2025: ASCILITE 2025 Conference Proceedings

ASCILITE Conference - Full Papers

• Smart and safe use of AI tools for setting assessments

  Mark Schier

  Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and Gemini have often been promoted in negative ways as they may be used by students in an attempt to breach academic integrity. One issue with assessment question pools is that they are often set and not updated frequently. Hence, they can be overused and are vulnerable to malicious use such as: being sold for money or ported to the dark web and therefore their practical value for assessment is significantly diminished. There is another side of gen AI that can assist academics in authoring assessment questions that is substantially different to the standard question pools that academics often rely on. This paper will illustrate potential uses, benefits, and precautions that need to be taken when using gen AI for assessment design.

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• Quiz me if you can: What interactive video engagement data tells us about achievement

  Ekaterina Pechenkina

  In an era of increasingly asynchronous and self-regulated professional learning, understanding what drives engagement and achievement is critical. This study explores the impact of interactive video content on learner engagement and academic performance in the capstone unit of a Graduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching (Higher Education). Introduced in 2024, the video-based innovation aimed to streamline the learning experience for a growing cohort of mature-age, success-oriented educators balancing multiple professional and personal commitments. Drawing on learning analytics from Canvas LMS and EchoVideo, the study investigates how video views, quiz completions, and other digital behaviours correlate with overall course grades. Findings reveal that video engagement—particularly viewing and interacting with quizzes—has a stronger positive correlation with academic success than traditional metrics like page views or participations. Notably, 58.5% of learners watched at least one video, and 48.8% completed at least one quiz, suggesting meaningful uptake. These insights underscore the value of well-designed, feedback-rich video content in fostering deeper engagement and improved outcomes in professional learning contexts. The study offers timely recommendations for designing scalable capstones responsive to the complex realities of today’s higher education professionals.

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• Integrating artificial intelligence into Kenya's competency-based curriculum: A model for ethical, inclusive, and context-aware implementation

  Hesborn Ondiba, Eliud Kiprop

  The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into Kenya's Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) presents both transformative opportunities and complex challenges. This study examines the ethical, infrastructural, and pedagogical implications of AI adoption—focusing on generative and language-based models—in Kenya's education sector, with a particular focus on teacher digital readiness, data governance, and linguistic inclusion. Employing a multi-method qualitative approach, the research combines policy analysis with semi-structured interviews of ten experts, including five public school teachers and five government officials. The findings reveal systemic barriers, including inadequate professional development, fragmented data management frameworks, and the marginalisation of Indigenous languages in AI tools. In response, the study proposes a context-responsive, human-centred model grounded in five pillars: policy and infrastructure reform, teacher capacity-building, local language and cultural integration, participatory design, and equitable learning analytics. This model provides a roadmap for ethically and inclusively integrating AI into CBC implementation, aligning with Kenya's broader goals of equity, innovation, and digital transformation in education.

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• Shared Virtual Reality as a tool for enhancing inclusive practice in initial teacher education

  Joanne Blannin

  Virtual Reality (VR) is gaining recognition as a valuable tool in initial teacher education (ITE), particularly for supporting classroom practices. This study explores how synchronous, shared VR experiences, using 360-degree video of real classrooms, may help pre-service teachers identify, evaluate, and plan for inclusivity. Master of Teaching students engaged in pre- and post-surveys, combining Likert-scale and open-text responses, to assess the impact of VR-enhanced learning. Results suggest that VR can effectively complement traditional placements by offering access to diverse teaching styles and classroom dynamics that are not always observable in live settings. The ability to revisit and collaboratively analyse key teaching moments supports deeper professional reflection. Positioned within a reflective, scaffolded framework, VR offers a practical extension to real-world experiences, enhancing teacher preparation for inclusive education. This study contributes to growing research on the role of immersive technologies in teacher training and highlights VR’s potential to support more equitable and student-centred learning environments.

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• Building adaptable learners beyond content delivery: Using care ethics to foster emotional engagement and course completion in online learning

  Phoebe Lake, Sarah Hattam, Amanda Carter

  This research investigates online teaching strategies to reduce non-completion of online courses by exploring students' emotional experiences and implementing support interventions grounded in care ethics principles. Using action research across three cycles in an introductory accounting course at an Australian university, this study investigates how teachers can effectively address emotional engagement in online learning to enhance student engagement and improve course completion rates. Student voices gathered through interviews, surveys, and feedback revealed emotional patterns that guided the development of targeted interventions, including personalised communication, time management support and extra assessment preparation sessions. These interventions incorporated four key elements of caring relationships: attention, responsibility, competence, and responsiveness. Data analysis employed thematic analysis of qualitative data, supported by descriptive statistics of engagement metrics and academic performance indicators. Findings demonstrate that care ethics-based interventions significantly improved student engagement, academic outcomes and course completion rates. Students recognised and valued teacher care, confirming that supportive relationships increase online course completion. However, competing life responsibilities hinder students' ability to engage with support interventions. The research establishes that effective online education requires integrated strategies combining caring teacher-student relationships with institutional support to accommodate diverse student circumstances and complex life contexts.

