While extensive research exists for both the doctoral experience and career paths after the doctorate, less is known about the initial motives for starting a PhD. In this study, 11 History PhD holders from an Australasian university were interviewed about their reasons for embarking on the doctorate. The motives and aspirations cited by the participants validate several of the categories identified in the limited existing literature, such as improving career prospects, personal development, and intrinsic interest in their discipline. Moreover, the data support the contention that candidates enter the doctorate with multiple motives. From this History sample, however, there were no overt motives relating to the participants' sense of their own identity and pressing social justice concerns or 'research as politics'. The data reveal that third parties (friends, colleagues, family members, and academics) when consulted prior to enrolment did play a generally encouraging role in the decision to start a doctorate. A recommendation emanating from this research is that universities consider offering workshops for would-be candidates before enrolment so that initial motives for doctoral study can be explored and reflected upon before a candidate embarks.

Today’s students have increased expectations for flexible learning options and evidence-based practice resources to be available to support curricular activities. We investigated: (i) the suitability of a static website for teaching ocular anatomy and physiology and an interactive version of the website with quiz and self-assessment activities and (ii) the usefulness of a blended online and in-lab environment to teach in Optometry. We administered a survey to compare responses of optometry students who had access to the interactive website, with those from students from a previous year who used the static version. We examined learning preferences of students in a focus group. Students were positive about the value of the website for their learning and the clarity of the website content. Nevertheless, objective comparison of pass rates for students using the static and interactive websites did not show significant changes. The majority of students commenting on the static website felt they did not get sufficient feedback via the website (67%) compared with only 22% from students who used self-assessments in the interactive website. Interestingly, users of the static website commented that it was perceived as just another resource while users of the interactive website commented on the usefulness of the material to review knowledge before laboratories. In the focus group, students reported they preferred a blended learning over the website alone even by students using the interactive website as they felt the need to revise content with the educator before the test. We conclude that there is acceptance of online learning methods due to the technologically ‘savvy’ environment of students in the first year of the Optometry programme but there is still dependence on the educator as the main administrator of their learning.

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A small group of new academic developers reflected on their induction into the profession and wondered if things could have been done differently. The researchers decided to question the directors of three tertiary academic development units about how they recruited new developers, what skills and competences they looked for and how they inducted new appointees into the role. This article interrogates the interview data, employing Winter's 'dilemma analysis' to tease out the ambiguities, judgments and problems inherent in the issues of employing new academic developers. Finally, the authors discuss ways of enhancing the induction experience for new academic developers.

History courses at The University of Auckland are typically assessed at two or three moments during a semester. The methods used normally employ two essays and a written examination answering questions set by the lecturer. This study describes an assessment innovation in 2008 that expanded both the frequency and variety of activities completed by 182 undergraduates taking a course on the history of African-American freedom struggles. All week-by-week tutorial assignments were collected for textual analysis to see if students were moving beyond the recollection and regurgitation of facts (surface learning) and instead were dealing with the deeper historical issues. The quality of student work coupled with our own classroom observations indicate that innovative assessment methods at regular moments during the semester made a positive difference to the student learning experience.