Brooke Hunter
Maria Koukoulias
Kylie Vutilolo
Pauline Cummins
Sabrina Laianca
Aimee Edwards
Joanne Emma Camoens
Thi To Nga Bui
Victoria Agatha
Rosemary Sparks
Mackenzie Carsley
Each year Bachelor and Bachelor (Honours) students who have achieved a GPA of 6.00, or higher, are eligible for an Executive Dean’s Commendation. These students receive a letter of commendation from the Executive Dean in recognition of their achievement. We congratulate all of our students who received an Executive Dean’s Commendation.
Brooke Hunter
Maria Koukoulias
Kylie Vutilolo
Pauline Cummins
Sabrina Laianca
Aimee Edwards
Joanne Emma Camoens
Thi To Nga Bui
Victoria Agatha
Rosemary Sparks
Mackenzie Carsley
Monique Garamy
Victoria Stojic
Cherry Cornelio
Sophie Welsh
Emily Madden
Emily Stevenson
Melissa Brglevski
Anna Bennett
Daniela Tripodi
Samantha Ienco
Carmen Mckenzie
Alysha Fitzgibbon
Melinda Emmett
Stacey Nelson
Patricia Nolan
Madeline Koeberler
Tayla Saunders
Elise Paull
Hannah Lutze
Bernadette Curran
Kate Cilia
Catherine Langron
Maddison Beattie
Brianna May
Micaela Mccombe
Sarah Morgan
Kasinda Grasby
Lisa Van Waegeningh
Jessica Takchi
Mirna Sandroussi
Lauren Rider
Brianna Searle
Erin Galliott
Julia Malfitano
David Martin
Danielle Young
Shaun Pollock
Jade Schnitzerling
Kimberley Delisser
Sophia Caputo
Amy Mccaul
Leah Hempenstall
Teneisha Clarke
Amanda Seemann
Lily Veale
Grace Storey
Meike Struck
Sophie Detering
Kylee Akl
Ashleigh Lawrence
Olivia Hall
Ellie Tepe
Deborah Whitby
Abby Evans
Stephanie Bonello
Rhiannon Farrell
Renae Small
Katelyn Ball
Bronte Lockwood
Sarah Boevink
Catherine Carew
Petrina Woodthorpe
Patricia Batara
Caitlin Baldwin
Lauren Hagarty
Clare Vandenbroucke
Georgia Reilly
Julia McPhee
Daniel Jones
Mikaila Hicks
Lana Shaba
Bronwen Crickmore
Isabella Godfrey
Jordan Jayasinghe
Crystal Knowles
Molly Pitcher
Natasha Vella
Matthew Paton
Daniel Danielo
Anne Louise Walters
Caitlin Williams
Marnie McColl
Emily Dimtsis
Paige Kimmince
Rachel Barker
Leah Ingram
Martha Pace
Markian Stefanychyn
Stephanie Stabile
Sarah Walsh
Crystal Borg
Georgina Eadie
Bronte Allan
Alana Lucca
Priscilla Sangster
Hannah Lang
Kate Redmond
Paige Ryan
Kate Fordham
Fiona Byrne
Sarah Black
Claire Toomey
Chelsea Ireland
Gregory Ivory
Elizabeth Wallis
Lisa O'Donohue
Craig Joseph
Jennifer Ghiraldelli
Eliza Dean
Bryce Hill
Krista Webb
Brydie Parle
Jessica Micallef
Kayla Murray
Asma Merchant
Kaitlan Hickenbotham
Jessica Lever
Timothy Staude
Kiera Quinn
Sophie Morley
Elizabeth Schiavo
Nicholas Fengaros
Grace Ashwin
Adam Santangelo-Szlek
Ryan Wearne
Holly Veitch
Natalie Giarratano
Sophia Goustavsky
Veronica Pangrazio
Polly McCauley
Beth Patterson
Tahlia Dearden
Carly Salmon
Breanna Corbo
Tina Storey
Kate Shumack Ross
Cassie Wilson
Tayla Corbo
Emily Conway
Adele Mancin
Benjamin Afif
Sabashnee Naidoo
William Rylance
Caitlin Zadravec
David Voglis
Anthony Batch
Isabella Phillips
Nigel McCord
Joanna Rutkin
Melahrini Balassis
Nicholas Sinclair
Anne Go
Leah Bensted
Madelaine Cadzow
Deanna Fimiani
Julia McGregor
Caitlin Robie
Grace Gibbons
Tanaha Holden
Alastair Hare
Harry Grentell
Rebecca Macdonald
Melissa Saunders
Rhian Foster
Aaron Lavell
Chase Andrews
Stephanie Cross
Melanie van der Spek
Amelia Macafee
Rebecca Caltabiano
Anastasia Kydas
Elise Cecchin
Katelin Anderson
Jonathan Maurer