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• "Artificial Unconsciousness": What toilet graffiti reveals about the limits of university mental health support in the age of AI

  Ruby-Ngoc Nguyen

  This paper interrogates the tension between institutional deployments of AI chatbots for student wellbeing and the informal, peer-to-peer support networks that emerge in university bathroom spaces. Anchored in the student-inscribed phrase “ARTIFICIAL UNCONSCIOUSNESS CHATBOT,” the study undertakes a cross-disciplinary synthesis of two bodies of literature: systematic reviews evaluating the effectiveness and limitations of AI chatbots in mental health support, and empirical studies of bathroom graffiti as a mode of collective care. Drawing on Cohen’s (1997) theory of the safe house, Jung’s (1966) wounded healer archetype, and Heidegger’s (1962) phenomenology of authentic being-with, we analyse why graffiti walls succeed in fostering protected vulnerability, temporal spaciousness, and existential co-presence, while institutional AI systems often collapse these conditions into surveillance, efficiency, and artificial intimacy. The analysis culminates in the Human-AI Synergy Model, which reconceptualises AI not as a therapeutic substitute but as a relational relay: a tool that can preserve anonymity, scaffold temporal spaciousness, and reduce cognitive burden while pointing students toward authentic human connection. By contrasting what is systematically erased in institutional AI systems with what flourishes in informal peer safe houses, the paper offers critical guidance for designing AI in higher education that enhances rather than erodes the phenomenological conditions of genuine care.

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• Learning about AI, learning with AI: Integrating AI ethical reflection and skill development into the Master of Clinical Psychology Program

  Corinna Galliano, Alice Norton, Steson Lo

  Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly embedded in daily life and professional practice, offering both transformative potential and ethical challenges. While AI supports efficiency and innovation, it also presents risks, including bias, misinformation, and limited situational judgment. A recent global survey found that although 86% of university students use AI, many feel unprepared to engage with it critically or ethically. At the University of Sydney, AI is taught across most disciplines, yet gaps remain, particularly in programs like the Master of Clinical Psychology (MCP). As AI continues to reshape healthcare and psychological practice, future clinical psychologists must develop AI literacy to navigate this evolving landscape responsibly. This proposal introduces a framework for embedding AI ethics and practical applications into the MCP curriculum, equipping students with the critical skills needed to engage with AI ethically and effectively in their future roles.

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• Technology acceptance barriers to learning analytics adoption: Implications for inclusive education

  Jo-Anne Clark, David Tuffley

  Learning analytics (LA) systems has potential to create inclusive educational environments supporting diverse learners in higher education. However, successful implementation depends on user acceptance by academic staff and administrators. This study examines factors influencing LA adoption in Australian universities through the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Using qualitative case study methodology, interviews were conducted with twenty-three participants across five demographically diverse Australian universities. Template analysis examined data according to TAM's core constructs: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude towards use, behavioural intention, and actual system usage. Findings reveal that while participants recognised LA's potential for evidence-based decision making and personalised learning support, adoption was hindered by system complexity, data quality issues, and inadequate training. Power users demonstrated LA's capacity to enhance inclusive teaching through tailored interventions for at-risk students. Institutional barriers including fragmented systems, access restrictions, and policy constraints limited widespread adoption. Results suggest successful LA implementation requires user-centred design, comprehensive training, and institutional support structures. These findings thus provide practical insights for universities seeking to leverage learning analytics as inclusive technology promoting equitable educational outcomes.

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• Representations of intercultural communicative competence in technology use

  Dewanti Ratna Pertiwi, Sarah Prestridge, Sonal Nakar, Danielle Heinrichs Henry

  The ability to communicate across cultures is a crucial skill in our global workforce, especially for English language learners as a lingua franca. As technology becomes central to how learners access language and culture, it is essential to examine its role in fostering intercultural communicative competence (ICC). This study investigates how ICC is developed through students’ engagement with technology in an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) context in Indonesia. The study is situated in Indonesia, where the growing demand for global engagement has increased the need for ESP, yet the integration of ICC within ESP remains limited. Drawing on established ICC models and processes, six Indonesian ESP students participated by documenting their daily use of English through a Day in the Life (DITL) video and semi-structured interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis (TA) generated two key themes: technology as a bridge for cultural sharing and learning about cultures through digital communication. These findings illustrate how students navigate and blend formal instruction with informal, self-directed digital practices to develop ICC. The analysis also reveals tensions between surface-level cultural exposure and deeper intercultural competence development. Implications for ESP pedagogy include encouraging the use of digital tools beyond the classroom, fostering reflection on intercultural experiences, and creating opportunities for real-world communication that challenge native-speaker ideologies.

