2025 June Showcase

tEN Showcase: Connecting Learning

The Educator Network (tEN) June Showcase was held as a face-to-face event held on Thursday 12th June 2025  on Awabakal and Worimi land at the Newcastle City NuSpace campus.  The tEN showcase aimed to shine the spotlight on educators from across the University of Newcastle to highlight the good work that has been done  on connecting learning for our students. This was a chance for all staff involved in enhancing the student learning experience to showcase their practice and share ideas across all schools, units, colleges and divisions.

Opening Panel Discussion

The showcase started with student and educator panel discussing Learning in connection: reimagining education in times of change.  The panel was chaired by Professor Kate Nash with educators Lee Lethbridge (Nursing and Midwifery), Dr James Goulding (Educator), Dr Warren Reilly (Engineering) and students Jade Constable (Early Childhood and Primary Education), Sarah Costa (Psychological Sciences and Criminology) and Madison Pounder (Biomedical Science). Watch the panel discussion below.

Session 1: Building Relationships

This session showcased how UON educators are creating meaningful connections between educators, students, and communities to enhance learning. Educators will highlight strategies that foster trust, collaboration, and engagement across diverse learning contexts.

Transcultural Aspects of Ageing - Facilitating Developmental Conversations with Postgraduate Nurses - Dr Melsina Makaza

This presentation proposal is based on teaching and learning activities that have been used to support postgraduate students on a Master of Mental Health Nursing Course to engage in developmental conversations about Transcultural Aspects of Ageing. Students learned about transcultural aspects of successful ageing, and they were encouraged to explore their personal ideas, beliefs or philosophy about successful ageing using an online platform. After exploring this topic, students were encouraged to think about how you could immediately apply this knowledge to their work with older adults on a personal and professional level in their capacity as a Registered Nurse.  Watch Dr Melsina Makaza's presentation here.

Facing Death: A collaborative approach for fostering early emotional growth in medical students - Dr Ethan Cresswell

In the Joint Medical Program, students must learn to manage emotions around death and dying as part of their professional development. To support this early, a new “Patient Forum” was introduced during first-year orientation, initiating the discussion by addressing students’ first related experience, with body donor tissues in anatomy education. The sessions panel included a body donor’s family member, end-of-life care nurse, fifth-year medical student, anatomy academic, and body donor program staff member. It provided varied perspectives on death and body donation, highlighting that care continues beyond end of treatment, and the anatomy lab offers a supportive environment for developing helpful management strategies. Students were actively engaged in the discussion, and the fifth-year student panelist noted how valuable such a session would have been at the start of their own training. This initiative encourages early, open conversations about death and encourages development of healthy emotional management strategies in future clinicians. Watch Dr Ethan Cresswell's presentation here.

Watch the discussion for Session 1: Building Relationships here.

Session 2: Beyond the Classroom

This session showcased practice from UON educators who are connecting learning to industry, bringing real-world case studies into the classroom, and who are connecting student learning to communities on a local, national and global scale.

Stream 1

Taking Theory to the Streets: Field Studies in a First-Year Sociology of Education Course – Dr Amy McPherson and Dr Nisha Thapliyal

This presentation showcases a field-based assessment task designed for EDUC1103: Schooling, Identity and Society, a core first-year unit enrolling over 800 students. The task invites pre-service teachers to undertake a sociological field study, ranging from museums and sporting events to public art and multicultural festivals, and connect their experience to key course concepts such as equity and identity. This task cultivates real-world engagement by shifting learning beyond the classroom. It provides first-year student teachers with a taste of social science research through the opportunity to explore the method of participant observation. The presentation will outline task design, strategies and challenges with delivery, and reflections on how such experiential learning can support the development of more socially attuned educators. Watch Dr Amy McPherson and Dr Nisha Thapliyal's presentation here.

