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2025 SoLT Conference Program
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8.30am - Networking and Registration
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1.00pm - Afternoon Tracks and Workshops
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9am - Official Opening
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2.30pm - Afternoon Tea
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9.15am - Opening Keynote presentation
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2.30pm - Poster Session
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10am - Morning Tea
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3pm - Closing Keynote presentation
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10.30am - Morning Tracks and Workshops
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3.45pm - Awards Presentation and Official Close
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12pm - Lunch
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4pm - Official end of the conference
Honoured Guests
TAFE Queensland Chief Executive Officer
John has over 30 years’ experience in the Vocational Training Sector. As TAFE Queensland’s Chief Executive Officer, John leads the TAFE Queensland Senior Executive Team and reports directly to the TAFE Queensland Board. Prior to his current CEO role, John was the General Manager of TAFE Queensland SkillsTech, which is Australia’s largest trade and technical specialist training entity.
Important information
Getting there
The 2025 SoLT Conference is being held at the TAFE Queensland South Bank campus. Registration is located at 66 on Ernest, Level 2, C Block, TAFE Queensland South Bank (download campus map).
There is limited parking available, if possible, we suggest you catch public transport or park at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre.
What to bring
Don't forget to bring a notepad and pen if you want to jot down your key learnings from the day. For those wishing to attend the workshops, we also recommend bringing your own laptop and headphones to ensure optimal engagement and participation.
Catering
The conference is fully catered so all you need to bring along is a reusable water bottle and to keep you hydrated. Morning Tea and Lunch will be held at 66 on Ernest, Level 2, C Block, TAFE Queensland South Bank (download campus map). Afternoon Tea will be held during the afternoon poster session in the Collaboration Space, Level 4, C Block TAFE Queensland.
Room: C Block Auditorium
9am: Acknowledgment of Country and Welcome
Master of Ceromonies Dr. Sharon Schembri, Dean, Higher Education, TAFE Queensland
9.10am: Official Opening
Presented by John Tucker, CEO TAFE Queensland
Room: C Block Auditorium
Opening Keynote presentation: “ The Curious Educator: Engaging with the Scholarship of Learning and Teaching”
Presented by: Dr. Nicole Reinke, University of the Sunshine Coast
The Scholarship of Learning and Teaching (SoLT) plays a powerful role in how we think about and ‘do’ education–evidenced by over 8,000 references in scholarly literature over the past four years. But what exactly is SoLT, and why should it be important to you as an educator? This keynote presentation will use storytelling to explore these questions to demonstrate SoLT’s relevance to teaching and share how it can guide reflective practice. SoLT is about curiosity - about you, your students, your teaching, and the ways we all learn. By embracing curiosity, you can foster meaningful change in your classes and contribute to the broader dialogue that supports evidence-based and reflective teaching. SoLT invites all to improve our own practice, and also to share our insights that support and elevate the broader academic community.
Morning Tracks and Workshops
Room: C4306
Track: Empowering tertiary education harmonisation
Track chair: Fred Sprong
Ashley Howard Kerr and Nijel Ratonel
“Harmonising tertiary education through XR and AI: An innovative approach in the Bachelor of Psychological Science”
Craig Poole, Li Na and Patcharawan Ubonloet
“Experience, challenges and opportunities in harmonising Australia's tertiary education system”
Francisca de Kock
“A tough start: Enrolled nurses' perceptions of clinical placement in residential aged care homes”
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Room: C4307
Track: Embracing scholarship and research initiatives
Track chair: Dr. Sharon Schembri
Dr. Andy Pham, Dr. Ben Allitt, Peter Hubber and Joy Yeardsley
“The use of Interconnected Model of Teacher Professional Growth (IMTPG) to explore teacher change in implementing a Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach”
Dr. Jo D’Hage
“Drawing on mindfulness, focus and task persistence in an age of digital distractions”
Dr. Taana Rose
“From reflection to autoethnography”
Room: C4305
Workshop: Beyond traditional learning: Using Notebook in vocational higher education setting
Dr. Shah Neyamat Ullah
This workshop focuses on hands-on training in the use of Generative AI (GenAI) technologies within Vocational Education and Training (VET) and Higher Education (HE) contexts. Participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of NotebookLM, an AI tool powered by Google’s Gemini model, and explore its diverse multimodal applications. The workshop includes practical, step-by-step examples that demonstrate how to enhance assessment design, generate mind maps for complex topics, and create document briefs, timelines, and presentation slides.
Room: Collaboration Space
Workshop: Leveling up education design with AI
Dominic Crisci
What if you could reclaim your time and revolutionise your course design with a powerful new partner? If so, this workshop is your launchpad. Join in for a dynamic, deep dive into the practical application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education. This workshop is not another lecture on the theory of AI; it's a hands-on session where you'll move from being a casual user to a savvy architect of AI-driven educational tools. You will learn to expertly prompt LLMs to streamline your workflow and generate high-quality, authentic learning materials—from entire work programs and scaffolded tutorials to robust assessments and rubrics, all the way to bespoke and differentiated resources.
Afternoon Tracks and Workshops
Room: C4306
Track: Embracing educational justice, integrity and inclusivity
Track chair: Dr. Christian Kopp
Associate Professor Thanh Pham
“Strategies to enhance learning engagement of learners from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds in VET”
Dr. Anitza Geneve
"Bridging the gender gap in technology-related programs: Barriers, agency and strategies for equity”
Dr. Indunil Jayatilake
“Integrating sustainability into civil engineering curriculum”
Room: C4307
Track: Embracing teaching and learning innovations with AI
Track chair: Dr. Jarrod Trevathan
Ola Pak and Alaina Jones
“Generative AI in the creative process: A literature review”
Dr. Shah Neyamat Ullah et al.
