Program Authorities series (Curriculum Transformation) - Term 2 2026

Assessment Policy Q&A Session 

Tuesday 7 July 2026, 10:30AM - 11:30AM

Presenters: Steve Pappas, Tracy Wilcox, Mark Ian Jones

This Q&A session provides an opportunity to explore the assessment and feedback requirements in the new Assessment and Progression Policy and how they will apply in practice. Following an overview of the policy’s aims and key changes, we will address some common questions raised since its release, share key insights and allow time to discuss any additional questions or concerns. Participants are encouraged to bring questions so we can work through them together 

Pedagogical Principles workshop (Principles 1 & 2) 

Wednesday 8 July, 10AM - 11:30AM

Presenters: Rachel Kasturi, Freddy Ha

In this 90-minute workshop, we will explore strategies and approaches for designing programs and courses like everybody matters. You will leave with examples of how to prioritise Universal Design for Learning 3.0 and the cultural and emotional dimensions of learning to make curriculum feel more cohesive, motivating and accessible for students and educators. 

 

Dr Rachel Kasturi
Rachel is a Senior Inclusive Educational Designer in the PVCE Curriculum and Educational Design team, where she leads initiatives to advance inclusive education. Drawing on a background in communication sciences and student equity, she partners with students, academics and professional teams to embed accessibility, usability and Universal Design for Learning within curriculum design and teaching practice. Her work focuses on translating inclusive principles into sustainable, system-level change that strengthens capability, clarity, and belonging across complex higher education environments.

Freddy Ha is an Educational and Assessment Designer in the PVCE Curriculum and Educational Design team at UNSW. Freddy has several years of experience across higher education teaching, learning design, curriculum transformation, assessment strategy and digital learning leadership. His work focuses on designing authentic and inclusive assessment that is academically rigorous, supports student development over time, and helps make expectation clearer for both staff and students. He’s especially interested in practical ways to strengthen course and program coherence, including outcome and assessment mapping, and designing assessment that holds up in contemporary learning environments.

 

Pedagogical Principles workshop (Principles 3, 5 & 6) 

Wednesday 8 July, 2PM - 3:30PM

Presenters: Emily Chandler, Freddy Ha, Caitlin Hamilton

We often talk about preparing students for an uncertain future, connecting learning to real-world challenges and developing independent and lifelong learners. The harder part is working out what this actually looks like in practice. In this 90-minute workshop, we will explore practical examples from curriculum and course design that demonstrate how these ideas can be embedded in authentic and sustainable ways. In addition, we will unpack approaches for integrating societal impact, developing future-focused capabilities and creating opportunities for students to take greater ownership of their learning. You will leave with concrete examples and adaptable strategies that can be applied within your own teaching and program contexts. 

Keeping assessment inclusive when security matters 

Thursday 9 July, 2PM - 3.30PM

Presenters: Rachel Kasturi, Sean Maloney, Teagan Mock, and Freddy Ha

A renewed focus on secure assessment raises important questions for educators and program leaders: how do we assure learning without narrowing the ways students can demonstrate it? How do we protect academic standards while also supporting access, clarity, and belonging?

In this workshop, we will explore how inclusive practice and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) 3.0 can sit alongside secure assessment design. Using a real first-year course example from the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Dr Teagan Mock will discuss how assessment variety, sequencing, weighting, and preparation opportunities can strengthen inclusion while still meeting policy expectations.

We will then consider how inclusive and secure assessment can be supported holistically across the whole program, rather than left to isolated courses, including:

• what Program Authorities should be watching for across the program
• the important distinction between UDL and educational adjustments
• why access and inclusion need to be built into both program and course design, rather than left solely to disability services

Pedagogical Principle 4 workshop (embedding Indigenous knowledges) 

Tuesday 14 July, 10AM - 11.30AM

Presenter: Christine Evans

Associate Professor Christine Evans is a Wiradjuri woman with cultural connection to the Mudgee region of NSW.  Chris has worked in higher education for over 20 years primarily as an academic in initial teacher education or in curriculum lead roles. She has served in senior leadership roles in curriculum authorities such as ACARA and NESA and led large scale curriculum reform in the representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures in school curriculum contexts.

In the role of Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous Education at UNSW, Chris is leading projects to support the representation of Indigenous Knowledges in curriculum and professional learning in Indigenous Cultural Responsiveness for UNSW staff. Her research has focused on Indigenous representation in education processes. An Aboriginal Education Consultative Group member locally and regionally for several years, Chris is also represented on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander committees and advisory groups such as at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, where she is Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Group and MCA Board Member, and the National Library of Australia. 

Embedding Indigenous knowledges case study 

Tuesday 14 July, 2PM - 3.30PM

Presenter: Christine Evans

This presentation provides guidance about principles and curriculum practices that will enable the successful representation of Indigenous Knowledges in UNSW curriculum during curriculum transformation processes through practical strategies and through case studies by UNSW academics who are contributing to improvement and excellence in this area within their fields. 

 

Associate Professor Christine Evans is a Wiradjuri woman with cultural connection to the Mudgee region of NSW.  Chris has worked in higher education for over 20 years primarily as an academic in initial teacher education or in curriculum lead roles. She has served in senior leadership roles in curriculum authorities such as ACARA and NESA and led large scale curriculum reform in the representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures in school curriculum contexts.

In the role of Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous Education at UNSW, Chris is leading projects to support the representation of Indigenous Knowledges in curriculum and professional learning in Indigenous Cultural Responsiveness for UNSW staff. Her research has focused on Indigenous representation in education processes. An Aboriginal Education Consultative Group member locally and regionally for several years, Chris is also represented on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander committees and advisory groups such as at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, where she is Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Group and MCA Board Member, and the National Library of Australia. 

Oral assessment at scale 

Wednesday 15 July, 11.15AM - 12.45PM

Presenter: May Lim

Program level learning assurance: framework and practice workshop

Wednesday 15 July, 2PM - 3.30PM

Presenter: Diana Turnip

In this interactive workshop, Diana Turnip, Nexus Educational Developer in UNSW Medicine & Health, will introduce a practical framework for program-level learning assurance. The session will explore how programs can coordinate evidence, place strategic verification points, and build defensible assurance narratives across a whole program, with fully online programs used as a guiding example. Participants will work through a structured template using a program-level case and then apply the approach to their own program context. The workshop is designed for Program Authorities, Specialisation Leads, academic leaders, and educational developers seeking a scalable approach to assuring learning across programs and delivery modes.