2024 tEN Teaching and Learning Seed Funding: Curricular Justice Initiative – Dr Samuel B. Woldemariam

The Curricular Justice Initiative is an initiative within the School of Law and Justice that seeks to embed knowledge around the interaction of law with First Nations Peoples, both historically and at the present. The Initiative aims to foster understanding of the role of law in shaping socio-economic and political relations between peoples, in particular as it relations to Indigenous peoples in Australia. The Initiative further aims to challenge thinking about the role of lawyers in advocating for social justice and changes that dismantle structural barriers embedded in the law and its enforcement. Watch Dr Samuel B. Woldermariam's presentation here.

GenAI in the classroom: Futureproofing UON students – Dr Annika Herb and Dr Clare Lloyd

This presentation explores whether the use of GenAI in the classroom can foster connected learning experiences. Key considerations include supporting educator professional development and establishing clear pathways for students to engage meaningfully with GenAI tools. The presentation asks, ‘what place does GenAI have in the classroom?’ and ‘Can we strategically integrate GenAI into teaching and learning to enhance student outcomes and industry readiness?’ Drawing on pedagogical frameworks that prioritise purpose over technology, we investigate GenAI's dual role as both a tool for experts and as a learning facilitator, emphasising the critical importance of digital literacy as a graduate attribute. Watch Dr Annika Herb and Dr Clare Lloyd's presentation here.

Watch the discussion for Session 2: Beyond the Classroom Stream 1 here.

Stream 2

From Textbook to Therapy Room: Connecting Theory to Practice in Undergraduate Psychology Education – Associate Professor Myles Young

PSYC2200 is a core undergraduate psychology course that introduces students to evidence-based counselling approaches. Despite its key role, students previously reported that the course felt fragmented and disconnected from real-world practice. In response, I redesigned the course to provide a cohesive, applied learning experience that bridges theory and practice. Now, students begin each week by watching pre-recorded videos covering key concepts related to a specific therapy (e.g., Cognitive Behaviour Therapy). Then, they attend live online lectures delivered by practising psychologists who bring the theory to life through real case examples and experiential insights. Finally, students participate in face-to-face tutorials where they practise therapy-specific counselling skills with peers. This scaffolded structure deepens learning by providing students with multiple, connected opportunities to engage with authentic clinical content and current practitioners. This presentation will share practical strategies for embedding real-world case material into curriculum design to enrich student engagement, motivation, and academic outcomes. Watch Associate Professor Myles Young's presentation here.

Making it Real: Engaging Sociology students through stories and self-reflection – Dr Joyleen Christensen

Engaging students in large, introductory sociology courses poses ongoing challenges, particularly in fostering critical thinking and meaningful participation. This presentation explores an instructional approach that integrates real-world case studies and guided personal reflection to deepen student engagement and enhance sociological understanding. Drawing from the presenter’s first-time experience teaching in an enabling-level sociology course, this presentation covers practical strategies used for incorporating experiential and reflective learning to support deeper engagement and critical thinking. It outlines how social issues—such as inequality and deviance—were used as case studies to connect theoretical concepts with lived experiences. Paired with structured personal reflection assignments, students were encouraged to examine their own social positions and biases, fostering a more active and empathetic learning environment. Preliminary feedback and classroom observations suggest that this method not only improves conceptual grasp but also cultivates a stronger sense of relevance and agency among students. Watch Dr Joyleen Christensen's presentation here.

Open textbooks: bridging classrooms and community – Ruth Cameron

Open textbooks not only provide students with a no-cost, inclusive alternative to paid course readings – they are better aligned with curricula relevant to local communities and industry and are available to students during and beyond their studies. Students can access open textbooks before Week 1 of their chosen program, through the entire duration of their studies, and throughout their career. Content remains relevant because open textbooks are easy to update with the latest research or best practice. This also means that communities external to the University have access to up-to-date, accurate and relevant information. Two of the University of Newcastle’s upcoming open textbooks, A Reference Guide for Field Epidemiologists and Fundamentals of Foundation Engineering, are designed specifically to support students, graduates, and communities. This presentation will showcase the two texts and demonstrate how they will connect classroom learning to industry and communities on a local, national and global scale. Watch Ruth Cameron's presentation here.

