Pictured L to R: (back row) Brendan Winters, Professor Dominique Parrsh, Asimo Krizan, Jess Sewell, Leah Mercier, Dr Lurion De Mello, Dr Prashan S M Karunaratne, Dr Jacqueline Mackaway, Professor Albert Atkins, (front row) Dr Olga Kozar, Carla Mirabilio, Associate Professor Joanne Jamie, Zara Bending, Professor Melanie Bishop, Udai Kamath

---

On Wednesday 19 April the Educating for Success forum took place on campus, with 174 people joining in person and 80 online.

Professor Dominique Parrish, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Teaching) and Professor Rorden Wilkinson (pictured below), Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) welcomed attendees and shared the opening address.

Professor Wilkinson spoke about the opportunity that Macquarie University has when it comes to improving assessment and feedback for students:

“I think there is a consensus in this University around the need to move forward with how we assess and give feedback to students in novel and interesting ways, and hope we’re ready to rise to that challenge.”

Later in his opening address, Professor Wilkinson said, “When we think about assessment and feedback, I think feedback is the poor cousin of assessment. It’s an issue that we don’t often focus on in great detail, but it’s what gives students that genuinely transformative educational experience.

“When we give feedback that students can action, when they can really see what they can use to develop their learning, understanding, and expression, they thrive.”

During the forum, an emerging theme was the impact of AI in teaching and assessment. Several presenters referenced AI in their talks, however, not all viewed it as a negative disruptor, with some presenters discussing the prospect of using AI in the classroom as a tool to enable learning.

Presentations also covered important topics such as Indigenous perspectives in assessment and innovation through industry-based assessments. Other highlights included:

• Dr Jo Anne Rey presenting Creative assessment through Country: A transformative practice for sustainable success
• Associate Professor Joanne Jamie presenting Embedding Indigenous perspectives into assessment
• Dr Olga Kozar (pictured right) presenting Assessments in the AI world
• Dr Lurion De Mello presenting Stepping out with industry-relevant skills: designing course-based assessments using real-world data
• Dr Kelly Gray presenting Bridging the gap: Redesigning assessment to link theory to shared-patient care
• Dr Prashan S M Karunaratne presenting Enhancing employability skills via course-based assessments for learning in a capstone unit
• Dr Jacqueline Mackaway presenting Assessments and PACE – working with industry
• Dr Jon Burtt presenting Developing a ‘pathway’ approach to assessments
• Zara Bending presenting Keeping PACE with the times through ‘living voice’: assessment via viva voce.

Videos of each presentation will be available shortly. In the meantime, view an outline of the event program here.

---

Pictured L to R: Jess Sewell, Professor Melanie Bishop, Leah Mercier, Udai Kamath

The finale of the event was a great debate on the future of assessment, with the topic under discussion ‘That, in response to the proliferation of sophisticated AI, universities should adopt innovative assessment tasks instead of returning to traditional assessment methods (e.g. in-person, invigilated exams)’. Both affirmative and negative teams argued convincingly and provided valuable insights into the future of assessments. At the conclusion of the debate the negative team prevailed with their argument for traditional exams and were declared winners by audience vote.

Thanking the speakers and concluding the event, Professor Parrish expressed her excitement for the future and the impacts on assessment and feedback that will come from the forum’s discussion.

“I look forward to hearing all about the assessment tasks that you will go away and create,” she said.