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• Shaping and upskilling the university workforce of the future in a dual sector experience: Co-designing an academic development framework

  Antoinette Gwasira, Ekaterina Pechenkina

  The Australian tertiary education sector is undergoing significant transformation, driven by evolving workforce demands, technological disruption, and the imperative for inclusive, future-focused learning environments. In response to national policy directions, this paper presents the co-design and implementation of Swinburne University of Technology’s Educator Capability Framework (ECF), developed to support professional learning across both higher education (HE) and vocational education (VE) contexts. The ECF maps educator capabilities across four developmental levels and four domains of practice, aligning individual growth with institutional strategy and sector benchmarks. Guided by a stakeholder-informed methodology, twelve interviews with university leaders shaped the framework’s design, revealing key themes including inclusive teaching, reflective practice, curriculum coherence, and industry engagement. The ECF’s capabilities-based approach offers a replicable model for institutions seeking to build a skilled, adaptable academic workforce. This research contributes to the national conversation on educator development by demonstrating how co-designed frameworks can foster equity, responsiveness, and strategic alignment in professional learning across dual-sector institutions.

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• Undergraduate 2030: Reimagining our higher education landscape for the epistemological and technological youthquakes of Generation Alpha

  Peter Bryant

  Generation Alpha, born entirely in the 21st century, is set to transform higher education through their distinct behavioural, epistemological, and technological traits. This paper critically examines how their expectation that are shaped by personalisation, digital immersion, and non-linear knowledge acquisition, challenge traditional undergraduate education models. Drawing on an informed critique literature review, the study explores the implications of Generation Alpha’s learning preferences and proposes a future-focused response through higher education learning design. The Adaptive Learning Ecosystem (ALE), developed at the University of Sydney Business School, is introduced as a model for reimagining curriculum, assessment, and student engagement. The model supports personalised, transdisciplinary, and socially connected learning, enabling students to navigate complex educational journeys with agency and purpose. The paper outlines three strategic horizons (program design, lifelong learning, and space spaces for innovation) through which higher education institutions can respond to the educational ambitions of Generation Alpha. We argue for a co-designed, human-centred approach to learning that prepares students not for today’s technologies and crises, but for the unknown and yet to be experienced challenges of tomorrow. In doing so, universities can remain relevant, resilient, and impactful in an era of continuous change.

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• Reframing: Solving complex problems with learning design

  Tim Klapdor, Kat Alchin, Richard Bartlett, Danielle Lemieux, Jonathon Klynsmith

  This paper presents a case study of the development of two fully online undergraduate programs, which reframes course development from a complicated problem requiring linear solutions to a complex problem demanding collaborative, adaptive practices. As Australian universities face increasing demand for online education, traditional linear and transactional approaches fail to navigate the interconnected challenges of pedagogy, technology, quality expectations, and commercial realities. Drawing on design thinking and systems thinking, the authors propose a framework centred on six working principles: establishing clear scope through shared value and language, adopting team-focused collaboration, maintaining human-centred processes, embracing continuous iteration, utilising appropriate collaboration tools, and working across organisational layers. Practical innovations, including visual Course Maps, program workshops, a custom Smart Storyboard authoring tool, and a shared vocabulary of learning types and patterns, shifted focus from delivering minimum viable products to creating maximum value through meaningful collaboration and sustainable practices. The framework offers universities a replicable approach for developing high-quality online courses through design-led practices that acknowledge complexity while building institutional capacity and fostering educational innovation.

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• Authenticity, integrity, and AI: Navigating ethical uncertainty in student assessment

  Sangeetha Kutty, Ritesh Chugh, Lily Li, Sentha Govin-Vel, Pethigamage Perera, Arjun Neupane, Meena Jha

  This study explores the ethical dilemmas faced by educators in managing student use of Generative AI (GenAI) in university assessments. Drawing on qualitative interviews with ICT educators at an Australian university, the research identifies four key themes: threats to academic integrity, diminished skill development, emotional and ethical burdens on staff, and institutional gaps in policy and governance. Educators reported difficulty verifying authorship, concerns about AI-induced dependency, and frustrations with vague institutional guidelines. The study highlights the misalignment between academic restrictions and industry practices, raising questions about assessment authenticity and equitable access. In response, participants advocated for clearer policies, ethics education, and assessments requiring human judgment. The findings emphasise the need for systemic change, supported by Communities of Practice and university-specific AI tools aligned with educational values. While limited in scope, the study offers critical insights into how educators can uphold integrity and authenticity amid the increasing presence of GenAI in higher education.

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