Overview
Background
Professor Kelly Matthews is an expert on the student experience in higher education—recently ranked amongst the top 5% of cited scholars globally in higher education, teaching and curriculum, and student partnership—and is an award-winning university teacher.
Her research, spanning over 150 publications and 100 invited talks, is about impact---shaping how students actively participate in their learning, directly improving experiences for students and informing the practices of teaching staff globally. Awarded an Australian Teaching Fellowship and a Higher Education Academy Principal Fellowship, Kelly has
- established influential international writing groups that mentor and motivate emerging scholars to publish about their educational practices,
- co-founded the International Journal for Students as Partners to enable students and staff from across the world to shape what counts as knowledge,
- created and sustained the Students as Partners Network to both celebrate and inspire educational practices across universities worldwide, and
- led collaborative, multi-institutional projects that recognise and promote educational leadership and change through applied research.
In 2025, Kelly is leading a multi-institutional project with Deakin, Monash, and UTS to shape AI policy and practice through student voice.
Kelly is the Academic Lead for Student Experience and Strategic Initiatives in the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Portfolio in the Institute of Teaching and Learning Innovation.
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
- Member, Australian Institute of Company Directors, Australian Institute of Company Directors
Works
Search Professor Kelly Matthews’s works on UQ eSpace
2021
Book Chapter
Engaging students as partners in assessment and enhancement processes
Matthews, Kelly E. and Cook-Sather, Alison (2021). Engaging students as partners in assessment and enhancement processes. Assessing and enhancing student experience in higher education. (pp. 107-124) edited by Mahsood Shah, John T. E. Richardson, Anja Pabel and Beverley Oliver. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-80889-1_5
2021
Journal Article
Students as partners practices and theorisations in Asia: a scoping review
Liang, Yifei and Matthews, Kelly E. (2021). Students as partners practices and theorisations in Asia: a scoping review. Higher Education Research and Development, 40 (3), 552-566. doi: 10.1080/07294360.2020.1773771
2021
Other Outputs
Learning together in a global pandemic: practices and principles for teaching and assessing online in uncertain times
Matthews, Kelly E., Lawrie, Gwendolyn, Mårtensson, Katarina, Roxå, Torgny, Bovill, Catherine and McLaughlin, Celeste (2021). Learning together in a global pandemic: practices and principles for teaching and assessing online in uncertain times. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: The University of Queensland.
2020
Journal Article
Students as partners: a new ethos for the transformation of teacher and student identities in Chinese higher education
Liang, Yifei, Dai, Kun and Matthews, Kelly E. (2020). Students as partners: a new ethos for the transformation of teacher and student identities in Chinese higher education. International Journal of Chinese Education, 9 (2), 131-150. doi: 10.1163/22125868-12340124
2020
Journal Article
Expanding the conventional writing genres: a matter of equity and inclusion
Healey, Mick, Cook-Sather, Alison and Matthews, Kelly E. (2020). Expanding the conventional writing genres: a matter of equity and inclusion. Educational Developments Magazine , 21 (3), 8-11.
2020
Journal Article
We are all in it together
Vayada, Preeti, Matthews. K.E. and Liang, Yifei (2020). We are all in it together. Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia Connect, 42 (2), 15-15.
