How do university teachers learn, develop, and sustain teaching quality today? by Kelly Matthews

Adapting tasks/Rubric for Ai

georginaroy — 2026-05-14 01:48:40 UTC

I wanted to offer a written task, but I am aware that these are now largely written by Ai. I adapted the language and focus of my rubric so that work was awarded for "depth and interpretation" of research (rather than "supported by literature"). Students were limited to 8 references, to encourage relevance and depth. I also included a personal reflection, as well as a rubric criteria recognising "professional voice" (if it looked and sounded human; marks awarded). The appendix included reflective questions about how Ai use was prioritised and used. I think these changes encouraged closer engagement with the learning from most students.

Intensive Program

macquarieacademy — 2026-05-15 02:05:28 UTC

In my first few years of teaching (which I had been doing largely intuitively) I did numerous small workshops that helped, but what changed everything was doing a five-day intensive course design program at the uni where I was teaching (JMU, USA). It was so transformative that now I run a very similar program for others.

Working in industry, prior to coming to University sector. In the health workplace, always teaching and sharing. Doing Higher Degree study myself. Saw good and bad teachers. Learning by doing.

2026-05-15 02:06:52 UTC

Starting off as a PASS tutor many years ago. I was a peer, working to support peers. It really helped to give me insights into the learning process and was very dialogic. Relationality and process still influence my teaching practice.

2026-05-15 02:07:16 UTC

I was a learning technologist / ed designer and gradually was encouraged to contribute elements to the teaching of lecturers at the University of Edinburgh - so I was eased in and then could have really generative conversations about the sessions and eventually contributing to more and more design. This then set me up to apply for a lecturer role myself.

timfawns — 2026-05-15 02:07:47 UTC

Attending University sessions on teaching quality. Following people on LinkedIn who are experts in this space. Reading journal articles. Keeping up to date with what is happening in the industry. Ongoing learning, networking with professionals, keeping up with the news.

2026-05-15 02:08:10 UTC

Mentoring post graduates and seeing them apply theory to practice after they have graduated.

2026-05-15 02:08:36 UTC

Mixing informal, formal and scholarly inquiry and research

timfawns — 2026-05-15 02:08:40 UTC

But mostly: conversations with people who care about education!

SFHEA and FHEA preparation and learning. University learning related to teaching.

2026-05-15 02:09:22 UTC

Curiosity

2026-05-15 02:09:35 UTC

Having a mindset of curiosity to explore, improve my own practice and to hear about others

Data-driven assurance of learning

2026-05-15 02:09:36 UTC

This isn't directly to do with my own teaching, but I have worked with academics to provide analyses of student activity in the LMS to identify whether behaviour patterns associated with assessment outsourcing/offloading (i.e. contract cheating and collusion) are present, and undermining the validity of any assessments in use. This has helped to inform changes to assessment to address identified security issues to bolster assurance of learning. These same analyses can be used to provide evidence of whether any assessment changes have altered behaviour too.

Continuous reflection

2026-05-15 02:10:20 UTC

What helped me learn to teach in higher education was to use continuous reflection both in real time with aspects such as engagement and verbal feedback, and also using formal post-semester feedback to develop what worked not just for the subject content but level of professional maturity (such as 1st yr, 2nd yr and 3rd yr).

Professional Development Opportunities

2026-05-15 02:10:37 UTC

Attending any opportunities - in house, online, institutional (not just my own) and national/international conferences

kirsten_mclean — 2026-05-15 02:11:56 UTC

Training as a secondary teacher and then lots of trial and error as an academic.

Conversations with people who were there

timfawns — 2026-05-15 02:12:03 UTC

Talking with leaners and co-teachers is important (though still not enough - we also need to look at our designs, materials, practices, data, our own reflections, literature, scholarly inquiry)

Formal apprenticeship as part of HDR study

2026-05-15 02:14:02 UTC

My PhD program (and financial support package) hinged on being a TA/tutor alongside my studies. I had a formal, semester long course on pedagogy in my field during my first term of teaching, a week-long teaching 'bootcamp' intensive preparation and then fortnightly meetings with the people who were teaching on the same course. A different system, but exceptionally helpful!