Improving Feedback Literacy and Industry Connections in First-Year Business Courses – Dr Zhongtian Li

This assessment is designed for ACCT1002 Business Acumens, a first-year undergraduate course. Each semester, Newcastle Business School organizes activities led by practitioners, which include a presentation and interactions between the practitioners and students. However, attendance at these activities has been unsatisfactory. The assessment explicitly requires students to attend at least two activities per semester. For each activity, students must submit a reflection report explaining what they learned, how the content of ACCT1002 is related to the presentation, and how it helps them consider their future studies and careers. Additionally, students are required to read and comment on a peer’s reflection report. Thus, the assessment encourages students to connect their learning to the industry. The peer feedback exercise allows students to provide and manage feedback from both markers and peers. Since the invited practitioners may not mention information on future studies and careers, the assessment also motivates students to approach the practitioners for more insights. Overall, the assessment enhances students’ feedback literacy and encourages them to form meaningful connections with the practitioner community. It also improves the utilization of educational resources at Newcastle Business School. Watch Dr Zhongtian Li's presentation on Improving Feedback Literacy here.

Watch the discussion for Session 2: Beyond the Classroom Stream 2 here.

Session 3: Transforming Assessment

This stream showcased practice from UON educators who are making changes to assessment to better connect learning for students in the digital age, and in the broader context of GenAI. It may cover adapting assessment, feedback literacy, and assessment and GenAI.

Integrating GenAI in First-Year Business Assessments: A Case Study – Dr Zhongtian Li

This assessment is designed for ACCT1002 Business Acumens, a first-year undergraduate course. It has four characteristics that make it a good example of a GenAI-integrated assessment. First, it is authentic and of high quality, as it is based on a peer-reviewed assessment by Samuels and Snow (2024). Second, the difficulty level places it in the growth or learning zone for first-year business students, motivating them to use GenAI to complete the assessment. Thus, GenAI is meaningful and will play a substantial supportive role here. Third, the authenticity of the assessment prevents students from using GenAI mindlessly. The assessment design (identifying data errors based on the understanding of a real-world case) allows GenAI to help students quickly learn useable Excel functions and jargon definitions. However, students must make their decisions and judgments to complete the assessment. Lastly, as part of the assessment, students are required to submit a reflection report on how they used GenAI, including the ethics of AI usage. This report helps students become more conscious GenAI users and reduces concerns about academic misconduct. Watch Dr Zhongtian Li's presentation on Integrating GenAI here.

Transforming Education with GenAI: Faster Assessments and Engaging Learning Materials – Dr Khaled Saleh

In this presentation, I will talk about how GenAI could be leveraged for streamlined and engaging content and assessment items. I will explore two primary use cases. The first details an automated system for generating quiz-based assessments, utilising a privacy-aware local Large Language Model (LLM) with human-in-the-loop review and direct Canvas integration. This solution significantly reduces manual effort, allowing educators to provide fresh assessments and focus more on teaching rather than time-consuming creation. The second demonstrates using GenAI tools to transform traditional learning materials into interactive teaser/summary content. This aims to overcome the static nature of online materials, fostering better engagement by catering to diverse student needs. Watch Dr Khaled Saleh's presentation here.

Using GenAI to improve critical thinking in higher education – Lucinda Mithen

Assessment transformation was required following a higher-than-expected proportion of students (14%) using generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in 2024 resulting in 115 SACO referrals. Therefore, GenAI was integrated into a written assessment to promote appropriate use of GenAI and prevent inappropriate use. Students used a critical appraisal tool to conduct a quality appraisal of a published systematic review. Firstly, students used a GenAI tool to complete the assignment first. Secondly, students appraised the systematic review and the GenAI responses. Finally, students identified any errors made by GenAI and provided a justification for their answer with reference to further reading. There were three SACO referrals for inappropriate GenAI use (0.3%) in 2025. Critiquing the GenAI responses allowed students to assess the usefulness of GenAI and the limitations for critical thinking and writing post graduate assessments. Watch Lucinda Mithen's presentation here.

Watch the discussion for Session 3: Transforming Assessment here.