Published 7 July 2025
UNSW supports Education Focussed academics from all disciplines in presenting educational research and good practice at SoTL conferences
Attending and presenting at conferences has been a vital component of academic life for hundreds of years: ideas are shared and tested, professional connections and friendships are made, and expertise spreads and grows. With an increasing focus on educational excellence at UNSW and beyond, enthusiasm for participating in conferences focusing on tertiary teaching and learning has been growing, giving academics from all disciplines the opportunity to exchange insights, showcase innovations and share research on their teaching practices – fostering a collaborative environment where educators learn from one another.
A few years ago, in response to increasing interest amongst the Education Focussed (EF) community, UNSW’s EF Program began running professional-development workshops on the benefits of presenting at conferences devoted to the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). However, while they were popular and well-attended, it became clear that they were not resulting in actual SoTL abstracts and conference presentations. There was a lot more to presenting at a conference than just having an interesting research question: also crucial were a quality abstract that had relevance beyond a specific discipline and was a good match with the conference theme; ongoing drop-in mentoring and peer review while preparing the presentation; and financial support for registration fees and travel expenses. Potential conference participants could benefit from support in all these areas.
As a result, the UNSW Education-Focussed Program began running support activities in late 2022 that specifically targeted these issues, and built capability in SoTL in EF academics. During that first year, three UNSW participants each presented at the conferences of the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) and International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL), peak events in the SoTL field. By 2025, those numbers had grown to 39 and 26, respectively. Significantly, many presentations now include collaborations with other universities, a result of collaborations and networks forged at previous conferences.
Academic Development Senior Lecturer Dr Anna Rowe, who leads the professional-development aspects of the program, says,
“I mentor through running targeted workshops designed to develop skills in writing abstracts for HERDSA and ISSOTL specifically (although I do also cover general principles for writing a quality abstract in these sessions). Sometimes I also provide specific feedback on drafts or advice to individuals, particularly if they are new to educational scholarship and are transitioning from disciplinary based research – they may need more support around the context, nomenclature and concepts. I might also recommend they speak to others in their area who have attended those conferences before, so they can connect for further guidance.”
Staff members who have taken advantage of these supports are quick to praise the benefits for their teaching practice, reputation and career progression. School of Optometry and Vision Science Lecturer Dr Ingrid Jimenez Barbosa says,
“I have always been passionate about pedagogical innovation and try to implement engaging and novel approaches in my teaching. Participating in the UNSW EF Program’s support for attending the SoTL conferences provided an excellent opportunity to present my work to professionals from diverse disciplines and experienced educators. This opportunity has had a reflective and lifelong impact on my professional development.”
Jacque North, Lecturer and Co-lead Evaluation of Teaching & e-Portfolio Community of Practice in the School of Health Sciences, points out,
“A culture of support exists among colleagues who attend each other's presentations. This support has given me the confidence to present at multiple conferences over the last three years, which have been invaluable for networking and incorporating new ideas into my teaching.”
School of Management and Governance Senior Lecturer Dr Helen Parker says that the funding to go to SOTL conferences has been “mission critical” for establishing her academic identity as a new education-focussed academic at UNSW.
“Being able to present at conferences has enhanced my visibility as an expert in navigating complexity in higher education, has facilitated connections with national and international peers. From the various conferences I have attended from 2024 to date, I have invited more than four presenters (including from New Zealand and the US) to showcase their innovative teaching approaches at the UNSW Teamwork Community of Practice.”
Dr Gabi Nudelman, also a Senior Lecturer in the School of Management and Governance, notes that her participation in HERDSA 2024 with the support of the EF Program “expanded my thinking about SoTL in the Australian context and helped me refine my own interests.” Other participants, like School of Optometry and Vision Science Lecturer Dr Revathy Mani, Business School Senior Lecturer Dr Pranit Anand, Law and Justice Associate Professor Chantal Bostock and School of Clinical Medicine Lecturer Karan Bland, also pointed out the importance of conference participation for making professional contacts, building collaborations and keeping up with new developments in teaching and learning.
Associate Professor Karin Watson, Director of the Education-Focussed Program and leader of this initiative, points out that the conference-support program has had an expanding impact with additional benefits for UNSW:
“The program has resulted in several national and international grants, such as the Explorance Faculty Research Grant, and international collaborations such as ISSOTL’s Teaching and Learning Inquiry (TLI) Journal for a UNSW/TLI mentor program, which now involves several international universities, and which last year won the ISSOTL Gary Poole Distinguished Reviewer Award.”
Associate Professor Watson and Dr Rowe have plans to broaden the program in the coming months: “Now that more staff members are presenting at prestigious educational conferences, we will turn our efforts to building capacity for the next stage of their SOTL development: publications such as journal articles and book chapters.”