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Christy is registered pharmacist with more than 17 years’ experience as a clinical educator and educational researcher, in both academic and clinical settings. Her clinical education experiences have been underpinned by my formal postgraduate qualifications, Master of Education (Clinical Education) and Doctor of Philosophy (Pharmacy Education). Her Doctor of Philosophy (University of Queensland, 2014) examined pharmacy curriculum and its influence on professional identity formation. This research has served as a platform for an ongoing research program in workplace learning in medical and health professional education, which has been recognised internationally.

Rebecca Olson is Professor of Sociology at the University of Queensland, cutting-edge translational qualitative researcher, mentor and award-winning educator with expertise in the sociologies of health and emotions. Her work advances the human aspects of care. It empowers students, teachers and researchers to foreground social and emotional aspects in addressing emerging health challenges through collaborative, interdisciplinary research with in-built impact. As Co-Founder and past Director of SocioHealthLab, she leads an interdisciplinary collective of researchers, health professional educators and practitioners interested in doing health and healthcare differently: more socially aware, more relational, more inclusive and more just. As Director of Teaching and Learning in the School of Social Science, she prioritises collaborative, reflexive, creative and emotions-centred practices in higher education. As Joint Editor-in-Chief of Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine, Olson fosters dialogue across theory-curious clinician researchers and critical health social scientists. With 100+ scholarly publications – as well as news media and creative video productions – Rebecca is a prolific contributor to public debate. With research interests spanning medicinal cannabis and health professions education to climate anxiety, Olson is internationally renowned for bringing sociological insight to complex challenges related to emotions, wellbeing, healthcare and caregiving.

Adriana Penman is a Senior Teaching-Focused Lecturer in Speech Pathology and the Head of Speech Pathology for the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS), Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences (HMBS) at The University of Queensland (UQ). She is an elected Academic member of the UQ Academic Board (2026-2028). Adriana is an experienced speech pathologist who has worked clinically in the areas of adult swallowing and communication disorders across the continuum of care and stuttering or fluency disorders across the lifespan. Adriana is passionate about sharing her knowledge, experience and expertise in these clinical areas through her teaching and research.

Adriana's teaching and research programs are driven by the need to create innovative and authentic solutions such as embedding simulation-based learning within health professional curricula to support students’ preparation for practice. Adriana leads a program of research that aims to assist the growth of new graduates who are prepared for future success in speech pathology through their enriched student educational experiences. As a previous ITaLI Affiliate Academic, she is interested in embedding experiential learning opportunities such as simulation-based learning into university classrooms more broadly to assist student learning and engagement, and to build their confidence and readiness for placement. Additionally, within her Affiliate Academic role in 2023-2024, Adriana is the ITaLI representative on the UQ Fitness to Practise Working Party review which is necessitated to continue to guide and support students as developing practitioners.

Adriana's program of research is focussed on the investigation of teaching and learning practices within speech pathology and more broadly, within health science professions with a specific focus on graduate preparedness for placement and the transition to professional practice. She maintains national and international collaborations with a learning community of academics interested in scholarship of teaching. Adriana’s PhD (2021) investigated the use of simulation-based learning to prepare speech pathology students for clinical practice. Her research utilises mixed methodologies however, she has a particular interest in qualitative studies. Adriana is an active researcher in stuttering across the lifespan, teaching and student learning practices, practice education and simulation pedagogy. She is also interested in exploring students’ engagement in interprofessional education and collaborative practice.

Awards and Fellowships:

• Australian Awards for University Teaching (AAUT) Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning (2025)
• Senior Fellow, Higher Education Academy (2025)
• UQ Award for Teaching Excellence (2024)
• Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences (HaBS) Award for Teaching Excellence (2023)
• Fellow, Higher Education Academy (2019)
• Faculty of Heath and Behavioural Sciences (HaBS) Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning (2018)
• School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS) Early Career Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning (2017)
• School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS) Commendation for Early Career Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning (2016)

Dr Lynne Reid is a General Practitioner. She is a Senior Lecturer in the General Practice Clinical Unit (GPCU) at The University of Queensland. Working in a part-time continuing appointment.

