Media Releases

Survey to quiz 300,000 on engagement with learning

In August around 300,000 students and over 10,000 teaching staff will be invited to report on their engagement with learning and many of the broader, more enriching aspects of higher education by taking part in the 2010 Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE). The survey will involve students and staff from 54 higher education institutions – 32 Australian universities, seven New Zealand universities, and 15 other higher education providers.
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Turning up and tuning in key to Indigenous education

Indigenous students are performing well below the Australian average in international tests and student attitudes, behaviours and backgrounds could provide some of the keys to understanding this, according to a report launched today by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). The report is based on findings from all three completed cycles of the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which is managed nationally by ACER.
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Uni students lacking staff contact

The largest ever survey of current higher education students in Australia and New Zealand has revealed worrying findings about interactions between students and their teachers. The 2009 Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE) involved over 30,000 students from 35 higher education institutions. A public report on the results was released today by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER).
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Students improve computer skills but gaps in achievement remain

The latest findings of the National Assessment Program- ICT Literacy, conducted for the Australian government by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) reveal mixed results in Australian students’ proficiency with computers. A nationally representative sample of approximately 11 000 students from around 600 schools across Australia completed computer-based assessments in October and November 2008. This was the second administration of the national assessment, which was first carried out in 2005. Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Julia Gillard released a detailed report on the 2008 national assessment on 22 April.
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Kids who walk are on track to better health

Children who walk to school are more physically active in their day-to-day activities around their neighbourhood than those children who are driven to school, a new study finds. The study, undertaken for VicHealth by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), also suggests that children who walk to school are significantly more connected with their local community.
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Improving learning for 80 years

80 years ago, on 1 April 1930, two staff members, Ken Cunningham, the inaugural chief executive and secretary Mary Campbell, established ACER's first office in two rooms of the T&G building on the corner of Collins and Russell Streets in central Melbourne. By the end of the 1930s ACER's total staff had expanded to five. From that humble beginning ACER has grown into one of the world's leading educational research bodies with an expanding national and international presence. Eight decades after the organisation was founded, ACER has more than 300 staff working in offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Dubai and Delhi. This article briefly outlines the ACER journey.
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Social networking provides new opportunities for learning

Information Communication technologies (ICT) including social networking and games provide new opportunities for education a review of research released today by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) argues. But, according to Australian Education Review 56, the ‘off the shelf’ mentality which currently underpins the provision of computers in Australian schools may be stifling rather than enhancing innovation.
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