2020
Journal Article
Holding space and engaging with difference: navigating the personal theories we carry into our pedagogical partnership practices
Ostrowdun, Christopher P., Friendly, Rayna, Matthews, Kelly E., De Bie, Alise and Roelofs, Frits (2020). Holding space and engaging with difference: navigating the personal theories we carry into our pedagogical partnership practices. International Journal for Students as Partners, 4 (1), 82-98. doi: 10.15173/ijsap.v4i1.4093
2020
Other Outputs
Engaging Students as Partners Community Poll Results, 4 April to 11 May 2020
Matthews, Kelly E (2020). Engaging Students as Partners Community Poll Results, 4 April to 11 May 2020. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.14264/uql.2020.846
2020
Journal Article
Crossing the ‘bridges’ and navigating the ‘learning gaps’: Chinese students learning across two systems in a transnational higher education programme
Dai, Kun, Matthews, Kelly E. and Renshaw, Peter (2020). Crossing the ‘bridges’ and navigating the ‘learning gaps’: Chinese students learning across two systems in a transnational higher education programme. Higher Education Research and Development, 39 (6), 1-15. doi: 10.1080/07294360.2020.1713731
2020
Other Outputs
Dataset: Students as partners practices and theorisations in Asia: A scoping review
Liang, Yifei and Matthews, Kelly (2020). Dataset: Students as partners practices and theorisations in Asia: A scoping review. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.14264/uql.2020.771
2020
Conference Publication
Pedagogical partnership in uncertain times: Experiences of global academic community
Liang, Yifei, Vayada, Preeti and Matthews, Kelly E. (2020). Pedagogical partnership in uncertain times: Experiences of global academic community. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning-China International Conference, Beijing Institute of Technology, China, 21-23 August 2020. Beijing, China: Beijing Institute of Technology.
2020
Book
Writing about learning and teaching in higher education: creating and contributing to scholarly conversations across a range of genres
Healey, Mick, Matthews, Kelly E. and Cook-Sather, Alison (2020). Writing about learning and teaching in higher education: creating and contributing to scholarly conversations across a range of genres. Elon, NC, United States: Elon University Center for Engaged Learning. doi: 10.36284/celelon.oa3
2020
Book Chapter
The experience of partnerships in learning and teaching: a visual metaphor
Matthews, Kelly E. (2020). The experience of partnerships in learning and teaching: a visual metaphor. The power of partnership: students, staff, and faculty revolutionizing higher education. (pp. 119-121) edited by Lucy Mercer-Mapstone and Sophia Abbot. Elon, NC USA: Elon University Center for Engaged Learning. doi: 10.36284/celelon.oa2
2020
Other Outputs
Students as partners: reconceptualising the role of students in curriculum development
Matthews, Kelly E. (2020). Students as partners: reconceptualising the role of students in curriculum development. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment.
2020
Journal Article
Chinese students' assessment and learning experiences in a transnational higher education programme
Dai, Kun, Matthews, Kelly E. and Reyes, Vicente (2020). Chinese students' assessment and learning experiences in a transnational higher education programme. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 45 (1), 70-81. doi: 10.1080/02602938.2019.1608907
2020
Book Chapter
Foreword
Matthews, Kelly E. (2020). Foreword. Building courage, confidence, and capacity in learning and teaching through student-faculty partnership: stories from across contexts and arenas of practice. (pp. vii-viii) edited by Alison Cook-Sather and Chanelle Wilson. Lanham, United States: Lexington Books.
2019
Journal Article
Writing scholarship of teaching and learning articles for peer-reviewed journals
Healey, Mick, Matthews, Kelly E. and Cook-Sather, Alison (2019). Writing scholarship of teaching and learning articles for peer-reviewed journals. Teaching and Learning Inquiry, 7 (2), 28-50. doi: 10.20343/teachlearninqu.7.2.3
2019
Other Outputs
“Students as partners:” it’s more than a trendy hot topic
Matthews, Kelly E. (2019, 09 08). “Students as partners:” it’s more than a trendy hot topic Campus Morning Mail 1-1.
2019
Other Outputs
ISSOTL strategic plan: green paper
Kelly, Mills, Matthews, Kelly and Troelsen, Rie (2019). ISSOTL strategic plan: green paper. International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
2019
Other Outputs
Literature-evidence base: Students as Partners
Vayada, Preeti, Matthews, Kelly and Huang, Jasmine (2019). Literature-evidence base: Students as Partners. The University of Queensland, Institute of Teaching and Learning Innovation.
Funding
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
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
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
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: Emerita 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
Media
Enquiries
Contact Professor Kelly Matthews directly for media enquiries about:
- assessment
- education quality
- higher education
- student engagement
- student voice
- teaching impact
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