Coursework in the Australian Ph.D.: Addressing the Curriculum Issues

• In Event: Doctoral Curriculum (Re)Design and Assessment

Abstract

Over the past few years, Australian universities have begun to introduce formal coursework into the PhD. The provision of coursework in PhD programs is common-place in the United States, Canada and Europe, however until recently, it has been generally absent in the Australian PhD. These recent developments have been undertaken in the absence of a set of curriculum, pedagogical, organizational and funding principles suited to the Australian context. Therefore, this roundtable will present the curriculum related findings from a project funded to examine the issues that are deemed necessary for the implementation of formal coursework in the Australian PhD and seek the advice of colleagues in the USA who have been working with doctoral coursework for many years.

Author

• Margaret Mary Kiley, The Australian National University