Let’s stop making better candles
Thomas Roche, Erica Wilson and Elizabeth Goode, Southern Cross University
About candles
Education was once described as bringing some small light to people’s lives. Like a candle. This enlightenment view of education, so framed by Scottish philosopher John Locke, has drawn some very reasonable criticism. It can be taken to imply that a learner’s mind is a dark void – which it never is. But, education does bring opportunity. Like a candle does light. So, we are going to use this analogous imagery, as it helps illustrate (or shine a light on, shall we say?) some of the challenges of higher education (HE) in our times.
The history of university education in Europe has parallels with the history of building better candles. Roman tallow candles first brought a small, bright, but smoky glow that, in their time, changed lives. Then came medieval beeswax, a less smoky version. After that, the paraffin wax candle of the Industrial Revolution burnt cleaner, longer, cheaper and more efficiently. But it was still a flame – illuminating only so far for so few.
Then someone invented the light bulb. And everything changed.
Universities, in some ways, are like candles. Starting in Bologna and Paris in the 12th century, they provided education to an elite few. How? Through lectures primarily (books were hard to get before the printing press of the 1450s so the staff read the manuscripts aloud to students and then examined them on how much they could recall).
Of course, since then, we’ve refined the form. We’ve digitised lectures and recorded them. Pen and paper exams are now (often) online. We’ve scented the wax, built better wicks. But overall? Still, lectures. Still, exams. Still, the olde ways of organising and doing: agrarian academic calendars (think semesters), and the medieval gowns and academic caps, adapted from clerical headwear in the early 14th century and worn at today’s graduations. To some extent, the university form is set like a heritage model candle.
But the world around universities continues to change. The Australian Universities Accord recognises this and aims to transform our HE sector into a tertiary system; a mass-participation, high-equity and diverse system. By 2050, 80% of working-age Australians should hold a tertiary qualification, up from 60% today. Within that, 55% of Australians aged 25 to 34 should possess a university qualification, compared to the current 45%. Laudably, the reform agenda centres around increasing access for First Nations peoples, as well as people from low socioeconomic backgrounds, regional and remote areas, and those who are first in family to attend university. It aims to cast a brighter light – spread opportunity. Will the current university model do the job?
The evolution of lighting (and teaching)
Candles evolved slowly. From smoky tallow to paraffin, each step was an improvement, but none was revolutionary. But the light bulb was a break. It didn’t just improve the candle – it largely replaced it. It changed how we live, work and see.
We’ve seen similar disruption in other arenas in our lifetimes. From analogue film cameras to digital ones to smartphones. From matinée cinema to rental Blockbuster video to on-demand Netflix. The world changes but sometimes institutions and even whole industries don’t move with it.
University teaching is similarly being challenged. But for the most part, its core delivery mechanisms – lectures, long semesters, multiple concurrent subjects, and exams – are unchanging.
A light bulb moment
Over the last five years, Southern Cross University didn’t just tweak the wick, it has rewired the whole system. The Southern Cross Model (SCM) is an immersive block model of HE delivery which takes inspiration from block model innovations in Colorado College, USA, in Victoria University, Australia, and in Plymouth University, UK. In the SCM, students undertake only one or two units at a time over six-week terms. No concurrent four subjects. No lectures. No exams (unless we absolutely have to, and there are fewer cases of this than we think). It’s powered by focused, guided, active learning. Think workshops, case studies, authentic assessments like moot courts, Objective Structured Clinical Exams (OSCEs), yarning circles, residentials and work-integrated learning.
This wasn’t simply a calendar change. It was a pedagogical reset. Units were redesigned by teams of academics and learning designers to better manage cognitive load (juggle fewer things at once and do deep dives). Online modules became interactive, responsive and media-rich – replacing the sage on the stage. Tutorials and workshops also replaced lectures. Assessments became scaffolded and meaningful drivers of learning. We burnt down our policy library – on curriculum design, assessment, special consideration, academic integrity and more – and rebuilt it.
Students study the same number of credit points as before. We assure the same learning outcomes. Professional accreditation bodies, such as those for nursing, law, engineering and education, recognise this is as quality student learning. But there is a difference: students learn in a way that makes sense for how people live today. At Southern Cross, students can also study a part-time version of the block – this is unique. All in all, the move to the SCM has delivered better outcomes for more students, year on year. We’ve created the conditions for success for our students.
