Kerri-Lee Harris
Dr Kerri-Lee Harris
Senior Lecturer in Higher Education
Phone: +61 3 8344 7590
Fax: +61 3 8344 7576
Email: k.harris@ unimelb.edu.au
Dr Kerri-Lee Harris has been a member of academic staff at the University of Melbourne since 2001 and joined the Centre for the Study of Higher Education in 2004. Her research is associated with higher education policy development, and she has been involved in various projects for government, the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) , University of Melbourne, and other institutions.
Kerri-Lee has a particular interest in the development of policies and guidelines that promote and recognise effective university teaching. She directed a national project that developed resources for institutions seeking to implement programs of peer review of teaching. Kerri-Lee also directed the CSHE project to develop selection criteria and guidelines for the new national Awards for Australian University Teaching (ALTC, formerly Carrick). She was involved in the preceding project that developed the structure of the new Awards Scheme, and directed a subsequent project on guidelines for the ALTC Fellowship Scheme. This policy-related work involved extensive consultation with higher education institutions across Australia.
Similarly, as a member of the team that developed recommendations for an Australian Higher Education Graduation Statement, Kerri-Lee has presented and consulted with representative groups from across the Australian Higher Education sector. She has been invited to provide reports and commentary on a range of issues associated with higher education, including reports for Campus Review on each of the five Mebourne-based Public Policy Seminars held during July-Aug 08.
Kerri-Lee also contributes to teaching at the University of Melbourne. She coordinates the University’s Graduate Certificate of University Teaching, and supervises research postgraduate students in higher education. In addition, Kerri-Lee is involved in providing academic development for university colleagues across all disciplines. She conducts teaching and learning workshops for academic staff and is regularly invited to facilitate course and curriculum reviews.
Kerri-Lee has developed a range of resources to support university teaching. The Guide for Reviewing Assessment was released in 2005 and has since been adopted across the University and continues to generate interest elsewhere – both nationally and internationally. She led the ALTC-funded national assessment project which developed the bioassess website, a unique resource which presents, for the first time, a discipline-focussed and comprehensive synthesis of good practice in university assessment. More recently she has published a guide for staff seeking to effectively incorporate subject websites into their teaching.
With a science-based PhD, Kerri-Lee has a keen interest in science teaching and learning. She has conducted two nationwide studies of the preparation of science and mathematics teachers in Australian secondary schools, and in 2006 completed a study into the effectiveness of a well-established ‘peer-tutoring’ program in Perth which links university science students with school science teaching.
Prior to joining the CSHE, Kerri-Lee taught undergraduate biology at the University of Melbourne. Her PhD and early post-doctoral research was in the field of developmental neurobiology.
Current and recent research projects
Engaging students in science through university-school partnerships: an independent analysis of the In2science peer mentoring program in Victoria (2009)
Commissioned by In2Science Board & Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD), Government of Victoria
Kerri-Lee Harris and Angelito Calma
Peer Review of Teaching in Australian Higher Education: A handbook to support institutions in developing and embedding effective policies and practices (2007-08)
Funded by Australian Learning & Teaching Council (Priority Projects Program)
A collaborative project between: University of Melbourne (CSHE) & University of Wollongong (CEDIR: K-L. Harris (project director), K. Farrell, M. Bell, M. Devlin and R. James.
Proposal for an Australian Higher Education Graduation Statement (2007-8)
Funded by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.
Directed by Richard James (CSHE) and Lynn Meek (LH Martin Institute), with Grant Harman, Jeanette van der Lee, Peter Corrigan, Leo Goedegebuure, Kerri-Lee Harris
Evaluation of First Year Chemistry Tutorials (2008)
Study conducted for the School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne
Chi Baik and Kerri-Lee Harris
Choosing to Study Science at University in Victoria: An exploration of tertiary aspirations of Victorian school students (2008)
Commissioned by La Trobe University
Claire Jennings and Kerri-Lee Harris
The University Experience and Generic Skills (2007-8)
A University of Melbourne Project with Pip Pattison (Director), Paul Badcock (Project Manager), Richard James, Kerri-Lee Harris, Harald Sondergaard, Steve James, Michelle Livett, Grahame Moore, and Barbara Hammond.
Bioassess: Enhancing assessment in the biological sciences (2005-7)
Funded by Carrick Institute for Learning & Teaching in Higher Education (now ALTC)
Collaborative project between: University of Melbourne [K-L. Harris (joint project director), K-L. Krause (joint project director), D. Gleeson; R. Garnett (project officer)] and University of Sydney [M. Peat and C. Taylor]
The Preparation of Mathematics Teachers in Australia; Meeting the demand for suitably qualified mathematics teachers in secondary schools (2006)
Commissioned by Australian Council of Deans of Science
K-L. Harris (project director) and F. Jensz (project officer)
Who’s Teaching Science? Meeting the demand for qualified science teachers in Australian secondary schools? (2005)
Commissioned by Australian Council of Deans of Science
K-L. Harris, F. Jensz and G. Baldwin
Longitudinal Evaluation of the STAR Peer Tutoring Programme (2006)
Commissioned by Social Ventures Australia & AMP Youth Boost
K-L. Harris (project director), J. Shaw, and Z. Smith
Carrick Fellowship Scheme: Information, guidelines and nomination instructions (2006)
Commissioned by
Carrick Institute for Learning & Teaching in Higher Education (now ALTC)
K-L. Harris and R. James
Evaluation of the In2science Peer Mentoring Program (2006)
Commissioned by In2science Program Board (Deans of Science of La Trobe and Melbourne)
K-L. Harris and K. Farrell
Carrick Awards for Australian University Teaching: Proposal for selection criteria and nomination guidelines (2006)
Commissioned by
Carrick Institute for Learning & Teaching in Higher Education (now ALTC)
K-L. Harris (project director), K-L. Krause, R. James, L. Howard and R. Garnett
Recommendations for an expanded program of Australian Awards for University Teaching (2005)
Commissioned by
Carrick Institute for Learning & Teaching in Higher Education (now ALTC)
R. James, K-L. Harris, K-L. Krause. L. Howard and R. Garnett
Recent publications
Harris, K-L. (2009). International trends in establishing the standards of academic achievement in higher education: an independent report and analysis. Australian Universities Quality Agency.
