Overview
Background
Professor Kelly Matthews is a highly respected scholar of higher education curriculum, pedagogy, and student experience, multiple award-winning university teacher, and senior leader collaborating on university-wide teaching, learning, and student experience strategic initiatives.
Her research has shaped the discourse of student voice, arguing for students as partners in higher education. With over 120 academic publications and 80 invited talks, Kelly aims to impact the everyday relational practices of students, academics, and staff associated with connection, care, community, and commitment to collaborative learning.
Her strategic leadership has had a positive impact across disciplines and universities, and she has been recognised with an Australian Teaching Fellowship and a UK-based HEA Principal Fellowship. 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 10th year), co-founding the International Journal for Students as Partners, and mentoring scholars to write and publish about their teaching and learning.
In 2024, Kelly is collaborating on a cross-institutional study to explore student perspectives on artificial intelligence (AI), co-funded by Deakin, Monash, UQ, and UTS. She is also co-organising the 10th annual Students as Partners (SaP) Roundtable with students and staff from Australia, Pakistan, South Africa, the US, and the UK. With teaching-focused colleagues at Monash, UNSW, UQ, and Sydney, she is co-creating an Australian Teaching/Education Focused Academic Network to connect academics committed to positive educational impact through university teaching. At UQ, she is collaborating with colleagues to develop the Women at E (WE) Network to nurture the leadership capability and positive impact of women professors.
Kelly stepped into the Interim Pro Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning) role in July 2024.
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
2016
Conference Publication
Graduate learning attributes in science: Does everyone get the same value?
Dvorakova, Lucie S. and Matthews, Kelly (2016). Graduate learning attributes in science: Does everyone get the same value?. Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 28-29 September 2016.
2016
Conference Publication
Exploring students as partners across countries and contexts through a systematic literature review conducted by students and staff
Lucy Mercer-Mapstone, Matthews, Kelly, Dvorakova, Lucie S., Swaim, Kelly, Marquis, Beth, Felten, Peter and Abbott, Sophia (2016). Exploring students as partners across countries and contexts through a systematic literature review conducted by students and staff. International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL), Los Angeles, CA, United States, 12-15 October 2016.
2016
Conference Publication
Exploring attitudes toward student-academic partnerships in science
Groenendijk, Lauren, Matthews, Kelly and Chunduri, Prasad G. (2016). Exploring attitudes toward student-academic partnerships in science. Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 28-29 September 2016.
2016
Conference Publication
Engaging students as partners in Australia, Canada, UK and USA: students and staff telling their stories
Dvorakova, Lucie S., Matthews, Kelly, Akenson, Ashley, Bounds, Paulina, Felten, Peter, Healey, Mick, Healey, Ruth, Johnstone, Katelyn, Marquis, Beth, Puri, Varun, Maurer, Trent, Taylor, Paul and Swaim, Kelly (2016). Engaging students as partners in Australia, Canada, UK and USA: students and staff telling their stories. International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL), Los Angeles, CA, United States, 12-15 October 2016.
2016
Conference Publication
Activity theory and transnational education: A comparative investigation of Chinese students' internet-assisted learning experience in the China-Australia cross-cultural context
Dai, Kun, Matthews, Kelly and Anthony Wright (2016). Activity theory and transnational education: A comparative investigation of Chinese students' internet-assisted learning experience in the China-Australia cross-cultural context. XVI World Congress of Comparative Education Societies, Beijing, China, 22-26 August 2016.
2016
Conference Publication
International student perspectives on The ethics of SoTL research
Bunnell, Sarah, Felten, Peter, Marquis, Beth, Matthews, Kelly and Abbott, Sophia (2016). International student perspectives on The ethics of SoTL research. International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL), Los Angeles, CA, United States, 12-15 October 2016.
2016
Conference Publication
'Students as Partners’ in Higher Education: An insurmountable challenge or an opportunity for transformation?
Mercer-Mapstone, Lucy, Matthews, Kelly, Rueckert, Caroline, Thomas, Lisa and Varnham, Sally (2016). 'Students as Partners’ in Higher Education: An insurmountable challenge or an opportunity for transformation?. Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) Conference, Fremantle, WA, Australia, 4-7 July, 2016.
2016
Conference Publication
How is science taught? A program level measurement of how we teach 21st century undergraduates
Drinkwater, Michael J. and Matthews, Kelly (2016). How is science taught? A program level measurement of how we teach 21st century undergraduates. Australian Conference of Science and Mathematics Education, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 28-29 September 2016.
