Welcome
Monash University’s teaching and learning blog is a dynamic platform dedicated to fostering a community of practice. Here, academic and professional staff come together to explore, discuss, and debate ideas and issues pertaining to teaching and learning in higher education.
Together, we’ll share innovative strategies, celebrate our successes, and reflect on our challenges. With your valuable contributions, we will build an even stronger network of practitioners extending across Monash’s diverse physical locations, as we collectively strive for excellence in education.
Join me in creating a space that celebrates diverse approaches to teaching and learning.
Associate Professor Tim Fawns (Monash Education Academy)
Recent posts
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Inclusive teaching in the university classroom: Navigating complexity with care
Erin Leif, Umesh Sharma, and Jayde de Bondt share practical strategies to foster inclusive university classrooms. By considering students’ diverse identities – such as disability, culture, and gender – they highlight how small, intentional changes can create more equitable and accessible learning environments.
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Introducing AI as a collaborator in the writing process
Ari Seligmann and the Arts Educational Design team explore AI as a collaborator in academic writing. By reimagining essays for the AI era, they offer “recipes for writing with AI” that prompt educators to rethink how AI tools can support and challenge student thinking throughout the writing process.
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Building actual and conceptual AI toolkits for contemporary education
Ari Seligmann discusses considerations of AI tools and their introduction into higher education.
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Leveraging AI simulations for enhancing cultural competence in healthcare: Insights from the COIL program
Zahra Aziz and Debra Kiegaldie narrate a story of Aalia – an AI-driven simulated patient and reflect on the role of immersive simulated educational experiences in fostering culturally sensitive approaches to patient-centred care.
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OERs: How simple textbook swaps create more inclusive student experiences
Open Educational Resources (OER) offer a powerful way to improve access, reduce costs, and support inclusive learning. Australian educators are increasingly using OERs and open access reading lists to challenge curriculum inequities, including racial, gender, and disability bias, and to address disparities in digital access and resourcing.
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Exploring the world to enhance the classroom: A journey of multilingual learning
Raqib Chowdhury reflects on how his extensive travels across linguistically diverse regions have enriched his teaching on bi- and multilingualism. By integrating real-world ethnographic experiences, he bridges theory and practice, fostering critical reflection among students on their own linguistic identities and the socio-political forces shaping language and education.
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Redesigning the Teaching Excellence Program: Supporting professional development for teaching excellence
Mahbub and Tim reflect on the redesigned Teaching Excellence Program (TEP) at Monash. The program’s ambitious new design aims to offer participants more choice, deeper engagement with their teaching, and stronger peer connections. However, they acknowledge that they are still exploring how these changes will take shape in practice.
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AI and entrapment: A cautionary tale
Sandra Leonie Field reflects on the integration of AI in education. While AI tools can assist students in summarising readings and drafting essays, her recent experience reveals a more complex reality.
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Commitment to relationship-based education
Zala writes about how crucial it is to build on solidarity and educate in ways that develop compassion, care, curiosity, and courage in our students. The role of community building we have as university educators, she argues, is increasingly important as a means of countering technological tendencies that contribute to fragmentation and polarisation.
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What if academic feedback were treated like an exercise workout?
Filippe draws parallels between coaching athletes and teaching students, focusing on feedback. By comparing the phases of exercise, educators can refine feedback practices and foster active learning, with a focus on personal growth.
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Experiences of international team teaching
Dr. Anupama Sethi and Dr. Sharon Koh explore possibilities for building cultural awareness and inclusive learning by co-developing and co-delivering the unit across Australian and Malaysian campuses. This provided an exciting opportunity for the students to gain international experience without leaving their countries.
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Unlocking education opportunities: authentic assessments in online programs
Zahra Aziz and Danijela Gasevic reflect on the importance of embedding authentic assessments within Master of Public Health (MPH) and Master of Health Administration (MHA) programs and provide practical guidelines for educators aiming to implement authentic assessment practices in their courses.