behavioural, situational and contextual factors the drive plagiarism.

Funding: Learning & Teaching Grant, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences | 2018

Monash Online Education Community of Practice (MOEC) – development of a Monash Digital Education Campus, a shared online student orientation module to support learning in the online mode at Monash University

Investigators: Mundy M, McKenzie S, Garivaldis F, Rose G, Reupert A, Ilic D, Hillier M, Aziz Z, Braganza L, Mowbray T, Bangerter M, Rowan P, Malik G, Zahora T, Li M.

University programs of study that adopt an online mode of delivery, either fully or in part, are becoming increasingly more popular, and open the door to a wider and more versatile use of space and time for teaching and learning to take place. However, the demands on students studying in this mode are unique, and include the need for competence in the use of technological tools and digital literacy, which enhance learning and meet the needs of employers. The aim of this project is to meet the needs of the growing body of Monash University students studying in the online mode by developing the Monash Digital Education Campus (Monash DE Campus)—an online learning orientation capacity.

Funding: Monash Education Academy | 2018

Ascertaining student readiness and outcomes on inter-professional education in health professional programs

Investigators: Ilic D, Ross L, Wright C, Bay U, Rajan R, Williams B.

Systematic review evidence has highlighted the benefits of student learning outcomes with interprofessional education (IPE); however, all studies have been limited to exploring IPE in the medical and nursing disciplines. This project examines the effectiveness (including cost) at providing an IPE program to healthcare students across public health, radiation sciences, human services and paramedic practice.

Funding: Learning & Teaching Grant, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences | 2016

Peer-assisted learning in paramedic education: A randomised control trial

Investigators: Williams B, Ilic D, Wallis J.

Peer-assisted learning (PAL) strategies typically involve students from the year above facilitating learning and teaching sessions with students from lower years. For the PAL leaders it provides a unique experience to consolidate knowledge, but also develop new skills in communication and teaching. For those students engaging in PAL, it provides the opportunity to consolidate knowledge and skills in an ‘informal’ learning environment. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of PAL in a cohort of paramedic students.