2016
Conference Publication
International stories of student-staff collaboration and engagement: the role of ISSOTL Special Interest Groups (SIGs) in connecting like-minded scholars
Dvorakova, Lucie S., Matthews, Kelly, Verwood, Roselynn, Maurer, Trent, Taylor, Paul and Thibou, Shevell (2016). International stories of student-staff collaboration and engagement: the role of ISSOTL Special Interest Groups (SIGs) in connecting like-minded scholars. International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL), Los Angeles, CA, United States, 12-15 October 2016.
2015
Journal Article
Curriculum development for quantitative skills in degree programs: a cross-institutional study situated in the life sciences
Matthews, Kelly E., Belward, Shaun, Carmel, Coady, Rylands, Leanne and Simbag, Vilma (2015). Curriculum development for quantitative skills in degree programs: a cross-institutional study situated in the life sciences. Higher Education Research and Development, 35 (3), 545-559. doi: 10.1080/07294360.2015.1107875
2015
Journal Article
The influence of undergraduate science curriculum reform on students' perceptions of their quantitative skills
Matthews, Kelly E., Adams, Peter and Goos, Merrilyn (2015). The influence of undergraduate science curriculum reform on students' perceptions of their quantitative skills. International Journal of Science Education, 37 (16), 2619-2636. doi: 10.1080/09500693.2015.1096427
2015
Journal Article
Student perceptions of communication skills in undergraduate science at an Australian research-intensive university
Mercer-Mapstone, Lucy D. and Matthews, Kelly E. (2015). Student perceptions of communication skills in undergraduate science at an Australian research-intensive university. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 42 (1), 98-114. doi: 10.1080/02602938.2015.1084492
2015
Other Outputs
Students’ perceptions of learning science communication: From first to final years.
Matthews, Kelly (2015). Students’ perceptions of learning science communication: From first to final years.. Australian Council of Deans of Science, Teaching Learning Centre: ACDS Teaching Learning Centre.
2015
Conference Publication
Learning and leading in international collaborative writing groups: Students, academic, facilitator, and coordinator perspectives.
Matthews, Kelly, Lucy Mercer-Mapstone, McDonald, Jacquie, Marquis, Beth and Healey, Mick (2015). Learning and leading in international collaborative writing groups: Students, academic, facilitator, and coordinator perspectives.. International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference, Melbourme, Australia, 27-30 October 2015.
2015
Conference Publication
Fostering communities of practice through international collaborative writing groups
Matthews, Kelly E, Healey, Mick, Marquis, Beth and McDonald, Jacquie (2015). Fostering communities of practice through international collaborative writing groups. Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA), Melbourne, VIC Australia, 6-9 July 2015.
2015
Conference Publication
Learning to teach in higher education: the ‘promise’ of digital solutions and what new teachers want
Dominic McGrath, Matthews, Kelly, Kavanagh, Lydia, Dearden, Ellen, Rutherford, Peter and Duck, Julie M. (2015). Learning to teach in higher education: the ‘promise’ of digital solutions and what new teachers want. International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 27-30 October 2015.
2015
Edited Outputs
National Students as Partners Roundtable Program
Kelly E. Matthews ed. (2015). National Students as Partners Roundtable Program. 1st Annual Australian National Students as Partners Roundtable, The University of Queensland, 23 October 2015. Brisbane, Australia: UQ.
2015
Conference Publication
A gap analysis between academics’ intentions for, and students’ experiences of, graduate learning outcomes
Matthews, Kelly E (2015). A gap analysis between academics’ intentions for, and students’ experiences of, graduate learning outcomes. Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA), Melbourne, Australia, 6-9 July 2015.
2015
Journal Article
Social network perspectives reveal strength of academic developers as weak ties
Matthews, Kelly E., Crampton, Andrea, Hill, Matthew, Johnson, Elizabeth D., Sharma, Manjula D. and Varsavsky, Cristina (2015). Social network perspectives reveal strength of academic developers as weak ties. International Journal for Academic Development, 20 (3), 238-251. doi: 10.1080/1360144X.2015.1065495
2015
Conference Publication
Evidence-based teaching practices in science departments: Common practices or still just the champions.
Drinkwater, Michael J. and Matthews, Kelly (2015). Evidence-based teaching practices in science departments: Common practices or still just the champions.. International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference, Melbourme, Australia, 27-30 October 2015.
Funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Kelly Matthews is:
- Not available for supervision
Supervision history
Current supervision
-
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
Completed supervision
-
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: Associate 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: 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
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