The Pitch 2023 - Spotlight on Success

On Thursday 12 October, the final stage of “The Pitch” saw three teams showcase their project proposals before an esteemed panel of judges, who determined the allocation of a new educational innovation funding stream. The event featured a diverse array of pitches, with all teams presenting innovative ideas that enriched different aspects of education, from curriculum design to technology integration.

The judges included: Professor Sharon Pickering, Provost & Senior Vice-President; Professor Claire Palermo, Associate Dean of Education in the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences; Associate Professor John Bevacqua, Associate Dean of Learning and Teaching in the Faculty of Business; and Economics and Neil Carmona-Vickery from Monash Tech School.

The successful projects Pitched and awarded funding on the night were as follows. Click on the tabs below to learn more about each project and the judges outcomes.

Project ATLAS: Authentic Teaching and Learning Application Simulations

Funding awarded: $80,000

The ATLAS platform is “a revolutionary digital ecosystem that offers immersive, simulated professional experiences tailored to individual learning trajectories“ by using “Large Language Models, artificial intelligence, and intricate agent personas to simulate real-world professional environments."

Watch the video to learn more

The Team: Dr Joel Moore (Faculty of Arts), Dr Guilherme Horst Duque (Faculty of Arts), Dr Rosemarie Herbert (Faculty of Science), Dr Tomas Zahora (Faculty of Science), Dr Helmy Cook (Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences), Bethany Howard (Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences), Dr Lisa Barker (Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences), Dr Joanne Blannin (Faculty of Education)

“Great to see cutting edge ideas like this!” - Audience Member

Enhancing feedback effectiveness by scaffolding feedback literacy among students and teachers using learning analytics

Funding awarded: $40,000

This project “seeks to enhance the effectiveness of feedback by introducing a learning-analytics based feedback tool to support 1) teachers to develop quality feedback and track impacts of feedback on learners, and 2) students to make sense of feedback, organise feedback from multiple sources, and develop action plans.”

Watch the video to learn more

879236409Dr Yi-Shan Tsai (Faculty of Information Technology), Guanliang Chen (Faculty of Information Technology), Philip Wing Keung Chan (Faculty of Education), Associate Professor Daniejela Gasevic (Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences), Dr Nicola Charwat (Faculty of Business & Economics)

“Would really like to see this in action! Great innovation 👍” - Audience Member

MonHelp

Funding awarded: $30,000

MonHelp is an online system that matches students with available teaching assistants (TAs) or peers for academic consultations, either via Zoom and/ or in-person” to reduce “barriers to attending scheduled consultation times due to cost of living, work commitments, and complex timetables.

Watch the video to learn more

The Team: Associate Professor Jonathan Li (Faculty of Engineering), Dr Sanaz Nikfalazar (Faculty of Information Technology), Peter Drew (Faculty of Engineering), Prateek Talukdar (Faculty of Engineering), Cyril Chacko (Faculty of Information Technology), Joshua Lu (Faculty of Engineering), Nathan Sherburn (External: CEO – FLUX.qa)

“I really like this! If introduced early in the study journey, students will become more accustomed to asking for help!” - Audience Member

Judges' Deliberation: Pitch Event Outcome Revealed

In this video recording, the esteemed panel of judges convened to deliver the much-anticipated outcomes for the Pitch. Throughout the video, the audience gains a unique insight into the criteria used by the judges to evaluate these educational initiatives. The panel's diverse perspectives and expertise are evident as they discuss the strengths and areas for improvement in each presentation, offering constructive feedback that not only shapes the event's outcome but also serves as invaluable guidance for the participating educators.


Acknowledgements

We would also like to acknowledge the teams who may not have been selected to present at The Pitch but have contributed valuable ideas that we hope will continue to flourish (see list below). The selection of some teams and not others was more a reflection of strategic prioritisation than of a clear difference in quality of ideas.

From Fixed to Flourishing: Nurturing Growth Mindsets in Higher Education – Dr Zahra Aziz (MNHS), Dr Venesser Fernandes (Edu), A/Prof Carlyn Muir (MUARC), Prof Chris Thompson (MNHS), Dr Vanlal Thanzami (MNHS), Dr Charindra Keerthipala (BusEco), Prudence Perry (MHNS), Dr Swati Mujumdar (MNHS), Stavroula Zandes (MNHS)

Integrated Student Lifecycle Online Support Platform – Kat Beech (Law), Dr Craig Horton (Law) & Cathy McCormick (Law)

Establishing Trauma-Informed Teaching and Learning at Monash University – Dr Emily Berger (Education), Dr Kim Johnston (MNHS), A/Prof Sean Cowlishaw (MNHS), Dr Siobhan Hardiman (MNHS), Dr Heather Morris (MNHS), Dr Claire Blewitt (MNHS)

The Climate and AI Futures Program – Dr Bronwyn Cumbo (IT), Prof Bernd Meyer (IT), Yolande Strengers (IT), Matt Chen, Prof Neil Selwyn (Edu), Dr Scarlett Howard (Sci)

Integrating behavioural and personality traits and machine-learning textual analysis to enhance decision- making skills among students – Dr Sandip Dhole (BusEco), A/Prof Mukesh Garg (BusEco)

The Monash Innovation Insight Learning Design Canvas – Dr Andrea Fenton (BusEco), A/Prof Jonathan Matheny (BusEco), Dr Hendrika Duivenvoorde (Sci), Nisha Gupta (BusEco)

Supporting the collaborative fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – Dr Angelina Lim (Pharm), Dr Betty Exintaris (Pharm),A/Prof Julia Harrison (MNHS), Vanessa Clothier (MNHS), A/Prof Fiona Kent (MNHS), Dr Mahbub Sarkar (MNHS)

Building an expert consensus on competences of psychologically literate students – An international Delphi study – Prof Judith Gullifer (Edu), Chang Liu (MNHS), Dr Karen Marangio (Edu), A/Prof Louise Jenkins (Edu), Prof Richard Reina (Sci), Prof Claire Palermo (MNHS)

Game On: Professional readiness through immersive learning in a climate-changed world – Dr David Reser (MNHS), A/Prof Margaret Simmons (MNHS), Stathi Paxinos (MSDI), A/Prof Djuke Veldhuis (Sci), Dr Filia Garivaldis (MSDI)

The Conscious Learner: Engendering evaluative judgement – Dr Kirsten Schilephake (MNHS), Jimena de Mello Heredia (Edu), Prof Michael Henderson (Edu), Dr Irene Lichtwark (MNHS)

Teams@Monash – Dr Martijn Van Der Kamp (BusEco), Caroline Sanz-Veitch (BusEco), A/Prof Annette Bos (MSDI), Prof Nicoleta Maynard (Eng), Dr Nadine Normand-Marconnet (Arts), Adriana Ortega (MNHS), Dr Danielle Ramirez (BusEco), A/Prof Scott Wordley (Eng)

We look forward to the next edition of the Pitch and the continued evolution of education at our institution.