Robyn Cosgrove
Alicia Camilleri
Christine Saliba
Ashleigh O'Brien
Renee Schmidhauser
Jasmine Wilton
Tia Sandilands
Chloe Folling
Natisha Ford
Madeleine Bux
Taylah Moschetti
Tanna Draper Nagas
Maddison Lundh
Casey Walmsley
Tahnee Fisher
Aaron Scholz
Natalie Saunders
Stephanie Campbell
Jasmin Mathews
Tristan Lawler
Alexandra Belcastro
Ana-Louise Vella
Mikaela Borg
Margaret Raffoul
Lauren Azzopardi
Khodr Obeid
Sonja Zezovska
Cameron McBride
Kirsten Janbroers
Matilda Austin
Ella Moro
Sabrina Bignoux
Chloe Ioannidis
Alycia Morrow
Nicholas Bailey
Jessica Perry
Sasha Salzano
Annemarie Gullaci
Isabel Rich
Nicholas Madden
Marie Pintarich
Dayna Watt
Carley Thorpe
Jacinta Formoso
Stefan Subasic
Vanessa Chadwick
Alexandra Nematalla
Linda Skerman
Clarissa Shen Yee Leong
Dominique Hagan
Kelsey Rickman
Madison Lenihan
Veronica Casha
Thomas Hahne
Matilda Scott
Cameron Cole
Monika Ramzy
Charlotte Warner
Ethan Ison
Georgia Foti
Emily Keogh
Melissa Gullifa
Seamus Fillmore
Courtney Sprenger
Joanna Bach
Catherine Adams
Sunny Vincent
Georgia Houlihan
Emer Buckingham
Abbey Zito
Michelle Drake
Alisa Romboy
Lili Braidner
Simone Bertolin
Akanksha Malhotra
Emma Dodwell
Yami Shah
Amy Hughes
Charlotte Fitzsimons
Pham Nguyen
Laura Ibrahim
Chau Anh Nguyen
Hannah Taylor
Chelsea Cook
Elizabeth Azzopardi
Nicholas Elliott
Elisabeth Marriner
Jane Allen
Benjamin Wood
Dominique Powe
Sarah Giannone
Sofia Anne Pefianco
Brigitte Kelleher
Tilly Keenan
Claudia Stafrace
Danielle Horvat
Robert Gascard
Stephanie Elkington
Michaela Warren
Anna Vandenbroucke
Riley Martin
Caitlin Crowe
Claudia Barresi
Marguerite Metaxas
Georgia Tankey
Luke Condon
Christopher Reynolds
Nathan Pegg
Erin Carter
Justin Condo
Chloe Hicks
Sarah Richardson
Jacinta Heywood
Maddison Fiorelli
Mikaela Hamence
Emily Lace
Kara Olsen
Zoe Paterson
Courtenay Gaze
Mark Everett
Rebecca Bogale
Madison O'Connor
Jessie Fitzpatrick
Sophie Rowan
Ella Westblade
Paul Skafte
Tayla Inosesio
Nathan Christie
My Chanh Mau
Megan Thomas
Peter Doig
Charlotte Perry
Maddison Cunningham
Rylee Connell
Thomas Savva
Isabella Stevens
Mia Scrocca
Sally Wilson
Helena Citroni
Victoria Caitlin Sophie-Louise Sharples
Jessica Meegama
Luke Dean
Sean Law
Julia Lloyd
Lauren Impey
Giles Kelly
Sarah Carrasco
Claire O'Donoghue
Thomas Rock
Daisy Bailey
Danielle Divola
Jo-Anne Walker
Mitchell Atanasovski
Robert Mulderry
Breeze Buckley
Jarrah Pearce
Michael Resende
Eliane Coller
Esther Lee- Scott
Jayden Hallett
Andre Rossi
Sarah Abraham
Bachelor of Creative Arts
Charlotte Mcgrath
Melody Carroll
Isabelle Fisher
Kaitlyn Shirley
Bachelor of Digital Media
Ashley Diamantis
Luke Vranes
Bachelor of International Development Studies
Jazmin Zamburro-Migliore
Menna Mcalpin
Erin Brown
Meg Kroon
Sian Driscoll
Meredith Bertram
Annabelle Azaris
Eleanor Hewitt
Grace Fenwick
Yvette Allinson
Kaley Larner
Belinda Aldridge
Bachelor of Visual Arts and Design
Lara Stechiwskyj
Rhiannon Sutton-Yeomans
Jessica Cook
Alyce Levett
Sarah Giddy
Deborah Tudehope
Sarah Bickham
Bachelor of Youth Work
Amy Moore
Jack Comte
Huyen Tran Truong Nguyen
The Faculty of Education and Arts has established two annual Awards to recognise and reward the outstanding efforts and ingenuity of our academic staff in continually advancing the student teaching and learning experience.