Harris, K-L., Farrell, K., Bell, M., Devlin, M. & James, R. (2008). Peer Review of Teaching in Australian Higher Education: A handbook to support institutions in developing and embedding effective policies and practices. Centre for the Study of Higher Education, University of Melbourne.
Harris, K-L. & Dedman, H. Developing the third strand of university activity: mapping the involvement of students and staff in knowledge transfer activities. Paper presented to the 30th Annual EAIR Forum, Copenhagen. August 2008.
Badcock, P., Pattison, P. & Harris, K-L. (under review). Developing generic skills through university study: a case study of arts, science and engineering in Australia.
Harris, K-L. & Jones, D. (2008). Creating Effective Websites for University Teaching: An educational framework. Centre for the Study of Higher Education, University of Melbourne.
Harris. K-L. (2007). A critical examination of a recent performance-based incentive fund for teaching excellence in Australia. In Funding Higher Education: The question of who pays. Eds. Longden & Harris. EAIR, Netherlands
Longden,B. & Harris, K-L. Editors (2007) Funding Higher Education: A Question of Who Pays. Monograph No. 2 in Research, Policy and Practice in Higher Education, EAIR, Netherlands.
Harris, K-L. and Farrell, K. (2007). The science shortfall: An analysis of the shortage of suitably qualified science teachers in Australian schools and the policy implications for universities. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 29(2), 159-171.
Harris, K-L., Farrell, K., and James, R. (2007). Measuring the quality of university teaching: The Australian experience of performance indicators for teaching. Higher Education Forum, 4, 47-59. RIHE, Hiroshima.
Harris, K-L. and James, R. (2006). The Course Experience Questionnaire, Graduate Destinations Survey and the Learning and Teaching Performance Fund in Australian higher education. Public Policy for Academic Quality. Research Program, UNC.
Harris, K-L. and James, R. (2006). Facilitating reflection on assessment policies and practices: A planning framework for educative review of assessment. Studies in Learning, Evaluation, Innovation and Development, 3(2), pp23-36.
Harris, K-L. (2005). Guide for Reviewing Assessment. Centre for the Study of Higher Education, University of Melbourne.
Other news articles and presentations
Harris, K-L. Stepping into Standards. Campus Review, 14 Sep 2009.
Harris, K-L. (July-August, 2008). Series of five articles for Campus Review, reporting on the public policy seminar series Investing in the Future: Renewing Australian Tertiary Education. Campus Review, 8 July 2008 (Vol 18, #27, p 5); 29 July 2008 (Vol 18, #30, p1); 5 August 2008 (Vol 18, #31, p1); 12 August 2008 (Vol 18, #32, p1); 19 August 2008 (Vol 19, # 32, p3)
Harris, K-L (on behalf of the project team). Peer Review of Teaching in Australian Higher Education. Presentation to Universities Australia D/PVC(A) Forum, 15 May 2008, Canberra.
Harris, K-L (on behalf of the project team). Development of a National Diploma Supplement: Update on progress. Presentation to Universities Australia D/PVC(A) Forum, 28 November, 2007, Sydney.
Harris, K-L. Funding war doubts after results shock (October 10, 2007). The Australian, p31.(commentary on the outcomes of the 2007 round of the Learning & Teaching Performance Fund).
Harris, K-L (on behalf of the project team). The National Diploma Supplement Project. Presentation to Professions Australia meeting, 29 May 2007, Melbourne.
Harris, K-L. (Oct 29, 2007). Why do a science degree? The influences on students choosing to study science in Australia. Presentation at the 2007 Teaching & Learning Week Science Education Symposium, The University of Queensland.
Harris, K-L. (June 15, 2007). Recruiting maths-trained teachers. In: Directions in Education. Australian Council of Educational Leaders (ACEL), 16 (11).
Harris, K-L. (2006). A critical examination of a new Australian incentive fund for teaching excellence. Proceedings of the 28th Annual EAIR Forum, Rome. August 2006.
Harris, K-L. (2006). Addressing the looming crisis in suitably qualified science teachers in Australian secondary schools. Proceedings of the Australian Council of Educational Research (ACER) Research Conference 2006. August 2006.
Harris, K-L. Who’s teaching science in Australia’s secondary schools? (June 13-27, 2005). Uninews, University of Melbourne. pp4-5