1
You came to Torrens from a more ‘traditional’ university environment. How has your experience differed between institutions and what have you observed about the experience of students?
The biggest difference has been the core focus on students and the energy and enthusiasm of the staff. For me, the public universities have more of an emphasis and attention on research and researchers. The focus on T&L attracted me to Torrens, and I have been impressed at how central this is to everyone in the university.
I came from a university that had a large and beautiful campus. The campuses at Torrens are a bit different as they are designed to be centrally located for students to get there easily and to come together as a group.
The Torrens student body is a lot more diverse, particularly in terms of age and professional background. We also have a lot more students who haven’t had a traditional pathway to university. Previous universities I have worked for have had more school leavers and students from advantaged backgrounds.
Torrens University is only 10 years old so we are still maturing. We have grown very quickly which has a lot to do with our agility and entrepreneurial focus but it does mean we have some boutique approaches that we are currently working to update.
2
One of Torrens’ priorities and successes relates to the ‘work-ready’ nature of its graduates. At a time when ways of working are changing, how does Torrens ensure that’s it graduates are ready for their next step?
We design our curriculum to meet industry needs and maintain relevance by regularly engaging with industry partners, connections and advisory boards. Every course includes a Work Integrated Learning subject, enabling students to engage in career development learning and gain real-world experience. Recently, the Vice Chancellor has introduced an institutional project to further explore opportunities to enhance and promote student work readiness.
Torrens University has also launched a new strategic vision, ‘Earn while you Learn,’ which recognises that our students need to be enabled and supported to balance their learning and work demands for success. This approach focuses on students being able to study wherever they are, creating a seamless accommodation of work and education. Additionally, many of our academics are “Pracademics”, that is active professionals in their field, bringing practical, up-to-date insights to their teaching.
3
We all remember how quickly the higher education sector had to pivot during the COVID pandemic. A few years on, what is the longer-term impact on the way students learn and how they want to learn? What impact has this had on your academic colleagues?
For both staff and students, post COVID there has been an increased demand for flexible learning and teaching and work/life balance. At Torrens our working environment is very flexible and this is something that has always appealed to our staff.
With regards to students, if I were a student who came to campus I would want to engage with my peers rather than sitting in a lecture theatre being talked at. Students want to engage in practical, hands-on, social learning and our learning environments are being refurbished to support this.
Students are also very interested in lifelong learning and micro-credentials are becoming an option they choose. There is a desire from students to learn whenever it suits them. They want to balance work, life and study and their expectation is that their study will fit into the rest of their life. Our response to these petitions is to truly deliver personalisation at scale. We are doing this across curriculum, learning, assessment and support.
Students also have a much greater focus on their health and wellbeing and there is an expectation that the university will support this, which is another area of practice that Torrens are seeking to further develop. Employability is another expectation, as is a more global education, with the option to study overseas, all of these we are looking at how we can enrich current practices.
In terms of staff, the impact of COVID highlighted the real gender inequity as many women’s research outputs plummeted whereas men’s increased. Women often took on the bulk of education and family wellbeing at home during that time. Now there’s an emphasis on elevating and highlighting gender inequities and developing strategies to overcome these. We have found that since COVID, both men and women are prioritising family and the ability to work more flexibly, which has been supported by Torrens.
4
Is there really a face-to-face and online learning divide or is the future of learning really some blend of the two? Where does the role of AI fit into this?
In some ways there is an increasing divide, although universities are acknowledging that they can offer both campus based and online learning modes of delivery.
The University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia which are soon to be merged have released their 10-year strategy which details that they aim to be fully online with face-to-face learning complementing. This is a huge shift which shows how the view of online learning versus face-to-face has changed. I think the blend is becoming more refined and is allowing for the personalisation of study.
Hybrid classes are becoming the norm and we are now seeing HyFlex learning where students are in the classroom and online at the same time. Outfitting classrooms to enable students to engage more however they choose to engage gives them choice and more buy-in to their learning.
AI is new and a very useful tool. We have been engaging in some very exciting AI initiatives such as using predictive analytics to identify at risk students and to build a safety net and provision help. This is an example of a really positive implication of AI.
AI is being integrated into learning management systems, like Canvas, to assist students around the clock with tools like chatbots, which can help reduce stress and provide support when it is needed. Additionally, at Torrens AI has been used to ensure consistency, accessibility, and universal design across courses.
5
At a global level, where do you see Australia placed in terms of teaching and learning innovation? Which other countries do you see other exciting things happening?
Australia is a bit of an innovation ‘jack of all trades’. We tend to do a lot of things well whereas other countries innovate in specific areas.
For example, Singapore has been very progressive in online learning; China has embraced AI integration and Canada has focused on innovation around indigenous education and sustainability. The UK has had an emphasis on teaching excellence and student outcomes for a long time and the US has innovated around flexible learning. For example our affiliated partner, Capella University (US) allows students to learn when and how they choose, enabling them to complete a 12-week course over a weekend should they wish.
Australian teaching and learning networks are very strong, and we are always looking at best practice from across the world; in fact picking the best innovations globally and further developing these is perhaps the thing we do best!
