
Overview
Background
Professor Kelly Matthews is a respected scholar of student voice in higher education, multiple award-winning educator, and educational leader collaborating on university-wide initiatives.
Her research has shaped the discourse on student voice in higher education, advocating for relational and collaborative educational approaches that foster student agency and ownership of learning. With over 120 publications and 80 invited talks, Kelly has secured funding from five sources, including an Australian Teaching Fellowship, to lead multi-institutional projects that drive cross-disciplinary innovation in practice and sector-wide impact informing policy.
Kelly has played a key role in establishing international collaborative writing groups and change institutes, creating and sustaining the Students as Partners Network (now in its 11th year), co-founding the International Journal for Students as Partners, and mentoring scholars to write and publish about their teaching and learning. Her strategic leadership has been recognised with a Principal Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.
In 2025, Kelly is leading a multi-institutional project with Deakin, Monash, and UTS to shape AI policy and practice through student voice. She is a founding member of the Australian Teaching/Education Focused Academic Network, which connects and supports academics committed to teaching excellence across the sector. At UQ, Kelly is shaping the university’s response to AI in higher education by developing the AI Student Hub, co-designing an AI in education ethical framework, and creating the AI in Education Innovation and Research Network. In addition, she is co-developing a new program to achieve UQ’s strategic objective for gender parity among the professoriate.
Connect with Kelly on LinkedIn and read her latest co-authored book, Writing about teaching and learning in higher education.
Availability
- Professor Kelly Matthews is:
- Not available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Arts, University of New Orleans
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Works
Search Professor Kelly Matthews’s works on UQ eSpace
2024
Journal Article
Followers, customers, or partners? Comparing conceptualisations of students as partners in Australian, Mainland Chinese, and Hong Kong universities
Liang, Yifei, Dai, Kun and Matthews, Kelly E. (2024). Followers, customers, or partners? Comparing conceptualisations of students as partners in Australian, Mainland Chinese, and Hong Kong universities. Higher Education, 88 (6), 2251-2267. doi: 10.1007/s10734-024-01215-z
2024
Journal Article
Gen AI and student perspectives of use and ambiguity : A multi-institutional study
Fawns, Tim, Henderson, Michael, Matthews, Kelly, Oberg, Glenys, Liang, Yifei, Walton, Jack, Corbin, Thomas, Bearman, Margaret, Buckingham Shum, Simon, McCluskey, Trish, McLean, Jan, Shibani, Antonette, Bakharia, Aneesha, Lim, Lisa-Angelique, Pepperell, Nicole, Slade, Christine, Chung, Jen and Seligmann, Ari (2024). Gen AI and student perspectives of use and ambiguity : A multi-institutional study. ASCILITE Publications, 132-134. doi: 10.14742/apubs.2024.1218
2024
Conference Publication
Is scalable 'students as partners’ possible? : Towards large-scale, inclusive, in-class partnerships
Dollinger, Mollie, Brazil, Jonathan, Matthews, Kelly and Khosravi, Hassan (2024). Is scalable 'students as partners’ possible? : Towards large-scale, inclusive, in-class partnerships. 2024 ASCILITE Conference: Navigating the Terrain: Emerging frontiers in learning spaces, pedagogies, and technologies, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 1-4 December 2024. Tugun, QLD, Australia: Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education. doi: 10.14742/apubs.2024.983
2024
Edited Outputs
The 10th annual Students as Partners Roundtable
Kelly Matthews, Marissa Chow, Glenda Cox, Mollie Dollinger, Tanya Henry, Fatima Iftikha, Giedre Kligyte, Christopher Ostrowdun, Brenda Parker, Tai Peseta, Felix Reid, Samuel Suresh and Zahra Zulkifli eds. (2024). The 10th annual Students as Partners Roundtable. Students as Partners Roundtable, Virtual, 7-19 September 2024. Brisbane, QLD Australia: University of Queensland.
