The second session of the AAUT–HERDSA National Webinar Series brought together sector leaders and award-winning educators to explore a strategically significant question for contemporary higher education: how to design, sustain, and scale meaningful partnerships that underpin high-quality Work Integrated Learning (WIL).  

Wednesday, 22 April
Students as Partners in Assessment
Presenter: Dr Thomas Wanner (University of Adelaide)
Time: 12:00–1:00 pm (Adelaide time)
Zoom: https://adelaide.zoom.us/j/83897140461?pwd=wSKgaFgujU62jUIhnh4gDMEzsmkFGc.1#success

The 2026 AAUT and HERDSA National Webinar Series commenced with a powerful and thought-provoking panel discussion on Indigenous Knowledges in Action, bringing together over 200 participants from across Australasia.

Chaired by Prof Corrinne Sullivan, the panel featured A/Prof Jessica Russ-Smith, Dr Cat Gutsy, and A/Prof Benjamin Wilson, who shared their experiences and insights into embedding Indigenous Knowledges in higher education.

Our March SoTL SIG session focused on how practitioners can embed the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) more intentionally and sustainably within everyday teaching practice. The session was led by Dr Jo‑Anne Kelder, who presented a structured approach to SoTL organised around four interconnected practices: designing, doing, disseminating, and documenting.

Our first SoTL SIG for 2026 brought an insightful start to the year, with Dr Robyn Yucel guiding us through the foundations of scholarly teaching and its relationship with the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). The session was rich with thoughtful provocations and gentle demystification – perfect for colleagues who are new to SoTL as well as those looking to deepen their practice.

What is SoTL, and why does it matter?

On Friday 16 January 2026 HERDSA hosted a highly engaging professional development workshop, Finalising Abstracts for HERDSA 2026, with 58 participants joining from across Australasia and beyond to strengthen their conference submissions.

On Thursday 20 November 2025, the HERDSA Online Engagement in Higher Education SIG convened the final event for the year (facilitated by Dr Hilary Ng and Associate Professor Alice Brown).

On 5 November 2025, the HERDSA Assessment Quality Special Interest Group and ASCILITE’s Transforming Assessment community jointly hosted a thought-provoking webinar titled Reimagining Assessment in Uncertain Times: Dialogues from the UK and Australia. The session brought together two leading voices to explore how higher education can evolve assessment practices amid rapid technological changes and persistent institutional inertia towards meaningful assessment systems.

On 19 September 2025, educators, researchers and practitioners across Australasia gathered online for the inaugural Australasian Symposium on Programmatic Approaches to Assessment. Hosted by the ASCILITE Transforming Assessment SIG and the HERDSA Assessment Quality SIG, the symposium was alive with presentations, case studies, and a buzzing chat stream that often took discussions in new directions.

Setting the scene

Join HERDSA Vic for a workshop/webinar to explore the fundamentals of learning, including how we learn, key principles of learning, and the role of active learning. Inspired by the ongoing discussions around generative AI in education, participants will tackle the critical question: In what ways can the use of GenAI in the learning process compromise student learning or, alternatively, enable deeper learning?