Northern Institute
Higher Education and First Nations Students: The CDU Story
| Presenter | Dr Tracy Woodroffe, Dr Kate Golebiowska, Alicia Boyle and Associate Professor Guzyal Hill | |
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Northern Institute
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| Location | Northern Institute, Savanna Room (Casuarina campus, Yellow Building 1, Level 2, Room 48) | |
| Open to | Researcher | |
People.Policy.Place Seminar Program 2024
About
Final update for the project: Higher Education and First Nations Students: The CDU Story.
In this presentation, we will discuss the key findings from this 2022-2024 HEPPP-funded project to provide evidence on engaging First Nations undergraduate students at CDU in their learning and increasing their completion. First, we will present a snapshot of the First Nations undergraduate students at CDU. We will then present the empirical results derived from interviews and focus groups with CDU staff and a survey of First Nations undergraduate students. These results provide insight into the best approaches that support their academic journey, retention and completion.
We are compiling the results of this research into the first-ever (a) guidebook for CDU lecturers and (b) guidebook for First Nations undergraduate students. The lecturer guidebook is designed to help lecturers be more culturally responsive and reflective in their teaching practices to create a sense of cultural safety, maintain engagement of the First Nations students and support their completion. The student guidebook explains what students can expect from their lecturers and what evidence-based strategies they may consider for remaining engaged to complete their degrees. The guidebooks aim to inform an inclusive learning environment at CDU that promotes First Nations students’ connection and success, in line with the CDU Strategic Plan 2021-2026. We will offer a preview of each guidebook during the presentation and outline our next steps before the project ends at 2024. We gratefully acknowledge the participation of the CDU staff and First Nations undergraduate students in this research and feedback provided by the Reference Group.
Presenters
Dr Tracy Woodroffe is a 2024 ACSES First Nations Fellow, Senior Lecturer, and Researcher with the Northern Institute. She is a local Warumungu Luritja educator with extensive teaching experience and an Early Career Researcher with a growing track record. Dr Woodroffe is the lead researcher for this two-year project. Her research experience and focus are on educational pedagogy, identity, Indigenous perspectives, and the use of Indigenous Knowledge in educational contexts. Dr Woodroffe has been a team member and lead on numerous successful research projects, including research with and within the NT Department of Education.
Dr Kate Golebowska brings more than a decade's worth of research and engagement with immigrant communities and a wealth of experience in qualitative research with disadvantaged groups to the project. Until early 2020, Kate had served at the CDU Human Research Ethics Committee for 10+ years.
Alicia Boyle has worked in VET/TAFE and Higher Education, training, management, and research for over 35 years and at CDU since 1999. Mrs Boyle has program and project leadership experience and works extensively in applied research with key interests in education, technology for learning, and workforce development in northern Australia, particularly in regional and remote areas. Most recently, she completed the Barkly Region Workforce Plan, undertaken an evaluation of the Northern Territory’s Local Decision-Making Policy and developed a digital Recognition of Prior Learning platform for Remote Aboriginal Teacher Educators.
Associate Professor Guzyal Hill was born in Kazakhstan and has a strong understanding of cross-cultural implications in Higher Education. Before joining CDU, Guzyal worked as a solicitor and has experience interviewing vulnerable clients. She is a Senior Lecturer in Asia Pacific College of Business and Law and a founding coordinator of the First Nations Pre-Accounting Enabling Program. She coordinated the First Nations Pre-Law Enabling Program for the 2021 intake.
Registration
In-person: Please RSVP here to attend in person—limited seating (30ppl).
Online: Once you register, you will receive an individual link from Zoom no-reply@zoom.us.
Getting there
Savanna Room @ Northern Institute
Google Maps location or how to get to Savanna Room.
CDU Casuarina campus
Yellow Building 1, Level 2, Room 48
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