Her current work centres on enhancing student learning and supervisor engagement across metropolitan and regional general practice placements. Lynne contributes to curriculum development, OSCE and MMI assessment, and early-year seminars, supporting students from entry selection through to clinical practice readiness.

Clinically, she combines general practice, sports and exercise medicine, maintaining active practice to inform evidence-based teaching. Her professional interests include behavioural change science, preventive health, musculoskeletal medicine, and medical education research.

Lynne’s ongoing development within UQ reflects her commitment to academic excellence, interprofessional collaboration, and building sustainable GP training networks that support both learner wellbeing and community health outcomes.

The School of Education is one of the most productive and high profile schools of education in Australia.

Professor Peter Renshaw's research has focussed on learning and teaching processes both at school and tertiary level. With a team of colleagues in the School of Education at UQ, he is currently investigating the quality of teaching and assessment practices in schools across Queensland. In two current ARC projects, with his co-researchers (Dr Ray Brown and Dr Elizabeth Hirst) he is investigating how teachers group and label students, and the effects of these practices on learning outcomes. These projects are framed by a sociocultural theory of education that foregrounds the social and cultural construction of knowledge and identity, and the responsibility of educators to create challenging, inclusive and supportive learning contexts for diverse groups of students. Professor Renshaw was President and Secretary of Australian Association for Research in Education and a member of the Executive for over a decade (1991-2002). He currently is on the International Advisory Board of CICERO Learning, an interdisciplinary research centre at the University of Helsinki, Finland. He has active collaborations with European researchers in the Netherlands and Sweden, studying how teachers deal with student diversity and how they provide inclusive contexts for learning in multicultural classrooms.

Dr Emily Ross is Deputy Director of Teaching and Learning, Director of Primary Preservice Programs, and Lecturer in the School of Education at The University of Queensland. She has extensive experience in curriculum implementation, supporting school leadership teams and teachers to implement some of the most exciting and cutting-edge curriculum initiatives. She has led the design and implementation of key curriculum and assessment initiatives for the state of Queensland and at a national level. Emily's doctoral research on curriculum interpretation and implementation has shaped government policy in Queensland. It has influenced the method and messaging for implementation support of the Australian Curriculum, and the professional development and resources that have been developed to aid teachers in the curriculum planning work. After completing her doctoral studies, Emily was asked to lead the project for the renewal of the QCAA Australian Curriculum website, including the redevelopment of over 500 curriculum support resources.

Emily's expertise in curriculum development and implementation has continued to be drawn upon by several national organisations, including the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) and Education Services Australia. Through these organisations, she has been invited to continue to serve on Advisory Groups and National Expert Panels to support the development and delivery of the Australian Curriculum and resources to support its implementation in Australian schools.

Previously, Emily held senior leadership positions at the QCAA, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) and the interim National Curriculum Board, as well as in Queensland government and independent schools. Emily’s research focuses on curriculum and assessment policy and its implementation, particularly in areas of STEM education.

Dr. Steven Rynne is an Associate Professor in Sport Pedagogy and Coaching as well as the Director of Engagement and Partnerships with the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences at The University of Queensland, Australia. The major theme that runs throughout Steven’s work is learning in sport. Within this broad theme he has worked and conducted research with a variety of peak domestic and international sporting bodies aimed at fostering high performance through learning (e.g. how elite coaches learn their craft) and understanding outcomes for sport participants (e.g. sport for reconciliation). Steven teaches undergraduate and graduate students, is a cycling coach and registered HPE teacher, and has been immersed in junior and community sport settings for more than two decades.