2024
Book Chapter
The relational turn in student engagement
Matthews, Kelly E., Lodge, Jason M. and Johnstone, Melissa (2024). The relational turn in student engagement. Research Handbook on Student Engagement in Higher Education. (pp. 28-38) Edward Elgar Publishing. doi: 10.4337/9781035314294.00012
2024
Journal Article
Book review: Connections are everything: A college student’s guide to relationship-rich education, by Peter Felten, Leo M. Lambert, Isis Artze-Vega, and Oscar R. Miranda Tapia
Chow, Marissa MH, Patil, Ankita, Vo, Gia Hao and Matthews, Kelly E (2024). Book review: Connections are everything: A college student’s guide to relationship-rich education, by Peter Felten, Leo M. Lambert, Isis Artze-Vega, and Oscar R. Miranda Tapia. International Journal for Students as Partners, 8 (1), 284-287. doi: 10.15173/ijsap.v8i1.5719
2024
Journal Article
Theorising new possibilities for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and teaching-focused academics
Godbold, Nattalia, Matthews, Kelly E. Elizabeth and Gannaway, Deanne (2024). Theorising new possibilities for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and teaching-focused academics. Higher Education Research & Development, 43 (1), 92-103. doi: 10.1080/07294360.2023.2218809
2024
Journal Article
‘Teachers are just the ones who learned Dao before students’: exploring influences of culture on pedagogical partnership in Chinese universities
Liang, Yifei and Matthews, Kelly E. (2024). ‘Teachers are just the ones who learned Dao before students’: exploring influences of culture on pedagogical partnership in Chinese universities. Oxford Review of Education, 50 (3), 416-433. doi: 10.1080/03054985.2023.2236933
2023
Book Chapter
Stretching the boundaries of pedagogical partnerships in higher education through the lens of recognition
Oberg, Glenys, Matthews, Kelly E., Lincoln, Jennifer and McGrath, Nathan (2023). Stretching the boundaries of pedagogical partnerships in higher education through the lens of recognition. The Bloomsbury handbook of student voice in higher education. (pp. 427-438) edited by Jarusha Conner, Rille Raaper, Carolina Guzman-Valenzuela and Launa Gauthier. London, United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Academic. doi: 10.5040/9781350342484.ch-030
2023
Journal Article
A qualitative exploration of expert perspectives on applying the science of learning to higher education
Nugent, Annita, Carroll, Annemaree, Lodge, Jason M., Matthews, Kelly E., MacMahon, Stephanie and Sah, Pankaj (2023). A qualitative exploration of expert perspectives on applying the science of learning to higher education. Frontiers in Education, 8 1233651, 1-10. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2023.1233651
2023
Journal Article
Practising student voice in university teaching and learning: three anchoring principles
Cook-Sather, Alison and Matthews, Kelly (2023). Practising student voice in university teaching and learning: three anchoring principles. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 20 (6) 02, 1-13. doi: 10.53761/1.20.6.2
2023
Conference Publication
Power and process: an exploration of intercultural student-teacher partnership
Zhang, Meng and Matthews, Kelly (2023). Power and process: an exploration of intercultural student-teacher partnership. Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA), Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 4 - 7 July. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: HERDSA.
2023
Conference Publication
Followers, customers, or partners: comparing conceptualisations of students as partners in Australian, Mainland China, and Hong Kong universities
Liang, Yifei, Matthews, Kelly and Dai, Kun (2023). Followers, customers, or partners: comparing conceptualisations of students as partners in Australian, Mainland China, and Hong Kong universities. Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA), Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 4 - 7 July 2023. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: HERDSA.
2023
Book Chapter
Culturally respectful pedagogical partnership (Asia)
Liang, Yifei and Matthews, Kelly (2023). Culturally respectful pedagogical partnership (Asia). Inclusive learning design in higher education. (pp. 56-59) edited by Virna Rossi. London, United Kingdom: Routledge.
