2025: ASCILITE 2025 Conference Proceedings

ASCILITE Conference - Concise Papers

• Technology-enhanced intercultural exchange in language learning and teaching: A scoping review

  Mehrasa Alizadeh, Neil Cowie

  This paper presents a scoping review of recent research on virtual exchange (VE) in higher education, with a focus on language learning and intercultural development. Drawing on 48 peer-reviewed studies published between 2020 and 2025 in Q1 journals, the review analyses terminology, geographical distribution, linguistic and cultural goals, technologies used, research designs, data collection, and key findings. The results confirm that VE is a flexible and inclusive pedagogical model that fosters both language acquisition, particularly speaking skills, and intercultural competence, through tasks emphasizing collaboration and reflection. While commonly used tools include Zoom, WhatsApp, and Google platforms, few studies have integrated emerging technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and AI. Moreover, research in the Japanese higher education context remains limited. These gaps inform the design of a forthcoming empirical study that will connect Japanese university students with peers in Australia and New Zealand through VR- and AI-enhanced intercultural exchange. This review not only highlights best practices and methodological trends in VE research but also identifies underexplored areas and technological opportunities that can shape the next generation of intercultural language education.

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• Industry-integrated approach: Mastering BPM threshold concepts

  George Joukhadar, John D’Ambra, Maria George, Frieda Maher

  This paper presents an innovative pedagogical approach designed to address critical challenges in Business Process Management (BPM) education, specifically supporting students in mastering complex Threshold Concepts (TCs). Employing First Principles of Instruction and structured around the BPM lifecycle, the course integrates authentic, staged industry case studies to bridge theoretical understanding with practical application. Active collaboration with industry partners, alongside innovative digital tools like process mining, enhances students’ analytical skills and professional competencies. This structured approach promotes transformational learning, demonstrating clear improvements in student engagement, comprehension, and preparedness for digital-era organisations. The framework's portability and scalability offer educators a robust, adaptable model that contributes meaningfully to ongoing discussions on curriculum innovation in BPM education.

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• The AI prescription: Educating future doctors for a tech-driven clinic

  Sarah-Jane Gregory, Suzzanne Burgess

  This paper explores the integration of Artificial Intelligence technologies into pre-medical education through a case study of a half-day residential school activity and subsequent focus group discussion. The initiative aimed to enhance students’ awareness, confidence, and critical thinking regarding AI-Ts in clinical practice. Using a design thinking framework, students engaged in hands-on exploration of AI applications, scenario-based learning, and collaborative ideation. Focus group findings revealed increased awareness of AI capabilities and limitations, cautious optimism about its use in practice, and a desire for structured AI education. The study highlights the importance of embedding learning opportunities regarding the application of AI-Ts into medical curricula and offers recommendations for future educational strategies aligned with digital innovation in healthcare.

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• From the eyes of a third space witness: An autoethnographic account of gaps in multimedia pedagogy and translation into classrooms

  Roxie Vuong, Diana Saragi Turnip

  As a media developer embedded in a research-intensive university in Australia, I occupy a third space that spans academic, professional, and pedagogical domains. This autoethnographic study examines the persistent disconnect between academics’ content-heavy approaches to educational video production and students’ need for concise, engaging, and pedagogically aligned media. Drawing on my dual role as facilitator and observer, I reflect on the hidden labour involved in translating disciplinary content into video formats informed by principles such as Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning. Systemic and design-related barriers, including siloed workflows, limited academic training in multimedia pedagogy, and institutional imperatives for scalability, contribute to this misalignment. From my third space vantage point, I argue for reframing educational video production as a collaborative act of teaching. I propose the establishment of transdisciplinary design teams, the provision of pedagogical training for academics, the use of artificial intelligence to support script development, and the application of learner analytics to evaluate impact. This study contributes to ongoing discourse on multimedia learning by highlighting the role of third space professionals in advancing student-centred, theory-informed digital education in higher education contexts.