The FEA Excellence in Teaching Award exists to encourage and reward high quality teaching by members of the academic staff across all modes: online, multi-mode or blended, and face-to-face.
The FEA Learning Innovations Award commends a particular contemporary practice in learning and teaching that has been successfully implemented and evaluated in a scholarly way within the past three years.
While the Excellence in Teaching Award recognises overall teaching excellence, the Learning Innovations Award is for a particular innovation or example of excellent practice.
Five Teaching Excellence Awards were conferred in 2021 – to Mr Paul Chalkley, Associate Professor Michael Griffith, Dr Kathleen McGuire, Dr Michelle Black and in a Team category, Dr Margaret Hutchison & Dr Jon Piccini.
Our teaching team consisted of Dr Hutchison and Dr Piccini. In 2020, we collaboratively redeveloped the capstone unit (HIST308) for History on the Brisbane campus, in consultation with colleagues in the National School of Arts. We seized the expansion of Historical Studies staff on the campus as an opportunity to engage with students more deeply and to bring them a sense of connection with us as teachers and scholars. Our aim was to not only build students’ skills and knowledge in historical methods and theories, but to do so in a way that responded to the specific needs of the Brisbane cohort. By introducing new content, delivery methods, and assessments, we have developed a unit that inspires students to pursue their own intellectual interests and supports their independent learning. Over the past two years, we have reflected on these changes, adapting and revising the unit to improve students’ leaning experience.
Paul Chalkley is a teaching focused lecturer in youth work who has taught at ACU since 2010. As a result of the global pandemic, 2020 and 2021 saw significant disruption to social, personal and academic life. In this time of rapid change, transitioning to online teaching and responding to an ever-changing tertiary education landscape, it was imperative to capture, engage and motivate students. Paul extended on developments made in recent years to create a relevant and engaging learning environment strategically and deliberately. This targeted approach specifically focusing on Youth Work students intended to connect them deeply to a sense of professional identity and career development that fosters retention and contributes to work-ready graduates.
My teaching area is English Literature, specifically Australian Literature (with a specific focus on poetry and indigenous writing) English Literature (from Beowulf to the 21st Century), American Literature (including Native American Indian). I have been teaching in this discipline for 51 years, first at Marist Brother’s NorthShore (1970-72), then at the University of Sydney (1973-1976) and since 1977, for 44 years, at ACU and its predecessor college CCES. I have taught literature to ACU undergraduates, post-graduates and to the marginalized communities that attend our Clemente Program. My specific teaching and research interests are the intersection between literature (especially poetry) and spirituality. All my teaching has been driven by the wish to make students aware of how literature can nurture our spiritual experience and understanding.