“Generative Artificial Intelligence podcasts: Delivering educational content creatively”
Dr. Jarrod Trevathan and Rob Bruce
Integrating AI agents across a curriculum: Lessons from application systems
Room: C4305
Workshop: Prompting AI for game design
Dr. Ken Newman
In this workshop, we are going to try using AI models to develop a game around the theme of “Australian Colonial Settlement”. We’ll work through the traditional game development phases, research and ideation, developing a game design document, concept art, developing game assets. We’ll look at platforms, ChatGPT, Midjourney, Meshy, and Meta Horizons. Along the way we’ll see the kind of prompts that yield the best results and where the strengths and limitations currently lie in using AI in Game Development. Let’s see if we get something out of this workshop that is worth taking through to publication.
Room: Collaboration Space
Workshop: From tacit knowledge to teaching tool: Assessment rubric design to facilitate learning
Dr. Rachel Campbell and
Dr. Scott Bridges
This hands-on, practical workshop invites educators from vocational and higher education to bridge the gap between what we know and what we assess. Together, we’ll explore how to transform tacit knowledge into clear, structured rubrics that support student learning and empower confident teaching. Whether aligning with industry standards in VET or scaffolding academic inquiry in HE, well-designed rubrics make expectations visible, promote fairness and consistency, and enable rich, constructive feedback. Participants will leave with tools, templates, and tangible ideas ready for implementation in their own classrooms.
Poster Session and Official Close
Vote for your favorite poster now! Voting for your favorite poster will close at 3pm on the 3rd of July.
Poster 1: Reframing creativity as a tool for resilience
By Corinne Trang
Poster 2: Using Generative AI to design out student use of Generative AI in reflective assessments
By Tom James
Poster 3: Reviving the Brisbane River
By Emmanuel Riviere
Poster 4: Beyond the 10% law: genetic engineering, IMTA & plant based diets
By Ryan Avsec
Poster 5: Urban sprawl
By Nick Fielding
Poster 6: Impacts off livestock farming on the environment
By Juan Palacio Acosta
Poster 7: Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon
By Bruna Vieira
Poster 8: The effects Of deforestation
By Ratu Atirieli Tuivanuavou
Poster 9: The impact of fast fashion
By Dayana Angelica Nino Gongora
Poster 10: Bushfire’s effects on our ecosystem
By Nkubito Micho Innocent
Poster 11: Smart food waste management: RFID-based engineering solutions for Queensland
By Ethan Song
Poster 12: Climate change impact on coral bleaching
By Sayed Husain Alalawi
Poster 13: Urban heat island effect and sustainable solutions
By Shaneel Sharma
Poster 14: Construction & demolition waste
By Luisa Fernanda Diaz Duarte
Poster 15: Crumbling foundation: The devastating impact of acid rain on infrastructures
By Jiaur Rahman
Poster 16: Quenching thirst: The role of desalination in combating water scarcity: pure solutions for a thirsty world
Gwyneth Adrielle Abuyen Palacio
Poster 17: Humanity and its environmental impact
By Ibinabo Humphrey
Poster 18: Permafrost thaw: The unseen threat to our climate
By Muhammad Ahmed
Poster 19: Urban sprawl
By Christine Kotange
Poster 20: Water scarcity: We are running out
By Andreas Nilsson
Poster 21: Urban heat island
By Damia Borges Galli
Poster 22: Blue carbon ecosystems: nature-based solutions for climate action
By Lorena Tovar Suarez
Poster 23: Microplastic pollution: Systems to mitigate the impact on the environment
By Natalia Ibanez Hernandez
Poster 24: Agriculture in the everchanging sub-Saharan Africa
By Saaliha Durrani
Poster 25: Sustainable homes
By Cynthia Alves
Room: Collaboration Room, C Block Level 4
Closing Keynote Presentation: “SoTL: Finding your place and leaving your legacy”
Presented by: Associate Professor Alice Brown, University of Southern Queensland
Are you passionate about your teaching, or refining your teaching practice? Do you have a strong record of excellent teaching but have wondered how to ‘record’, ‘share’ or ‘extend your teaching legacy’? If so, the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (commonly referred to as SoTL) should sit comfortably in your wheelhouse. This presentation briefly revisits interpretations of SoTL, proceeded by a strong rationale for the value of SoTL. Brown invites the audience to reflect on their current work, successes, innovations, wonderings, or perhaps even challenges with regards to their teaching and student learning, before asking the audience to consider ‘their place’, ‘how they might leave their legacy’, or a potential focus for engaging in SoTL. This presentation celebrates the wealth of experience and excellence that vocation and higher education educators bring, and the insights that educators can share from the engagement and findings from SoTL projects. Brown challenges traditional interpretations of SoTL, and in doing so opens the scope and potential of SoTL for all where the focus is on collective knowledge and capacity, as well as research that can contribute to strengthening teaching and student learning contextually across the sector.
Room: Collaboration Room, C Block Level 4
Announced by: Nicole Brigg, TAFE Queensland Board Member
- Presentation of Best Paper
- Presentation of Best Poster
- Official Close of conference