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• Revisiting Laurillard’s Conversational Framework in the GenAI Era

  Aneesha Bakharia, Linda Corrin

  Diana Laurillard’s Conversational Framework has long provided a powerful model for designing technology-enhanced learning, emphasising dialogue, feedback, and the iterative exchange between conceptual understanding and practical application. Historically, building educational tools that supported these rich learning interactions required significant technical expertise and development resources. However, the emergence of Generative AI chatbots capable of generating, previewing, and sharing web application code, such as Anthropic Claude Artefacts as well as Open AI’s ChatGPT and Google Gemini’s Canvas functionality now allow educators and learning designers to describe an idea in natural language and receive working, interactive web applications in return. In this paper we explore how these tools enable the rapid creation of learning experiences that embody core principles of Laurillard’s Conversational framework. Drawing on real examples built using Anthropic Claude’s AI enabled Artefacts, we illustrate how AI-generated applications can support perspective-taking, problem-solving, feedback-driven learning, and structured reflection. From a Linear Regression explainer to a Multi-Perspective Elaboration Tool, these examples show how AI can now scaffold not just content delivery but interactive learning conversations. We argue that this shift lowers the barrier to educational innovation and empowers a broader community of practitioners to design learning tools. We conclude by discussing current limitations and outlining directions for future research and practice in AI-assisted learning design.

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• Design and evaluation of an LLM literature review assistant

  Zichen Xia, Aneesha Bakharia

  Writing a literature review is a challenging task for many students, particularly when it comes to locating relevant sources, synthesising findings, and citing accurately. This study presents the design and evaluation of a web-based tool that uses Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to support students in writing short literature reviews. The system allows students to upload academic papers, write drafts, and receive rubric-aligned feedback from a Large Language Model (LLM). A user study involving ten honours and postgraduate students examined how learners engaged with the tool during a two-hour session. User interaction logs, rubric-based scores, and survey responses were analysed to evaluate learning outcomes and user experience. All participants showed measurable improvements in their writing. Students reported that the tool helped improve their reviews, particularly in areas such as citation guidance, writing structure, and synthesis. They also suggested enhancements such as grammar checking, better interface design, concise feedback and improvement to the retrieval and citation validation. The findings suggest that LLM-powered feedback tools can effectively support academic writing when designed to encourage revision, reflection, and writing skill development.

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• Paving the runway while landing the plane: Learning designers working across sectors to enable agile curriculum development

  Matthew Robson, Emily Takayama, Kelly Mannix, Claudia Rosales, Karina Luzia

  In response to growing demand for flexible, industry-aligned education, learning designers are increasingly taking on strategic roles in complex, cross-sector curriculum initiatives. This paper presents a case study of the Macquarie University (MQ), Faculty of Science and Engineering’s Learning Design Team who have played a pivotal role in the development of innovative, stackable micro-credentials for the Institute of Applied Technology – Digital (IAT-D), a unique partnership between MQ, TAFE NSW, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), and Microsoft. These micro-credentials were co-designed, co-developed, and co-delivered by academic, professional, and industry partners. Brought into the project midstream, the Learning Design Team faced compressed timelines, evolving expectations, and no established processes. In response, they adopted an agile, improvisational approach that epitomised the challenge of “paving the runway while landing the plane” simultaneously building systems and processes whilst delivering outcomes under extremely tight deadlines. Acting as instructional designers, developers, and project managers, the team consulted with project leadership, guided busy academics, and translated complex requirements into cohesive, student-centred learning experiences. This case highlights the often invisible but vital contributions of learning designers as sense-makers, strategic collaborators, and enablers of educational transformation, working across institutional and sectoral boundaries to make innovation possible.

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• Enhancing teachers’ engagement response-ability through the motivation-readiness matrix

  Kristin Wiese, Wayne Errington, Roar Murphy, Muna Musarrat, Ashley Beathe, Samuel Suresh

  This paper introduces the motivation-readiness matrix which we have found to promote constructive discussion about a teacher’s agency in influencing student engagement. We locate student motivation in previous theories of student motivation and performance and also adapt insights from situational leadership theory which uses a similar matrix plotting skill against will in recommending appropriate leadership styles. Using these theoretical frameworks, we aim to reframe engagement as a key role of the teacher rather than solely a responsibility of students, thereby increasing a teacher’s response-ability to their students. To provide ways for university teachers to better understand their students and use that knowledge to improve learning design, we delivered workshops helping teachers plot perceptions of student motivation against readiness. We then addressed difficulties of personalising the learning experience of students in different categories. Following our workshops, 94% of participants reported increased confidence in supporting learning or enhancing belonging. 77% of respondents reported implementing something new to respond to student motivations, with 90% of those saying they considered motivation and readiness of their students in tailoring this response. We are now supporting teachers to design digital and face-to-face learning experiences that emphasise their enhanced response-ability to their students.

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• AI-supported feedback for lifelong learning and educability

  Tina Dang, George Joukhadar, Yuchao Jiang, Zixiu Guo

  The purpose of this study is to investigate how an AI-powered feedback tool can be effectively designed to enhance both student and educator feedback literacy, with the broader goal of supporting educability in higher education. Adopting an action design research (ADR) approach, the study will be piloted in classroom settings across two trimesters at a large higher education institution in Australia in the later half of 2025. The tool is designed to assist educators in transforming their formative reflections into detailed, personalised feedback, and any findings during the study will inform the iterative development of the tool to align with contemporary pedagogical principles. Although the interviews and classroom pilots are yet to commence, the design-based research methodology allows early engagement with literature and problematisation, allowing the research team to co-design and refine feedback features in a starting prototype.

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• Cultural considerations in biometric-driven healthcare simulation

  Md Haseen Akhtar, Thomas Cochrane

  Healthcare simulation is increasingly adopting biometric monitoring to enhance learning outcomes, yet current implementations predominantly reflect western physiological norms and stress responses. This presents significant challenges in diverse Australasian healthcare contexts where students and practitioners represent multiple cultural backgrounds with varying manifestations of stress, decision-making patterns, and learning preferences. This position paper examines the critical gap between culturally neutral biometric systems and culturally responsive educational practice, proposing a comprehensive methodological framework for developing inclusive adaptive simulation environments that recognise cultural diversity in physiological responses and learning behaviours through systematic participatory design approaches.

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• Navigating generative AI in higher education: A framework for educator decision-making

  Karl McGuirk

  The rapid emergence of generative AI (GenAI) in higher education offers transformative opportunities but also significant pedagogical and ethical challenges. Unlike coordinated institutional responses to COVID-19, GenAI adoption has been slower and more fragmented, often relying on individual educators navigating an ambiguous institutional landscape without clear guidance. This preliminary qualitative study introduces a five-stage decision-making framework, developed from a thematic literature review and interviews with early GenAI adopters across all six faculties at a large research-intensive university. The framework foregrounds reflective practice, ethical considerations, educator identity, and AI literacy as key factors shaping context-sensitive decisions about GenAI integration. Preliminary findings highlight the critical influence of institutional culture and leadership on educator practice. They also underscore the need for explicit institutional ethics frameworks that address data privacy, algorithmic bias, and pedagogical integrity. The model offers a practical, staged approach to support thoughtful decision-making, with broader applicability for informing institutional policy and guiding faculty-level strategy in this evolving context.

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• Effective and sustainable: A case study in applying design thinking to course improvement in an online law program

  Simone Daniells

  Design thinking (DT) has variously been described as a mindset, a process and a toolkit for approaching problem-solving. Online education is increasing in prevalence, particularly among mature-age student cohorts. This paper presents a case study in which design thinking methodology was used for the purposes of course improvement and curriculum renewal in an online postgraduate law course. DT tools such as empathy interviews, customer journey maps and personas were used in the initial phases of the project. The tools offered benefits in conducting rapid thematic and cluster analysis to better define problems extant in the program and inform the prioritisation of a sustained program of iterative improvements. Implications for practice or policy: DT tools offer an effective and sustainable method to: Identify, define and prioritise improvement opportunities in existing higher education programs within institutional resourcing constraints; Embed student collaboration and co-creation in designing improvements to student experience in online education; and Address attrition risk factors through adaptable and responsive methods that privilege student voice.

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• Connected group work: Building thriving learning communities through purposeful and diverse randomisation

  Simon Loria, Joanne Nash, Stephen Tierney, Tianya Chen

  Group work is widely used in tertiary education to develop collaboration, develop teamwork and communication skills, and manage large class sizes. It supports active learning and often leads to higher engagement and improved learning outcomes. Yet creating truly diverse teams at scale is a major combinatorial challenge. We evaluated a diversity maximising random grouping strategy in a third-year Project Management course. A qualitative analysis of the intervention indicates that this approach helped students meet new peers, form friendships, gain confidence to speak up, and enhance peer learning. Furthermore, the randomisation was positively received by students and was consciously perceived as a benefit. This simple, sustainable practice can be used by educators to create resilient and inclusive learning environments.

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