When commencing at ACU, I brought 33 years of international experience as an educator and arts professional. This encompassed primary, secondary and tertiary teaching, leadership of major arts organisations, collaborations with multiple entities, and fulfillment of sizeable grants. This background underpinned my focus on professional experience (PEX) opportunities for ACU’s pre-service teachers (PSTs). Successful PEX placements are essential in Initial Teacher Education (ITE), yet I have witnesses for several years the detrimental impact of delayed placements (attributed to professional staff turnover followed by COVID-19). For PSTs, such delays can manifest in high anxiety, low morale and even course withdrawal. Addressing these concerns, I adopted reflective approaches to my teaching. The result was an expansion of placement-relevant content in my PEX units and, to mitigate placement delays, development of a raft of innovative PEX opportunities. These advancements led to further innovations – supported by research – for ACU’s new national PEX units.
I am a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the ACU Strathfield campus. My expertise is in health sociology, and I teach SOCS235 Health, Illness and Wellbeing and SOCS243 Global Health and in 2021, I commenced teaching the Capstone unit GLST305 Global Studies Research project. Teaching in global studies has extended my innate interest in the social impacts of global events on human behavior the interconnectivity of our ‘global village’ and in global citizenship and activism. In March 2020 I assumed a Leadership role as National Course Coordinator (NCC) for the Bachelor of Global Studies and the Bachelor of International Development Studies (BIDS). As NCC I oversee curriculum development and implementation and in 2021, the curtailment of overseas travel led to my redesigning the Global Studies International experience program to incorporate an innovative virtual (remote) internship program. This application is focused on my leadership and management of the Global Studies International Internship unit, GLST300.
Four Teaching Excellence Awards were conferred in 2020 - to Dr Ann Holt, Dr Thu Ngo, Dr Xiaoying Qi, and in a Team category, Dr Joanna Winchester, Mrs Chrissy Monteleone and Dr David Lee.
Dr Ann Holt
I am a passionate and committed visual artist and Lecturer specializing in the disciplines of painting and drawing with extensive experience in subject coordination, scholarship, and research. I have held numerous appointments at several Art Schools in the university sector over the past twenty years I am Lecturer in Charge for the Painting and Drawing undergraduate units at ACU, a position I have held for thirteen years. I am also a Lecturer at the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne, where I prepare and present Lecturers, and teach both semester and intensive programs. My skill in delivering dynamic, studio-based art programs has been recognised in SELT surveys and further evidenced in the retention rates. I aim to incorporate innovative methods based on my professional practice that inspire students to achieve excellence, whilst actively promoting individual development, confidence, and independence in learning.
Dr Thu Ngo
My main teaching area is Primary Literacy Education. Since my employment at ACU in January 2017, I have been in charge of two very large consecutive core Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment (CPA) Literacy units in the B.Ed Primary program (EDLA241 and EDLA342) across Strathfield and North Sydney campuses, involving the dominant proportion of ACU enrolments. My leadership of the two units, over a sustained period of time, has allowed me to restructure the sequence of the whole teaching content in Primary Literacy Education, develop new resources incorporating innovative research-informed content and pedagogical knowledge, utilizing digital technology in literacy education in a meaningful way. In this application I would like to showcase my outstanding innovative development of curricula and resources with special focus on EDLA342, the second unit in the suite of B.Ed Primary core units that witnesses an impressive increase in the SELT data from 3.94 in 2017 to 4.88 in 2019.
Dr Xiaoying Qi
I am a sociologist. I have been a LIC, Lecturer and Tutor for SOCS207, SOCS208, SOCS300 and POLS211. Through my creating a caring, positive and effective learning environment I motivate students to engage in discussion, improve their performance, and strive for achievement of their best. By providing students with a thorough grounding in sociological theories and concepts, as well as a broad knowledge of the field, I cultivate students’ appreciation of cutting-edge developments in sociology. By discussing ideas that students tend to regard as counter intuitive, I challenge accepted ways of thinking and expand their imagination. I encourage students to appreciate the value of critical and creative thinking and show them how to be critical and creative in their own thinking. Through my connecting intellectual substance with current issues, students investigate the realities that underpin their own concerns and the socially based needs and purposes that engage students with the real world.