The outcomes: More light, less smoke clouding the way forward
Since implementing the SCM, Southern Cross has seen dramatic improvements:
Success rates rose from 74.8% in 2019 to 91.6% in 2025.
Grade Point Averages climbed from 3.98 to 4.70.
Early withdrawals dropped from 13.2% to 7.5%.
Absent fails fell from 4.6% to 2.3%.
Unit satisfaction increased from 79.0% to 87.7%.
Teaching satisfaction rose from 83.4% to 89.9%.
These aren’t tweaks. These are transformations.
The new majority: Lighting from the new centre through to the margins
Now, let’s talk about the “new majority.” These are students who are often older, studying part-time, online, or juggling work and caring responsibilities. They’re often first in family, from regional areas. Sometimes living with disability, or from low socioeconomic backgrounds.
They are, in many ways, not the privileged few students universities were originally designed for. These students are often underrecognised by our HE systems. And yet, under the SCM, their outcomes have soared:
Part-time students: Success rates jumped from 69.9% to 83.4%.
Online students: From 71.1% to 82.0%.
Students with a disability: From 69.2% to 80.7%.
First Nations students: From 64.7% to 75.7%.
Low SES students: From 71.5% to 81.1%.
First in family: From 75.4% to 81.2%.
Regional/remote students: From 77.1% to 84.9%.
Students with English as an additional language: From 74.8% to 83.4%.
These aren’t marginal gains. These are equity breakthroughs.
Why It Works: Focus, Active Learning and Feedback
The SCM works because it understands how people learn and actually live today.
Focus: One or two units at a time means less cognitive overload. Students can concentrate, engage and apply while they manage the juggle of life.
Active learning: Instead of sitting passively in lectures, students are required to engage in class, fostering deeper engagement, critical thinking and collaborative problem-solving.
Blended delivery: Students can learn around jobs, kids and life. No more driving to campus for those early morning lectures (let’s be honest: who really enjoyed their 8am uni classes?) when you can watch content on demand on your learning site and engage on campus when you need.
Feedback: Interactive modules and active learning mean students get timely, meaningful input.
This is not about making learning easier. It’s about making learning more effective. It’s about belonging. It’s about seeing the light.
Now we haven’t gotten everything right. We’ve written about how we needed to better support and professionally develop our staff to deliver in this model. And we need to do more there. Not all of our classes are as active and engaged as we’d like them to be. Sometimes we still have too many readings, too many expensive textbooks, too much assessment – we’re developing and sharing our learnings. And, as we’ve delivered the model, we’ve seen success rates steadily go up over time across the faculties and disciplines. Even in some which initially did not see improvement.
But, we don’t think the (r)evolutionary journey is over yet. We are about to embark on a program to bring more tailored, data-driven insights to learners and academics as students progress through their studies. We want to thoughtfully embrace more GenAI learning to benefit our students. We continue to change the form and practice of university education as the world changes around us.
Let’s Stop Making Better Candles
Certainly, tradition isn’t all bad, and we’re not talking about burning down the house here (maybe just the policy library). Universities are institutions that have stood the tests of time, across cultures and continents for centuries – contributing to better societies and better lives. We’re not throwing any shade here (sorry, nearly done with light analogies) on the contribution universities make – which is immense. Lectures can still be very powerful. Exams are one reliable, secure way to assess. But is this default form the one required for a brighter future? Though we can’t ask Thomas Edison, we think he might agree that sometimes we need to challenge tradition and ask whether it’s best serving our purpose – or holding us back.
As the SCM demonstrates, we can build innovative, quality HE systems that work for the students in our classes today. We can iterate our teaching approach with understandings of how learning works. We can harness the technologies students are familiar with. We need to evolve our approach today to educate more successful students tomorrow. We can design learning institutions and experiences that are more inclusive, more focused and better at actively engaging students. We can break the heritage mould of the past and start building a brighter future, brighter for all.
Professor Thomas Roche, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic Quality), Southern Cross University
Professor Erica Wilson, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic Innovation), Southern Cross University
Dr Elizabeth Goode, Senior Lecturer, Academic Portfolio Office, Southern Cross University