Associate Professor Christine Slade PhD GCProfLearning BA (Com Plan & Devt) PFHEA ATCL

Assessment, Academic Integrity and GenAI

In my role as Associate Professor in Higher Education, in the Institute for Teaching and Learning Innovation (ITaLI) I contribute to the UQ strategic priorities, with leadership responsibilities in assessment, academic integrity and generative artificial intelligence. My purpose is to empower institutions, educators, and students to navigate the complexities of generative AI with confidence and ethical competence. I aim to foster a culture of integrity that enables students to thrive as critical thinkers and ethical leaders, committed to serving the common good in a rapidly evolving educational landscape.

Teacher Education

Dr. Simone Smala is a senior lecturer in teacher education, educational psychology and multilingualism in education. Drawing from a background as a middle years and secondary teacher, Simone now focuses her research on Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in bilingual, immersion and TESOL settings, and the emerging world of Generative AI in K-12 education. Simone's research is based in socio-cultural learning theories, educational policy and blended learning.She publishes in both English and German and has extensive research connections in Europe and the USA.

Dr Leigh Sperka is a Lecturer in the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences. She graduated with First Class Honours from the Bachelor of Health, Sport and Physical Education in 2013 and completed her Doctor of Philosophy in 2018.

Her research focuses on the outsourcing of education. This includes investigating decision-making around the practice, how outsourcing impacts curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment, and student perspectives of outsourced lessons.

In her teaching, she emphasises the importance of creating an inclusive environment in Health and Physical Education that allows all students to participate and experience success. Students are at the centre of her teaching. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has been awarded:

• U21 Health Sciences Teaching Excellence Award (2021)
• UQ Commendation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning (2020)
• Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences Awards for Teaching Excellence (2020)

Associate Professor Stahl's research interests focus on the relationship between education and society, socio-cultural studies of education, student identities, equity/inequality, and social change. Currently, his research projects and publications encompass theoretical and empirical studies of youth, sociology of schooling in a neoliberal age, gendered subjectivities, equity and difference as well as educational reform.

To date his scholarship has focused upon:

· Social and educational inequalities

· Learner Identities

· Student mobilities

· Masculinities

· Widening participation

He holds a PhD in Education (University of Cambridge), a Masters degree in International Education (New York University) and a Bachelors Degree in Secondary Education and English (Indiana University). He is a member and former SIG Convener for the Australian Association of Researchers in Education (AARE) and the American Educational Research Association (AERA).

Associate Professor Stahl was awarded a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) from the Australian Research Council (2017-2019) where he researched the relationship between extreme disadvantage, masculinities and widening participation (DE170100510). In 2019, he was ranked by The Australian newspaper as one of the top 40 researchers in Australia who were less than 10 years into their career. Dr. Stahl is particularly interested in qualitative research methods, visual research methods and ethnography. At the University of Queensland, Dr. Stahl's teaches at the Undergraduate, Masters and PhD levels.

Recently, he was awarded two ARC Discovery projects: Including the voice of boys and young men in their health and well-being education (DP250102623) and Investigating how boys and young men experience their digital lives (DP250104014).

His research has been published in a range of international journals, including the Pedagogy, Culture and Society, the Journal of Educational Policy and Gender and Education. His books include Identity, neoliberalism and aspiration: educating white working-class boys (2015, Routledge), Ethnography of a neoliberal school: building cultures of success (2018, Routledge), Working-class masculinities in Australian higher education: policies, pathways and progress (2021, Routledge) and Gendering the First-in-Family Experience: Transitions, Liminality, Performativity (2022, Routledge) co-authored with Sarah McDonald.

He has held leadership positions in the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE).

Prior to working as a researcher, Stahl taught in secondary schools in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Dr Michalis Stylianou is a senior lecturer with the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences at The University of Queensland. His research interests focus around creating active and healthy schools using comprehensive and coordinated approaches that involve school staff, parents, and the community. Michalis is also a member of the Active Healthy Kids Australia research working group, a collaboration among Australian children’s physical activity and health researchers who advocate for actions to increase the physical activity levels among Australian children using the Physical Activity Report Card for Children and Young People as the core monitoring metric.