Dr Joanna Winchester, Mrs Chrissy Monteleone, Dr David Lee (Team category)
This award is in recognition of the outstanding contribution of a team of teachers in Work Integrated Learning (WIL) who continue to innovate, develop, assess and refine models which produces exceptional performance of PSTs across sequential, professional experience units (EDFX241, EDFX242, EDFX343, EDFX444, EDFD452). Dr. Joanna Winchester who has been teaching at ACU since 2009 and has contributed to professional experience through leadership roles and teaching. Joanna has completed research with pre-service teachers (PSTs) in special education contexts. Mrs. Chrissy Monteleone has been at ACU since 2008, leads professional experience partnerships and has taught professional experience units. Chrissy has engaged in research on mentoring and PST development in schools. Dr. David Lee has been teaching in professional experience units at ACU since 2010 including the Teaching and Learning Consortium, in partnership with schools. David has researched the influence of relationships in professional experience.
There were no awards in 2019
Four Teaching Excellence Awards were conferred in 2018 - to Dr Joanne Harris, Mr Alasdair Macintyre, Ms Sarah Nailer and Dr Joanna Winchester.
Dr Joanne Harris
I am passionate about the importance of a quality music education for all. Music makes a unique contribution to the lives of children and young people, to their learning, and to their ability to be creative thinkers. This knowledge of the powerful effects of learning music is the basis of my commitment to the pedagogy of music across all Education programs at ACU. I aim to instil a love of music in my students, building their confidence and capacity to teach music through sharing my passion and engaging them in carefully scaffolded, fun learning activities. My approach is based on experiential learning, developing understanding through active experience, modelling music pedagogies which students collaboratively engage in and critically reflect upon, and employing mastery tasks which enhance self-efficacy. I develop graduates who are 'classroomready' - possessing the skills, conceptual understandings and knowledge of effective pedagogies to provide developmental learning opportunities for their classes.
Mr Alasdair Macintyre
Alasdair Macintyre is a practising artist and has been lecturing in the visual arts at the Australian Catholic University for the last 12 years. Prior to this he taught art at Catholic schools (after completing a Dip. Ed. At ACU in 1995) and in the TAFE system, as well as conducting many workshops and artist talks in public galleries such as the QLD Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Australia, and the Australian National University. In his time at ACU, he has worked principally in the School of Arts, but has also taught for the School of Education, Equity Pathways, and the Clemente program. Alasdair is constantly seeking ways of improving learning outcomes for visual arts students, and he actively engages with new technologies and supportive teaching methods.
Ms Sarah Nailer
Over the past 6 years at ACU I have been involved in research, teaching and publications in connection with the Catholic Teacher Education Consortium, a School-University Partnership. It is through innovation, leadership and scholarship, particularly as part of the partnership that I have been able to promote an enhanced student experience in the Faculty. I have maintained my connection with the teaching profession and intend to continue my work at ACU as well as teaching part-time in a partner school in 2019. My passion for teaching and my partnership work with schools has enabled me to teach my students effectively and take an active part in their induction into the profession. I have brought my commitment to equity in education and catering for a diverse range of students to my teaching across a range of education studies units.
Dr Joanna Winchester
I have been employed since 2009 as a lecturer in Drama education, and have taught in the Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary courses. I am LIC of numerous units including Creative Arts units in the Primary Bachelor and Master courses, the elective Drama units, and LIC of the Drama CPA units. The success of my leadership in teaching has led to leadership roles including National Professional Experience Coordinator for Primary/EC in the Faculty of Education and Arts. I employ high quality learning and teaching that encourages pre-service teachers to consider themselves as learners in a group context, capable of producing quality group work as an ensemble of learners. In an era of individualised learning, my approach enhances students’ knowledge of group process and quality product. My capacity to engage students in practice that enhances their knowledge of performing arts and its educative purpose is a skilled part of my teaching.
Four Teaching Excellence Awards were conferred in 2017 - to Dr Aisling O'Donnell, Dr Belinda von Mengersen, Ms Elvis Richardson and Dr Robyn Bentley-Williams.
Dr Aisling O'Donnell - Aisling's nomination illustrates her excellent work as a teacher and her work is reflective of an interdisciplinary and integrated approach to teaching, combining contemporary problem-oriented analysis, theoretical rigor and critical pedagogy. Her teaching is strongly student-centred and technologically dynamic.
