1. School of Psychological Sciences
Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
1st July 2016
To whom it may concern,
RE: Recommendation for DR MIKE LARSON
The Monash School of Psychological Sciences is ranked among the best in the world. Our School’s
mission is to develop students and research outcomes that make significant contributions to
improving the lives of others globally. Our overarching vision is to make significant and long-lasting
impact that changes the world around us, beginning in infancy and across the lifespan. Drawing on
the expertise of our staff and the University's unique research platforms and technology, our mission
is to sustain and build on Monash's position with world-class research and teaching in Psychology.
As one of the largest Schools in the university, the School of Psychological Sciences is proud of its
track record in quality, research-led teaching across a wide portfolio of courses. The School aims to
train a new generation of psychologists and researchers, along with delivering clear and diverse
opportunities for graduates to use their education and skills within industry.
In 2013 Dr. Mike Larson was appointed to coordinate our Graduate Diploma of Psychology (GDP), a
course which allows graduates from other disciplines to retrain in psychology. Due to changing
student needs and demographics, as well as a shift in the requirements of the Australian
Qualifications Framework, the originally on-campus diploma needed to change considerably. The
decision was made to adapt the course to an online mode of study. The School of Psychological
Sciences embarked upon a project to build the first and largest fully-online course at the university.
Mike was charged with leading the development of the GDP, including new education design and
delivery innovations, with the aim of redesigning our student experience for the online modality.
Mike co-ordinated a team of educators, instructional designers and content experts to create a
course that has been extremely popular. Since shifting online, enrolments in the course have
increased tenfold, and student evaluations are consistently high. Achieving a synergy between
positive student experience, the highest quality education and cutting edge innovation, Mike and the
team created the most successful online course at the university. Due to the online modality, the
internal staffing structure and external organisation of the course map are entirely different to any
other course at the university – this novel arrangement is wholly suited to Mike’s out of the box
leadership style. Some of the innovations Mike introduced to the GDP are: Virtual classrooms and
study groups; authentic and interactive simulations and a highly flexible learning schedule. The
passion and innovation put into the course by Mike and the team allowed the GDP to set the
benchmark for online development at the university.
Prof Kim Cornish Prof Shantha Rajaratnam Ms Sarah Watson Dr Matthew Mundy
Head of School Deputy Head of School School Manager Director of Education
School of Psychological Sciences
MONASH University
Melbourne
Australia