Damon Thomas is a senior lecturer in literacy education. His current research interests include theories of writing, writing development, pedagogy, and assessment, systemic functional linguistics, argumentation, standardised assessment, and classical rhetoric. Damon's research has made important contributions in the following areas:

• Understanding the complexities of student writing development
• Exploring writing instruction in situ
• Unpacking and critiquing the results of Australia's only large-scale test: the National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy.

Damon completed his PhD at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) in 2015. He began lecturing at UTAS in 2014 and was promoted to senior lecturer in 2019. He took up a senior lecturer position at the University of Queensland (UQ) in 2021. Before starting his academic career, Damon taught as a primary school teacher in Tasmania after completing a Bachelor of Education degree with First Class Honours.

Damon was part of a team of Chief Investigators from the University of Tasmania, Deakin University, and La Trobe University that secured a successful ARC Linkage Project in 2015 in partnership with Anglicare Tasmania (LP150100558). The project investigated conditions that improved learning and wellbeing outcomes in regional, low-SES schools in Tasmania and Victoria. Damon oversaw the literacy component across school sites and conducted in-depth case studies in Tasmanian primary and high schools.

Damon is currently a Chief Investigator on an ARC Discovery Project investigating talk for learning in early years mathematics classrooms. Damon's main role is to employ several linguistic frameworks to understand the complexities of student dialogue and features of productive talk.

Damon is a member of several professional organisations including the Australian Systemic Functional Linguistics Association (ASFLA), the Primary English Teaching Association of Australia (PETAA), and the Australian Literacy Educators' Association (ALEA). Damon also translates literacy research for practising teachers via his blog: Read Write Think Learn

Marion has several years teaching and learning and leadership experience in the higher education sector. She is also a Board Director for Metro South Hospital and Health Services and Chairs the Metro South Safety & Quality committee. She is also a Council member of a local school. Marion completed a Bachelor of Nursing (Hons) in Sydney and then worked across NSW, Vic and QLD with experience in critical care and acute medical surgical areas, specialising in cardiology and emergency nursing. She completed a Master of Nursing in Women’s Health through QUT and a PhD at Griffith University. Marion has broad experience is leading curriculum design, implementation and review and has been involved in numerous research projects around students’ experiences of university and supporting and assessing students’ learning. Her research interests include nurse education, the student experience of university, assessment of learning, supporting casual academic staff and clinical decision making in practice. Marion also supervises several PhD students across a range of interests and research methodologies.

Paul Treschman is an Associate Lecturer in the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences (HMNS). He is currently undertaking his PhD at the University of Queensland (UQ).

His research interests are in formative assessment and feedback in the Physical Education setting. This includes investigating the influence of teachers’ behavaiours on students' motivation, learning and performance.

I am a senior lecturer in mathematics education at the University of Queensland. My research centres around design and theorising of resources for teaching mathematics well. This includes development of classroom mathematical activities, in which students encounter significant mathematical ideas and joy of the experience; support of mathematics teachers’ work so that they can organise their classrooms for their students' meaningful engagement with mathematics; and inquiries into history of mathematics and education aimed at understanding of possibilities for change. I have served as an editor of the Australian Mathematics Education Journal and currently am the Vice President for Publications within Mathematics Eudctaion Research Group of Australasia (MERGA), and an IPC member for the International Symposium on Elementary Mathematics Teaching.

I completed a Magister degree in mathematics at Comenius University in Slovakia and a PhD in mathematics education at Vanderbilt University in the USA. Before taking my role at UQ, I have taught middle-years mathematics and lectured in mathematics and mathematics education at Comenius, Vanderbilt, and University of California, Santa Cruz. As part of my research, I regularly spend time in schools and classrooms.