Research

ACER provides analyses and reports on the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) and the Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire (PREQ) for Graduate Careers Australia (GCA).

Each year after completing a course of study, recent graduates are invited by their university and Graduate Careers Australia (GCA) to complete the Graduate Destination Survey and an associated Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) seeking their opinion in areas of their course. The series began with the 1993 survey of 1992 graduates and ACER has conducted the analyses and reports in the series annually. It was updated in 2002, with a new format, selected optional scales, and new scales concerned with goals and standards, appropriate workload, appropriate assessment, intellectual motivation, student support, graduate qualities, learning resources and learning community.

There is also a corresponding Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire (PREQ) for research degree graduates (Masters by Research and PhD) which gathers data from these graduates with regard to broad aspects of their studies: supervision; intellectual climate; skill development; infrastructure; thesis examination process; and clarity of goals and expectations, as well as overall satisfaction with their course.

ACER continues to annually analyse and report on the two surveys, including, for the CEQ, on the characteristics of respondents and responses, national trends in course experience, and the course experience of specific groups. For the PREQ, it reports on respondent characteristics, national trends in the postgraduate research experience, and the research experiences of specific groups.

ACER’s researchers also work with GCA to identify ways of developing the reports which maintain and enhance their structure and focus.