Perhaps the Cove community could take a moment to bask in just a little reflected glory?
Last month, just before those April storms visited our Village, one of our own, Darrall Thompson, donned claret gown and velvet bonnet to accept the award of Doctor of Philosophy. No small achievement that Darrall, so can you also accept the Cove Community's Congratulations.
Darrall's thesis was entitled "Educational Change: A designer's Journey". He said he found it hard to encapsulate, as he was required to do, the full import of his 60,000 word accomplishment into a hundred word abstract. But this is what he came up with:
In this thesis I argue that there is inertia in the higher education system in Australia that works against change and then identify through literature the pressures that arguably contribute to, or are responsible for, this inertia. I make the case for employing visual design and design thinking to promote improvement and change in the system. This approach is documented through a relevant selection of my educational innovations and interventions implemented over a ten-year period. The examples focus on criteria-based assessment and the development of graduate attributes and include the design, development and commercialisation of an award-winning online assessment system.
A wonderful achievement, Dr Darrall!