2023
Journal Article
‘I wish to participate but…’: investigating students’ perceptions of student-staff pedagogical partnerships at a Hong Kong University
Dai, Kun, Matthews, Kelly E. and Liang, Yifei (2023). ‘I wish to participate but…’: investigating students’ perceptions of student-staff pedagogical partnerships at a Hong Kong University. Higher Education, 87 (3), 779-793. doi: 10.1007/s10734-023-01035-7
2023
Journal Article
Engaging students as partners in intercultural partnership practices: a scoping review
Zhang, Meng, Matthews, Kelly E. and Liu, Shuang (2023). Engaging students as partners in intercultural partnership practices: a scoping review. Higher Education Research and Development, 42 (7), 1792-1807. doi: 10.1080/07294360.2022.2157800
2023
Journal Article
What do students and teachers talk about when they talk together about feedback and assessment? Expanding notions of feedback literacy through pedagogical partnership
Matthews, Kelly E, Sherwood, Catherine, Enright, Eimear and Cook-Sather, Alison (2023). What do students and teachers talk about when they talk together about feedback and assessment? Expanding notions of feedback literacy through pedagogical partnership. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 49 (1), 1-13. doi: 10.1080/02602938.2023.2170977
2023
Journal Article
Capturing teaching focused academic work: a learning-practice framework for a richer understanding of changing academic roles
Godbold, N., Matthews, K. E. and Gannaway, D. (2023). Capturing teaching focused academic work: a learning-practice framework for a richer understanding of changing academic roles. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 45 (3), 323-334. doi: 10.1080/1360080x.2022.2148237
2023
Book Chapter
Connecting learning, teaching, and research through student-staff partnerships: toward universities as egalitarian learning communities
Matthews, Kelly E., Cook-Sather, Alison and Healey, Mick (2023). Connecting learning, teaching, and research through student-staff partnerships: toward universities as egalitarian learning communities. Shaping higher education with students: ways to connect research and teaching. (pp. 23-29) edited by Tong, VCH, Standen, A and Sotiriou, M. London, United Kingdom: UCL Press.
2022
Journal Article
Investigating the authentic learning practices of teaching focused academics: leveraging Activity-Centred Analysis and Design (ACAD)
Godbold, N., Matthews, K. E. and Gannaway, D. (2022). Investigating the authentic learning practices of teaching focused academics: leveraging Activity-Centred Analysis and Design (ACAD). International Journal for Academic Development, 29 (3), 1-13. doi: 10.1080/1360144x.2022.2158835
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Kelly Matthews is:
- Not available for supervision
Supervision history
Current supervision
-
Doctor Philosophy
Student engagement and partnership on teacher identity development: A comparative study between Indonesia and Australia
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Robin Shields
Completed supervision
-
2024
Doctor Philosophy
Disrupting and reproducing power: A focused ethnography of intercultural learner-teacher partnership using Bourdieu's social field theory and intercultural communication theory
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Shuang Liu
-
2023
Doctor Philosophy
Relationship, engagement, and culture: Exploring the conceptions of students as partners in Chinese higher education
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Jason Lodge
-
2023
Doctor Philosophy
Speaking for ourselves: Indian students co-constructed stories of engaging in partnership with staff in an Australian university
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Suraiya Abdul Hameed
-
2023
Doctor Philosophy
Being a teaching-focused academic in a research-intensive university: A focused ethnography
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Deanne Gannaway
-
2022
Doctor Philosophy
Enacting Pasin as storying as research: Ways of rethinking the health workers' curriculum in Papua New Guinea
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Di Eley
-
2018
Doctor Philosophy
An exploration of Chinese students' learning experiences in China-Australia '2+2' articulation programmes: In between two systems.
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Emeritus Professor Bob Lingard, Dr Vicente Reyes
Media
Enquiries
Contact Professor Kelly Matthews directly for media enquiries about:
- assessment
- education quality
- higher education
- student engagement
- student voice
Need help?
For help with finding experts, story ideas and media enquiries, contact our Media team: