PhD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2021-2025)

Topic: "Supporting Student Classroom Collaboration using Learning Analytics Dashboard"
Supervisors: A/Prof. Vitomir Kovanović, A/Prof. Srećko Joksimović, Prof. Shane Dawson and Dr. Malgorzata Korolkiewicz

With a background in Electrical Engineering and a Graduate Diploma in Data Science, Arslan comes with a diverse background and is a proponent of the diversity of knowledge. His focus area during PhD is monitoring of student learning progressions and learning gains, with an aim to leverage data science to enhance student learning. During his free time, Arslan likes to offer volunteer career coaching to students and graduates and is affiliated with the coaching initiative by NUSTIAN USA – a non-profit organisation in the United States that works on industry-academia linkage.

PhD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2024-2028)

Topic: "Developing a systems approach to measuring quality in playgroups"
Supervisors: Prof. Sally Brinkman and Dr. Susie Raymond

Craig brings over two decades of expertise in the community services sector, focusing on early childhood and parenting program development, implementation, and evaluation. Recognised academically with multiple awards from Flinders University, including the Jo Baulderstone Prize in 2018, Craig has contributed significantly to academia by authoring the annual "Tuvalu: State of the Playgroup Report" and co-authoring chapters on strategic governance in community change. His current project aims to enhance early childhood development by developing a Quality Framework and Rating Scale for playgroups, and examine the quality of playgroups from public policy perspectives, incorporating insights from health, education, and social services to identify playgroups contribution to society.

PhD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2024-2032)

Topic: "Exploring policy and educational innovations in system-led education"
Supervisors: Prof. Maaten De Laat and A/Prof. Vitomir Kovanović

Jarrod is a Educational Data Analyst at Catholic Education South Australia (CESA). His research explores System-Led Education, focusing on the interaction of policy, data analytics and published educational products.

EdD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2021-2028)

Topic: "STEM Education: Teachers' Attitudes Towards Online Resources in Australian Classrooms and the Impact on Adolescent Girls' Motivation for STEM Education"
Supervisors: A/Prof. Vitomir Kovanović, Prof. Shane Dawson and A/Prof. Lisa O Keeffe

Jennifer is an EdD student in Education Futures at the University of South Australia. Her research interest is in STEM education in middle-years within government schools. She aims to investigate effective real-world connections to the science curriculum and strategies that improve student uptake and engagement in STEM at this stage of schooling. Jennifer is also the Education Manager at The Royal Institution of Australia and has experience as a secondary school science teacher specialising in Physics in Scotland.

PhD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2022-2026)

Topic: "Evaluation for improving course design and teaching practice in higher education"
Supervisors: Prof. Shane Dawson, A/Prof. Negin Mirriahi and A/Prof. Vitomir Kovanović

Alrike Claassen is a PhD student at UniSA Education Futures and a part-time Instructional Designer at the Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning (C3L). Previously, Alrike worked as Instructional Designer in Higher Education in South Africa. Her research interest includes the intersection between learning analytics, educational design and teacher practice in the context of Higher Education.

PhD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2024 to 2032)

Topic: "The Impact of VR and AI-Enhanced Learning on Analytical Thinking, Creativity, and Self-Efficacy"
Supervisors: Prof. Maarten de Laat and Dr. Andrew Zamecnik

Shai is pursuing a PhD with C3L at the University of South Australia and working as the Learning and Teaching Innovations Manager at Lumination, an educational technologies company in Adelaide. Shai's background is steeped in education, having served as a classroom and technologies teacher at Walford Anglican School for Girls (SA) and a classroom teacher and STEM coordinator at Southern Vales Christian College (SA). She holds a Master of Teaching degree from Flinders University, a Master of Social Sciences degree in Applied Psychology from the National University of Singapore, and a four-year Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of St Tomas in Manila. Her passion for learning extends beyond the classroom. Shai's diverse experiences include working in various startups, nonprofits, and multinational corporations across Australia, Singapore, and Manila. In her previous roles, she thrived as a digital media specialist, communications manager, junior psychologist, writer, and educator.

Shai is interested in investigating how XR and AI-enhanced learning impact students' analytical thinking, creativity, and self-efficacy, and their overall relationship to academic achievement.

PhD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2022-2026)

Topic: "Education Video Puzzle"
Supervisors: Prof. Shane Dawson, A/Prof. Negin Mirriahi, A/Prof. Srećko Joksimović and Dr. Natasha Wilson

Daniel is a PhD student at the University of South Australia. After having worked in the field of providing educational technology to lecturers at universities in Germany he joined UniSA to start his PhD. He aims to research how to improve educational videos provided to students at higher education institutions.

EdD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2022-2030)

Topic: "Evaluating the impact of holistic learner profiles"
Supervisors: Prof. Shane Dawson, A/Prof. Vitomir Kovanović and A/Prof. Srećko Joksimović

Kate is a EdD candidate at The University of South Australia. Her background is in science education, and she is currently the Director of Teaching and Learning at an private Adelaide Girl's school. Her research interests are capabilities-based teaching and learning, learner profiles and change leadership. Her research looks to focus on cultivating transformation in secondary schools through the implementation of a competency-based learner profile.

PhD Student, UniSA STEM (2019-2024)

Topic: "STEM engagement in primary schools: the impact of problem context on critical and creative thinking"
Supervisors: Prof. David Cropley, Prof. Simon Leonard, Dr. Tim Patston and Prof. Martin Westwell

Sue is a PhD candidate with a background in Art Conservation and Education, and a focus on STEM teaching and leadership in Primary Schools in South Australia. Sue is a recipient of the SA Science Excellence Awards STEM Educator of the Year. Her research project is investigating STEM Engagement in Primary Schools, particularly the impact of problem context in Problem Based Learning on Critical and Creative Thinking.

EdD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2018-2027)

Topic: "Developing a cross curriculuar approach to engaging students in STEM education through the use of digital tecnologies and sport (physical education) as the learning mediums"
Supervisors: Prof. Shane Dawson, A/Prof. Srećko Joksimović and Dr. Bec Neill

Katie is a EdD candidate at the University of South Australia. Her background is in sport science and physical education, including 15 years of teaching nationally and internationally. Her research interest includes how sport can be used as a vehicle to engage underrepresented students in STEM education. Katie currently works for the Adelaide Crows Foundation where she has designed and delivered the ACARA-aligned STEMfooty program to over 3000 students regionally and remote every year.

EdD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2022-2030)

Topic: "Understanding the impact of improved self-regulation on self-efficacy in mathematics and science"
Supervisors: Prof. Simon Leonard, Dr. John Kennedy, Dr. Florence Gabriel and Dr. Anthea Fudge

Vanessa is a EdD candidate at The University of South Australia. Her background is in mathematics and science education, including fifteen years as Head of Mathematics in two independent schools. Her research interests include how the explicit teaching of self-regulated learning can improve formative assessment for student learning in mathematics. By teachers providing motivational tasks and questioning to support productive challenge in the classroom to elicit student mathematical thinking can this be captured as defensible data for reporting purposes, reducing the current reliance on only summative tests.

EdD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2022-2030)

Topic: "Improving computational thinking through the development of a low Earth orbit satellite"
Supervisors: Prof. David Cropley, Dr. John Kennedy and Dr. Rebecca Marrone

Karl is an EdD candidate at The University of South Australia. Karl is currently running a small business focused on STEM outreach work, particularly in an outdoor education setting. Previously, Karl has worked as Assistant Head, Head of Faculty and teacher in 3 different countries, over 25 years. He is researching the use of computational thinking to solve complex problems as a method of engaging students in STEM, particularly in the field of Space.

PhD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2023-2027)

Topic: "Developing learner profile of university students: Assessing and monitoring the development of critical skills and competencies during their tertiary learning"
Supervisors: A/Prof. Vitomir Kovanović, Dr. Abhinava Barthakur and Prof. Shane Dawson 

Vimukthini joined UniSA Education Futures as a PhD candidate with a background in Data Science and Statistics. Previously, she worked at the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) Sri Lanka, as a Data Analytics and Automation Engineer and has also been a corporate trainer for data science and analytics. Her research aims to explore the development of a multidisciplinary methodology in the intersection of learning analytics and measurement theory to compare and record how graduate qualities of university students are developed and how learner profiling could help educators.”

PhD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2020-2024)

Topic: "The Networks, Associated Practices, and Value Creation of Social Learning Amongst Teachers Engaged in Practitioner Research"
Supervisors: Prof. Simon Leonard, Prof. David Cropley, Dr. Jill Colton, Prof. Maarten De Laat and Dr. Nicole Archard

Lesley is a full-time teacher at Trinity College in Gawler. She has a special interest in teacher professional learning. Lesley’s PhD uses a practice architectures framework to understand how social learning supports teachers’ knowledge construction and practice development as practitioner researchers for a ‘research-rich’ and ‘research-engaged’ profession.

PhD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2023-2027)

Topic: "Evaluating the Impact of Learning Analytics and Dashboards on Positive Student Wellbeing Outcomes "
Supervisors: A/Prof. Vitomir Kovanović, Prof. Shane Dawson and Prof. Sally Brinkman

Joshua is a PhD candidate at The University of South Australia with a background in science education. He currently holds the position of Learning Analytics and Technology Leader at Gleeson College. His project is centred around understanding the impact of learning analytics and dashboards in supporting student wellbeing. He aims to explore how the integration of data analysis with pastoral care can contribute to supporting teachers and students more.

PhD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2022-2030)

Topic: "Leadership competency in complex climates"
Supervisors: Prof. George Siemens, Prof. Shane Dawson, Prof. Abelardo Pardo, Dr. Michael Richey and Dr. Freddie Covington

Alicia Lopez Floyd is a PhD student at C3L exploring development of leadership competency in complex climates. She serves Boeing as a Learning & Development Leader in a HR Community of Excellence (CoE), responsible for senior manager and executive development. Alicia graduated with a Dual Bachelors of Arts and Science in Psychology and Business Management from Erskine College in 2006, and MBA and MSPM from The Citadel Graduate College. In 2019, she was selected as Women of Color in STEM-Technology Rising Star and Chamber of Commerce Leadership Charleston honoree. In 2020, she was honored with “Top 40 Under 40” through Charleston Regional Business Journal.

PhD Student, UniSA Allied Health & Human Performance (2019-2028)

Topic: "Developing cross-disciplinary essential skills using learning analytic methods in students across health disciplines"
Supervisors: A/Prof. Maurizio Costabile, A/Prof. Nayana Parange, A/Prof. Srecko Joksimovic and Dr. John Wilson

Sandy is a PhD candidate at The University of South Australia. Her background is in medicine and she is a teaching academic in the Medical Sonography program. Her research interests are online learning, self-regulated learning and use of learning analytics to measure impact. Her proposed research project is ‘Developing cross-disciplinary essential skills using learning analytic methods in students across health disciplines’.

PhD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2022-2026)

Topic: "Student wellbeing through artificial intelligence"
Supervisors: Dr. John Kennedy, Prof. Simon Leonard, Prof. Maarten De Laat and Dr. Florence Gabriel

Claire Murray is a PhD candidate, tutor, and research assistant with the University of South Australia. She works predominately within the Education Futures team. She has a background in Education with a particular focus on Human Development. Claire has worked in a variety of educational institutions. Her expertise is working with students: from low SES backgrounds, students with complex health needs, and indigenous populations. The focus for her PhD is the design and implementation of a new tool to assess, measure and monitor individual students’ well-being.

EdD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2020-2028)

Topic: "How can virtual reality be used to visualise, experience and enhance different learning processes and concepts in education settings such as: design thinking, and Maths and indigenous knowledge systems"
Supervisors: Prof. Simon Leonard and Dr. Paul Unsworth

Nick is an EdD student in Education Futures at the University of South Australia. He hopes to investigate how immersive technologies, such as virtual reality, can promote and enhance both student cooperation and learning in primary classrooms. Nick was recently awarded honorary faculty status at The Celtic Research Centre of Glasgow University in order to explore how virtual reality can promote learning with Gaelic students. He completed his Master of Education at Waikato University, New Zealand. His research focused on how schools can partner with industry towards solving authentic problems. Nick is currently leading the primary school STEM team at Graded - The American School of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

PhD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2022-2026)

Topic: "Career professional development in the workplace"
Supervisors: Prof. Maarten De Laat, A/Prof. Srećko Joksimović, Dr. Rebecca Marrone and A/Prof. Jimmy Jaldemark

Prior to joining the University of South Australia as a PhD student, Phuong had over ten years of professional working experience in educational sector in Vietnam. Her research interest focuses on professional learning and development and workplace learning. More specifically, her thesis investigates how the current and future use of on-site workplace and digital learning practices and look into the impact digital technology such as artificial intelligence and learning analytics has on supporting learning and professional development in public practice firms.

PhD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2022-2026)

Topic: "ePortfolios and self-regulated learning in higher education"
Supervisors: A/Prof. Chris Deneen, A/Prof Negin Mirriahi and Dr. Rebecca Marrone

David is a learning design consultant with experience working across industry, TAFE’s and universities. He has advised on learning design, governance and compliance in the UK, Europe, the US and Australia. David’s research interest is investigating how ePortfolios can be designed to improve self-regulated learning skills.

PhD Student, UniSA STEM (2018-2023)

Topic: "Social system factors affecting project success"
Supervisors: Prof. David Cropley, Prof. Maureen Dollard, Prof. Roni Reiter-Palmon and A/Prof. Adrian James

Chanvi Singh is a PhD candidate at University of South Australia. With a background in work and organisational psychology, her research focuses on looking at the future of work through a social systems lens. She is affiliated with the PSC Global Observatory, University of South Australia, the Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning, and the Centre for Workplace Excellence, University of South Australia. Her research interests spans Industry 4.0, organisational innovation and creativity, organisational psychosocial safety and creating effective organisational change management practices.

PhD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2021-2025)

Topic: "Developing computational thinking"
Supervisors: Prof. George Siemens, A/Prof. Srecko Joksimovic and Prof. Samuel Grieff

Megan Taylor is a PhD candidate and research assistant at UniSA Education Futures. She has diverse educational experience, which includes teaching English as an additional language, tutoring, and providing academic learning advice in university settings. The focus of her PhD is to understand the dynamics of complex problem solving to inform teaching and learning 21st Century skills, such as communication, critical thinking, problem solving and teamwork.

EdD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2019-2027)

Topic: "Exploring motivation and learning strategies in flipped online classrooms"
Supervisors: Prof. Shane Dawson, A/Prof. Negin Mirriahi and Dr. Sasha Poquet

Lynnae is an EdD student in Education Futures at the University of South Australia. Her research interests are motivation, self-regulated learning and the learning experiences of second-year university students. Lynnae is a SFHEA and is Director Postgraduate Transformation / Head of Technology-Enabled-Learning at Western Sydney University.

PhD Student, UniSA STEM (2021-2029)

Topic: "Developing Creativity as a Key Industry 4 Competency"
Supervisors: Prof. David Cropley, Prof. Simon Leonard, Dr. Kristin Alford, Dr. John Kennedy and Dr. Lisa Bailey

Holding a Master's Degree in Psychology of Creativity, Maria Vieira is a Lecturer in Education Future and PhD Researcher in STEM at the University of South Australia. In her current position, she coordinates a gender equity program involving more than 500 schoolgirls in South Australia and Victoria. After working for more than five years for technology companies in Australia and overseas, she felt encouraged to make a meaningful contribution to increasing female participation in this field. More specifically, her research focuses on understanding the contribution of creative confidence to closing the gender gap in STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. Ultimately, she aims to raise awareness of non-cognitive aspects of education and the relevance of innovative methodologies to address a new learning approach to increase women's interest and retention in disciplines in which they are still under-represented.

PhD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2022-2030)

Topic: "AI Learning Lab"
Supervisors: Prof. Maarten De Laat, A/Prof. Srecko Joksimovic and Dr. Rebecca Marrone

Eric Zhengzheng Wang is a PhD candidate in C3L, Education Futures, at the University of South Australia. His background is in data science and systems engineering. He is currently the Machine Learning Engineer at a FinTech company and has experience from consultancy in big data engineering domain, business system integration in healthcare domain, as well as data analysis in Telecommunications domain. His research focuses on networked collaborative learning, human-AI collaboration and complex problem-solving. His research will be carried out as a classroom project for students to solve a complex design task. Eric hopes to leverage computer vision and NLP technologies to capture and measure multimode data, to analyse how students interact with AI and how AI augments teacher’s teaching.

PhD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2021-2029)

Topic: "Exploring the role of science dispositions on creative thinking for adolescent female Learners"
Supervisors: A/Prof. Vitomir Kovanovic, Prof. Shane Dawson and Dr. Rebecca Marrone

Mark is a commencing PhD candidate at the University of South Australia. He is currently the Assistant Principal at Mitcham Girls High School and has wide-ranging teaching and leadership experience in Australia and in the UK, which has included leading mathematics and developing innovative teaching and learning models. Prior to teaching, he worked as a software engineer after graduating with a BSc (Hons) in Computing. Mark is passionate about STEM learning and how creativity and agile problem solving is being taught in our schools. His research focus will be addressing the role of girls’ dispositions towards STEM subjects have on creativity in these subjects. With an interest in data science, Mark hopes to incorporate Structural Equation modelling in his analysis, which has the potential to help inform curriculum design.

PhD Student, UniSA Education Futures (2022-2026)

Topic: "Examining self-regulated learning through regular reflective practice and feedback"
Supervisors: Prof. Shane Dawson, A/Prof. Negin Mirriahi, A/Prof. Srećko Joksimovic and Prof. Jelena Jovanović

Nazanin is a PhD student at university of South Australia with a different background in Speech Pathology and Cognitive Science. Her previous research has focused on improving executive function skills in children, and now, she started to investigate how to improve Self-regulated Learning through reflection in Higher Education in order to improve academic achievement.

Visiting PhD Student, Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy (2022-2025)

Topic: "Supporting Learning Engagement and Teacher Awareness in Video-Based Learning"
Supervisors: Prof. Nicoletta Di Blas and A/Prof. Negin Mirriahi

Giacomo is a PhD candidate at Politecnico di Milano (Italy) and currently a visiting PhD student at C3L lab in UniSA. He graduated cum laude in Computer Science Engineering at Politecnico di Milano in 2022. From 2022 he started his PhD with HOC-LAB focusing his research on supporting learning engagement and teacher awareness in video-based learning through the development of Evoli, a video-annotation tool, that collects feedback from students to instructors and video viewing patterns. Simultaneously, these data are processed to extract valuable insights for teachers, presented in a set of dashboards.