TEQSA materials

2026-05-15 02:14:29 UTC

Staying across the sector alerts, toolkits, and reports issued by TEQSA helps. These often draw together the expertise of teaching and assessment scholars from across the sector in a convenient format.

Community Knowledge spaces

2026-05-15 02:18:04 UTC

Shout out to:

About - Needed Now in Learning and Teaching

Teaching in Higher Ed with Bonni Stachowiak

Higher Education network driving change

herdsa.org.au | Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia

Student Success Conference | Students Transitions Achievement Retention and Success

(27) Australian Teaching/Education Focused Academic Network | Groups | LinkedIn

And lots of similar

Peer review/assessment of teaching

2026-05-15 02:19:06 UTC

My early years as a teacher required at least 1 observed teaching session per year. The debrief broke it down to address my own objectives, the formal learning objectives, the breakdown of time students spent in active versus passive learning. The observer saw things I couldn't.

Pedagogy and teaching panels at disciplinary conferences

2026-05-15 02:23:22 UTC

The teaching-focused academics (and other engaged teachers) in my field are often at the forefront of larger debates. Going to their panels and sessions at our annual disciplinary conference is a great way to get contextualised advice.

2026-05-15 02:34:48 UTC

I had trained as a teacher and had already established my philosophy of teaching as being relationally enacted. So, in some ways moving to HE teaching was a near transfer (and in others a very very far transfer:) Colleagues, wider communities of practice, academic development and some formal learning helped me.

2026-05-15 02:35:32 UTC

Grad Cert in Academic Practice - I learned so much!
Advance HE - SFHEA to reflect on process and practice of effectiveness, and AFHEA (Indigenous Knowledges) - strengthening my articulation of effectiveness of Indigenous Knowledges and Perspectives in practice
Teaching Team meetings - continuous dialogue
Teaching triangle/peer review (formal and informal)
Ad-hoc PD (as needed) - Based on what I am teaching and sector changes
Students as Partners initiatives (refine practice based on knowing cohort needs)

2026-05-15 02:40:01 UTC

Through doing PD on trauma-informed teaching, I revised my professional development to better support learner wellbeing and engagement (and model how to do this for educators!). I included more specific content warnings with clear session outlines and modelled how to set boundaries in discussion. This helped me model being a 'safer' educator.

Other teaching qualifications

2026-05-15 02:40:57 UTC

Before I worked in higher education, I worked as a teacher of English as a second/other language and have a qualification for doing that. It was very focused on lesson design, assessment design, pedagogy, and classroom management. These skills were extremely valuable once I started teaching in HE.

2026-05-15 02:43:48 UTC

I work in Academic Development so I feel that I am often at the buffet of knowledge to engage in - there isn't a week goes by that I'm not in a talk, session, conversation or resource development on teaching and learning. Subscribe to various substack and other platforms, read, think, converse.

Working on an 'engaged' committee

2026-05-15 02:44:20 UTC

I learned more about curriculum design and QA from being on the university's courses accreditation committee. A very engaged Chair who explained decisions really uplifted institutional knowledge.

When chairing committees, I take that approach too. Turning them into learning bodies, not just governance forums.

2026-05-15 02:45:06 UTC

Reflection from participants AFTER they had engaged in PD, on what they learned and put into practice. For me, practice change on others is important - so I need to keep in touch and build a community to find this out.

2026-05-15 02:47:18 UTC

I participate. I get involved in a variety of activities and conversations. I do this because I’m motivated to learn, reflect, and grow. I do that recuse I want to. I continue to learn how to align diverse interests and activities with practical and transformative outcomes.

2026-05-15 02:54:30 UTC

I incorporated the use of GenAI as an ideation partner in my design thinking unit. It developed skills, was seriously useful to students, and demystified AI in some ways.

I am from a culturally and linguistically diverse background and often felt the effort and labour of Aus HE as a culturally loaded space (with material manifestations in curriculum and student experience). I consciously shifted my learning materials to not shy away from this, as appropriate.

