Australian National University

Professional insight from the Australian National University

ANU is a world-leading university in Australia’s capital. Excellence is embedded in our approach to research and education.

ANU

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THE podcast: why we need interdisciplinarity in teaching and research

Interdisciplinary thinking is crucial to addressing complex questions but how should it work in practice? Two leading academic proponents of cross-disciplinary working draw on their own groundbreaking scholarship to explain

Gabriele Bammer, Kate Crawford

Australian National University, USC Annenberg, Microsoft Research Lab (MSR) New York

A young woman takes a deep breath at a laptop

Is authentic assessment leaving some students behind?

Does a more authentic assessment for some students mean an inauthentic experience for others? Here’s how to address this by adopting a student-focused lens

Sue Sharpe, Jennifer Z Sun

Australian National University, University of Sydney

An illustration of tiny figures putting together a giant jigsaw puzzle

Universities need to move interdisciplinary professional associations to the next step

Inter- and transdisciplinary teaching is going beyond communities of practice – but it’s still too small to compete with discipline-based professional associations. Here are the questions we should be asking to move forward

Gabriele Bammer

Australian National University

A phone screen with several different GenAI apps displayed

DeepSeek and shallow moats: what does it mean for higher education?

DeepSeek’s arrival may have spooked the markets, but what does it mean for the research and development of LLMs? Higher education should avoid putting all its eggs in one GenAI basket, writes Ben Swift

Ben Swift

Australian National University

Creative writing concept

‘Creativity is a practice, not an astonishing stroke of good luck’

Screenwriter and playwright Stephen Sewell shares practical insights into fostering students’ mental flexibility and resilience from research into unlocking creativity

Stephen Sewell

Australian National University

subconscious mind concept

‘What artists do is say the quiet bits out loud’

As teachers, we know our students will face the harsh demands of creativity and problem-solving in their daily professional lives – and we need to help them tap into deeper places that lead to novel solutions to intractable problems

Stephen Sewell

Australian National University

Academics work together around a table

Start the journey of anti-colonial work with these first steps

Many non-Indigenous staff are worried about doing anti-colonial work for fear of getting it wrong. Sue Sharpe shares four tips for getting started

Sue Sharpe

Australian National University

A woman looks shocked as she browses a laptop

Give students the tools to judge difficult materials in context

After Osama bin Laden’s viral 'Letter to America', Nicholas Chan provides a pedagogical pathway to tackling difficult material

Nicholas Chan

Australian National University

Two women walk away from the camera, their arms around each other's shoulders

Ease the transition for international students with a holistic peer-mentoring programme

Enlist peer mentors to help make international students’ transition on to your campus a smooth one. Naia Robinson shows how

Naia Robinson

Australian National University

Escape room at university

An introduction to creating escape rooms

Bernardo Pereira Nunes offers tips on how to get started on an escape room experience that will boost students’ teamwork, leadership, communication and problem-solving skills

Bernardo Pereira Nunes

Australian National University

AI and academic integrity webinar

Campus webinar: Artificial intelligence and academic integrity

Academics from Campus+ partner institutions discuss the impact that generative AI such as ChatGPT is having, and will have, on academic integrity

Jenny Davis, Christine Slade, Benjamin Liu , Daniel Zhengkui Wang

Australian National University, The University of Queensland , The University of Auckland, Singapore Institute of Technology

Bernardo Pereira Nunes

Three innovative authentic assessments to encourage soft skill mastery

Students on hard skills-intensive courses such as computer science need to develop effective communication and other soft skills. Bernardo Pereira Nunes offers three assessments to help

Bernardo Pereira Nunes

Australian National University

Daisy flower representing resilience among university students

The power of failure: a case study to foster resilience in students

Nici Sweaney offers simple strategies to shift focus from outcomes to learning and discovery, helping research students to embrace risk-taking and learn from setbacks

Nici Sweaney

Australian National University

Using ChatGPT in your university classes and lectures right now

So, you want to use ChatGPT in the classroom?

If you’re unsure about ChatGPT but would like to start incorporating it in your classes, Ben Swift outlines methods and things to think about

Ben Swift

Australian National University

THE Campus webinar graphic

Campus webinar: The keys to a successful academic career

Three female academics in Europe, the UK and Australia give their advice on how to land a promotion, networking for introverts, how much you should be publishing – and answering the question: ‘Should I quit?’

Sarah Ivory, Catherine Léglu, Kylie Message-Jones

Australian National University, University of Luxembourg, The University of Edinburgh

Group hug of university students

Using the ‘36 questions to fall in love’ to revolutionise group work

Nici Sweaney shares a simple classroom task rooted in the psychology of interpersonal relationships that anyone can use to help students bond and feel more comfortable with group work

Nici Sweaney

Australian National University

Cheating with phone in exam

How to design low-stakes authentic assessment that promotes academic integrity

Robust assessment design is more important than ever in the battle to maintain academic integrity, say Nguyen Bui and Simon Feros

Nguyen Bui , Simon Feros

Australian National University

Artificial intelligence: a dystopian future for higher education?

AI in higher education: dystopia, utopia or something in between?

To understand how HE can incorporate AI successfully, we need to think about how humans will interact with the technology and change their behaviour, says Ben Swift

Ben Swift

Australian National University

Helping quiet students find their voice will benefit the entre university class

Getting the quiet students to talk helps everyone

Often the quiet students have the most insightful ideas but won’t share them for fear of speaking in public. Here are some tips on building their confidence and voice

David Cheng

Australian National University

An arrow made up of a crowd of people

In-person teaching now needs to be justified

If we take the same critical lens to in-person learning as we once did to online, rationalising our need for the former, how much better could we make our teaching?

Stephen Dann

Australian National University

Webinar discussion how to reduce student drop out rates in the context of the pandemic and online learning

What is the long-term impact of online learning?

Online learning looks set to remain central to the delivery of higher education long after the pandemic. In this webinar Maryanne Dever and Diana Laurillard discuss what the long-term impact of this might be, on teaching, student support, well-being and the sector as a whole

Maryanne Dever, Diana Laurillard

Australian National University, University College London

Podcast discussing building resilience and protecting well-being among university staff and students

THE podcast: making the case for better faculty training

How should the role of academics evolve to ensure students receive the high quality teaching they deserve?

Brian Schmidt, Alexandra Mihai

Australian National University, University College London