Dr Belinda von Mengersen - Belinda's award highlights her approach to the development of real-world, high-stakes learning experiences and assessments that are consistently designed to foster multidisciplinary, collaborative solutions to design problems, to inspire in education students deep understanding of textiles' capacity to adapt. Her approach to student learning privileges thoughtful, ethical, and individual responses to complex realities, including inherent environmental and moral concerns.
Ms Elvis Richardson - Elvis demonstrates excellence in the creation of dynamic and authentic assessment tasks that engage students with experiences and outcomes that produce design outcomes beyond the class room. Her approach to holistic assessment draws on her own creative and professional experiences and uses real clients as well as self-generated projects to produce meaningful design outcomes that contribute to our communities and the common good beyond the classroom.
Dr Robyn Bentley-Williams - The strength of Robyn's nomination recognizes a strong strength-based approach where see strives to build a dynamic community of learners' culture where each individual's unique perspectives are encouraged and valued, as a means of developing deep understanding on controversial, diverse socio-cultural issues influencing inclusive practice. Her pedagogical approaches are interwoven with developing productive respectful relationships with students and colleagues.
Four Teaching Excellence Awards were conferred in 2016 - to Dr Jann Carroll, Dr Haydn Aarons, Associate Professor Michael Griffiths and Dr Matthew Ryan
Dr Jann Carroll - Jann’s award highlights her passion and advocacy for equipping preservice teachers who are able to demonstrate their understanding of theory, practice and critical inquiry as classroom practitioners. Jann is to be commended for the ways in which she integrates her teaching areas, research interests and constructivist pedagogy.
Dr Haydn Aarons - Haydn’s award highlights his passion and deep interest in supporting vital skill development in research methods units and inculcating the importance of scientific rigor. His commitment to students and his enthusiasm for sociology and preparing students who are theoretically and methodologically well prepared for a range of careers in public service, community development, social policy and governance is commendable.
Associate Professor Michael Griffith - Michael’s award was strongly centred on his innovative learning and teaching for different contexts: the Clemente program for the IACE; the ACU indigenous program through Yalbalinga; the Marist Fathers’ Aquinas Academy in Sydney and for contextualizing literary studies. His focus on enhancing students’ experience with the latest technologies helping them create meaningful connections with texts, with each other and with the global knowledge environment is recognized here.
Dr Matthew Ryan - Matthew’s award draws upon his deep knowledge of the discipline of Literature, his innovative approach to designing units and assessments. A strong focus on accessibility to learning in the discipline of Literature is the guiding principle for Matthew’s teaching practice. Central to this is his development of a pedagogy that is inclusive of students new to Literature or students who might be otherwise marginalised.
The 2015 Learning Innovations Award was awarded to Dr Nick Carter, Dr Duncan Cook and Dr Chris Matthew for their development and delivery of a unique interdisciplinary undergraduate field school in Rome (The History and Geography of Ancient and Modern Rome). The innovation lies in the field school's dynamic and distinctive combination of interdisciplinary and field-based study in an overseas context, and its creative mix of experiential, reflective, cooperative and problem-based learning strategies to enhance the student learning experience.
Three Teaching Excellence Awards were conferred in 2015 - to Dr Jen Couch, Dr Victoria Carruthers and Dr James Marland.
Dr Jen Couch (Youth Work) - Jen's award highlights her work in challenging students to examine their own experiences and their thinking about young people, and her creative approach to developing and implementing a curriculum that provides student with insight into their future profession and the values that are required when working with marginalised young people.
Dr Victoria Carruthers (Modern and Contemporary Art History and Theory) - Victoria's award highlights her commitment to students and her knowledge and enthusiasm for student-centred approaches, as well as her innovative, empathetic and passionate approach to creating a connected curriculum. Her positive influence, motivation and inspiration to critically engage students with the world through art and visual culture is well evidenced.
Dr James Marland (Drama) - James' award was strongly centred on his creative and highly humanistic approach to supporting, inspiring and motivating students, as well as his strong critically reflective stance in cyclical curriculum development. James' approach to curriculum differentiation and the creation of a collaborative and safe learning environment is to be applauded.
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