Mentorship from a senior expert colleague

naimaiftikhar30 — 2026-05-15 02:55:29 UTC

Having a mentor with whom I could discuss how and why I was engaging learners through certain approaches and the importance of reflection on the whole process from designing to delivering learning experiences. Those ongoing reflective conversations empowered me to articulate my thinking and decision making processes related to student-centric teaching.

2026-05-15 02:56:09 UTC

I spent time with my students, talked with them most days and made real time reflexive adjustments.

Teaching in other areas

2026-05-15 02:56:39 UTC

Before I taught in HE, I had taught English as a second/other language for years and was formally trained and qualified in that work. I came to HE as someone who had already spent thousands of hours teaching, so I found the shift fairly minimal beyond adjusting to the outrageous class sizes.

naimaiftikhar30 — 2026-05-15 02:58:26 UTC

International, national, institutional PD opportunities such as podcasts, workshops, webinars. Reading newly published research and discussions with colleagues.

Peer observation, formal courses...

2026-05-15 03:04:23 UTC

I learnt so much about how I wanted to teach by observing others teach. This started when I was doing my professional exams in accounting and doing PD courses in the accounting firm I worked at. I then learnt by trial and error as I facilitated PD courses at work. I loved the teaching part of my work, so I moved across to Uni as a sessional tutor. Peer observation again played a huge role, but so did 'Train the Trainer' courses.

Time has gone by..... I have a few years of experience now....... am a Teaching Associate now..... I am currently 3/4 through my Grad Cert in Uni Teaching Practice and loving it!

Peer reviews

2026-05-15 03:08:37 UTC

Obtaining formal Peer Reviews from more qualified 'Teachers' (some within my discipline and some outside of my discipline).

Student Feedback (in the moment)

2026-05-15 03:39:28 UTC

We have a program at Deakin called Coffee Conversations (need to apply via EOI) where we can shout students coffee in return for their thoughts on the unit we are currently teaching. It is a great way to capture student voice and understand their perspective as they are consuming the unit - great real time feedback! In addition, I always do a mid-point check in with students halfway through the Trimester so if I need to adapt or tweak my teaching style to suit that particular cohort I can :)

Authentic Marketing Assessment using AI (Cogniti) and Interactive Oral Assessments (IOA)

2026-05-15 03:50:26 UTC

In a second-year marketing unit we have students code interview transcripts to uncover insights which they then use to develop a TV commercial (storyboard). Many years ago, students were asked to interview real people in the target audience, however we found this problematic as they may not have actually interviewed people or the transcripts were quite basic. We then moved to giving the students pre-defined transcripts, but this took away the authenticity (and skill) of conducting qualitative market research. This year I used AI (cogniti) to develop AI Chat bots which were specifically programed to act as real customers and answer questions as if they were being interviewed. If students took too long, they would even say things like "I only have time for a few more questions as I need to go and pickup the kids from school". This has allowed students to practice the skill of conducting market research qual interviews again (via chat) in a more authentic manner and then instantly being provided with a transcript they can code for insights. In addition, the final assessment is an Interactive Oral Presentation to replicate a client Q&A session following a boardroom presentation. Which is designed to mimic what would happen when marketing consultants pitch back to clients. The changes to this unit over the past 12 months have been to authenticate the assessment experience for students and make a stronger connection to real world practices. Student feedback has also been very positive!

Continuous Education

2026-05-15 03:56:58 UTC

GCHETL
HEFellowship
Master in Teaching (Leadership & Learning) with research paper on flipped classroom - I undertook this after starting as a sessional in HE
Joining communities of practice (i.e. HERSDA, EFAs, Cogniti Symposium) to continue to learn from peers
Internal T&L conferences/workshops
CRADLE
Read SoLT journal publications

Combination of experience, mentoring, formal PD & scholarly approaches

2026-05-15 06:38:47 UTC

Over the course of almost 20 years, it is this combination of things that have helped me learn to teach and become an excellent teacher. Each has played a main role at different stages of my career. Mentoring was foremost as a postgrad doing tutoring work & in my first major roles as a postdoc and junior academic. Formal PD through a GCHEd lifted the standard and confidence in my teaching after a few years of experience and helped me make sense of that experience - some of this would have been more helpful earlier in my career. And engaging with scholarly literature and best teaching practices within and across my discipline have honed, refined and truly uplifted my teaching into innovative approaches and given me confidence to influence teaching of others more directly. Perhaps surprisingly, service roles in teaching have also uplifted my teaching and helped me better understand the context in which my individual teaching occurs, thus also uplifting what I do and how I do it.

