Over the last three years, more and more educators are incorporating generative AI responsibly and effectively to support student learning. At this regional symposium, we invite educators from higher education institutions across Australia and New Zealand to share their creative and authentic uses of generative AI to improve teaching, learning, assessment, and curriculum. By collaborating and sharing practice, we can respond and innovate to address the opportunities and challenges presented by AI in higher education.

We welcome all educators who work in higher education – lecturers, educational designers, professors, academic developers, tutors, educational technologists, and any other educators. Working together and sharing practice helps us all move forward more responsively.

Details

Date and time: Tuesday 3 February 2026 from 9:00 am (Australian Eastern Daylight Time)

Venue: The University of Sydney main campus and online (hybrid)

Cost: Free, but registration is essential and in-person spaces are limited

Program

Download the program as PDF

Recordings

Click on the linked title for each talk to access the recording. Recordings are only available where the presenter has consented.

Time	Stream 1	Stream 2	Stream 3
9:00	Plenary: From exams to enterprise: the AI reality for graduates Ray Fleming
Block 1	Redesigning assessments when AI is part of the picture	AI agents to extend learning	Teaching students to critique AI outputs
9:30	Scaffolding Learning and Assessment in Business Writing with GenAI in Mind Hans Hendrischke, David Jun Zhao, Carmen Vallis \| The University of Sydney	Coordinating a multi-campus maths support centre using GenAI as a first point of contact Luis Camacho \| Federation University Australia	AI as a Catalyst for Interdisciplinary Dialogue in Large-Scale Courses Daniel Brennan \| Bond University
9:45	Conversations and AI reports: an assessment pattern Simon Thompson \| Australian National University	Statbot – A friendly cognitive tutor for statistics and coding Liana Pozza, Minh Huynh and Floris van Ogtrop \| The University of Sydney	Cultivating Ethical Agency through Critical AI Literacy: A Seven-Stage Learning Framework Meena Jha \| Central Queensland University
10:00	AI in database education Reihaneh Bidar \| University of Queensland	Professor Wombat – your personal biochemistry tutor! Barbara Hadley \| Griffith University	Empowering Language Learners to Engage Critically with AI: A Practical Approach to Assessment Design Patricia Koromvokis \| Macquarie University
10:15	Designing for Responsible Collaboration: Many Losses and Some Wins Across Three Years of GenAI Integration in Assessments Armin Alimardani \| Western Sydney University	Scaffolded Socratic AI: Reimagining Assignment Feedback for Metacognitive Growth Joanna Ernenwein and Tyler Sprague \| University of Sydney Law Extension Committee	Using generative AI to strengthen research and reasoning: Integrating AI critique and reflection into law assessments for non-law students Mark McConnell \| The University of Auckland
10:30	In-session open discussion
10:45	Morning tea

Block 2	AI in creative and interdisciplinary contexts	AI tools and approaches for educators’ own practice and development	AI-powered practice environments for professional skills
11:15	Co-creating Alumni Narratives with Generative AI: A Visual and Participatory Learning Experience Francesc Fusté-Forné \| University of Girona (Spain) and Sustainability and Resilience Institute New Zealand	Using Generative AI to get more frequent feedback on our teaching Dan Levy \| Harvard University	Enhancing Communication Skills with Generative AI: Lessons from the Hume.ai Pilot Naomi Cocks \| Curtin University
11:30	Multi-modality, AI and Design Education: The Use of Text, Image, and 3D Models for Co-Creation Anastasia Globa \| The University of Sydney	The R2-D2 approach: AI as your learning design co-pilot, not autopilot Andrew Komoder \| Western Sydney University	Designing adaptive clinical scenarios with generative AI: Lessons from practice Yifang Parker, Irene Lubbe and Jessica Allan \| University of Canterbury
11:45	The use of AI agents in transition transdisciplinary and education focussed units of study Dominic Hearne \| The University of Sydney	From prompt builder to pedagogical partner: iterative AI learning with Kaiako Karl McGuirk \| University of Auckland	Talking to AI: Reducing Oral Assessment Anxiety Through Virtual Simulation Stephan Tseng \| UNSW Sydney
12:00	In-session open discussion
Block 3	Institution-level insights and approaches to AI integration	Integrating AI into collaborative contexts	AI to simulate ambiguity of professional practice
12:15	The Promise and the Pushback: Understanding Student Reactions to AI-Supported Learning Katherine Jensen and Shahper Richter \| University of Auckland	Inviting AI to the Team: Reimagining Teamwork Assessments Danielle Ramirez, Caroline Sanz-Veitch and Pat Chen \| Monash University	Simulating Stakeholder Dynamics with Multiple AI Agents in Project Management Education Mark Freeman \| The University of Sydney
12:30	Global insights into AI integration into Higher Education: A socioecological analysis Kellie Charles \| The University of Sydney	Working Out What Works: Exploring Generative AI in teaching, learning and assessment Raquel Ho \| Adelaide Institute of Higher Education	How AI Turns Passive Learners into Active Strategists Xinyue Zhang \| The University of Sydney
12:45	Using AI to surface enduring human skills in higher education Stephen Doherty, Josephine Holecek, Himani Chugh, Jia Zhang and Jennifer Perkins \| UNSW Sydney	Co-Intelligence: Learning with AI, Not from It Sasha Nikolic \| University of Wollongong	The Use of Generative AI in the Mooting Training and Teaching Peng Guo; Alex Wan \| Swinburne University of Technology
1:00	In-session open discussion
1:15	Lunch

Block 4	Using AI to scaffold metacognition and reflection	AI to help student preparation	Building learning tools without code
2:00	Scaffolding reflections at scale in experiential learning Corinna Galliano \| University of Sydney Business School	Flipping Learning with AI: From Translation to Transformation Sonu Sarda \| Independent Educator	Vibe Coding: A Low-Barrier Approach for Creating Digital Teaching and Learning Resources with Generative AI Reece Sophocleous and James Tsatsaronis \| The University of Sydney
2:15	AI Bots as Career Coach to Facilitate Self-regulated Learning Ju Li Ng, Jennifer Sun, Mark Freeman, He Huang, and Doowon Lee \| The University of Sydney	Study Buddy: A custom GPT for flipped classroom pre-class learning support Daniel Ruelle \| VinUniversity	Hacking the Game: AI-Generated Gamification for Students Armin Alimardani, Jacinta Sassine, Kaitlyn Poole, Bradley Gooding, Shreeya Smith, Sophia Bai, and Juliette Overland \| Western Sydney University
2:30	LARC and the Human and AI Sandwich: Appropriate Use of AI for Learning Mairead Fountain and Emma Allen \| Otago Polytechnic	Project Sofia: Preparing Students for Flipped Learning through Generative AI Tutoring Patrick Dodd and Shahper Richter \| University of Auckland	–
2:45	In-session open discussion

Get in touch

This event was organised by Danny Liu, Alix Thoeming, and Adam Bridgeman from the DVC (Education and Students) Portfolio at the University of Sydney along with Michael Cowling from RMIT, Tim Fawns from Monash University, Trish McCluskey from Deakin University, Russell Butson from the University of Otago, Jan McLean from the University of Technology Sydney, and Jason Lodge from the University of Queensland. The staff from the Division of Teaching and Learning played a key role in making the event a success.

Please get in touch with [email protected] if you have any questions about the event.