Engagement with a diversity of teaching teams, institutional PD and showcases, scholarly teaching & conferences/colleagues specific to my science discipline.

2026-05-15 06:40:52 UTC

Each of the above brings a different perspective, creating a nexus

HEA fellowship process, GCHE, within institution fellowships/grants to develop and collaborate on teaching initiatives

2026-05-15 06:42:43 UTC

Mentoring and experience of teaching during my PhD

s_alhadad — 2026-05-16 05:55:39 UTC

I was fortunate to have been mentored by two senior academics during my PhD, one was a professor who not only co-taught with me, but gave me opportunity to lead learning and teaching initiatives including leadership in the tutor-led mentoring program for undergraduate students. I later convened this large first-year course and led one of the two stream of lectures. The Deputy Head Learning and Teaching also created opportunities for interested PhDs to be involved in school-wide programs/ initiatives. I was invited to be part of the L&T Committee, which enabled to get a deeper understanding of university systems and how it impacted student learning and experience including curriculum and assessment design. The DHoS had also designed a professional learning program for HDRs and ECRs specifically to help them with L&T practice, including how to translate research for practice.

Graduate Certificate in Digital education and FHEA

2026-05-18 05:53:44 UTC

I have a Bachelor in Education but after completing my PhD, and working as a casual lecturer, I felt the need to upskill in higher education learning process. Hence, I did Grad cert. This was followed by completing FHEA. The reflective process fostered various skills. Additionally, I attend education conferences and our University's webinars to stay in touch with latest changes such as generative AI.

Mansi (UNE)

Probably not the recommended pathway....

amanda_w_white — 2026-05-21 01:10:20 UTC

In the 00s, I started having only experience providing training to other staff in my role as an accountant. I focused on avoiding practices that I didn't like as a student, and adapted or replicated practices that made me feel valued and were helpful to my learning. I was deterred from completing anything formal by my direct supervisor. But went to any centralised T&L seminar or university forum I could find.

Mixed methods

amanda_w_white — 2026-05-21 01:13:12 UTC

* Monitoring community chat via LinkedIn - eg musings, new papers posted by peers I respect (including people like Tim, Phill, Kelly, etc etc)

Institutional seminars
HE conferences (HERDSA, ASCILITE) and discipline specific education events
Lots and lots of contact with students - building relationships and being there to listen 👂

Grade Cert, AHE

amanda_w_white — 2026-05-21 01:15:08 UTC

UTS did provide access to a Grad Cert in HE T&L, and has scholarships to complete Advance HE fellowships (I had raised this at a university-level committee many years ago and was so excited to see the program launched!)

As an EF - I also receive equal funding for professional development as my T&R colleagues, which is very helpful and a recognition of the value of my work

Data, data, data

amanda_w_white — 2026-05-21 01:18:13 UTC

When I'm trying something new - I try and conduct informal pre- and post- intervention surveys of students to see whether the intervention is working. I also engage in informal focus groups with students.

Sometimes I wish I could have a bit more capacity & workload to turn these into research projects with ethics etc

I also map examination questions to LOs and analyse student performance, gather data from markers about common mistakes and feed this back into educational development.

Assessment

carmen_vallis — 2026-06-08 13:16:33 UTC

Formative and summative... if students are really not getting it (whatever it is), listening to feedback really carefully, unpacking the issues and seeing what needs to change

Initiatives that recognise SoTL

carmen_vallis — 2026-06-08 13:21:37 UTC

SoTL grants, EF fellowships, EF awards for SoTL... this is a great motivator to innovate and learn and further develop teaching practice