Learning and Teaching Conference
What does it mean to cultivate human agency
in an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-integrated world?
The 2026 Monash Learning and Teaching Conference brings together educators to explore one of the most pressing questions facing higher education today.
📅 Tuesday 22 & Wednesday 23 September 2026
📍 Monash College | 750 Collins St, Docklands, VIC 3008
Building on the momentum of the 2025 conference, which highlighted the power of connection across people, practices, and institutions, the 2026 conference shifts focus to the role of human agency in an era where AI is embedded across learning, teaching, and assessment.
As AI becomes part of everyday educational practice, this conference creates space for critical conversations about how we design learning experiences that foreground human judgement, creativity, and ethical reasoning. It invites participants to engage with both the opportunities and challenges of AI, while maintaining a clear focus on the capabilities, choices, and actions of learners and educators.
The conference will bring together educators from across Monash and universities across Victoria to share practice, challenge assumptions, and strengthen our collective capability to support meaningful, future-focused education in a rapidly evolving landscape.
Call for Abstracts
Share your work at the Learning and Teaching Conference 2026. We invite educators to contribute practice, research, and innovative approaches aligned with the theme Human Agency in an AI-Integrated World.
Submissions are welcomed for:
- Poster presentations
- Parallel sessions
- Lightning talks
Human Agency in an AI-Integrated World
The Learning and Teaching Conference 2026 advances shared understanding and practice among educators in developing human agency in an AI-integrated world. The conference positions human agency as a core educational priority distinct from the growing use of “agency” in relation to AI systems, and focuses on how educators can support students to act with judgement, creativity, and responsibility in complex, technology-rich environments.
Through presentations, discussions, and shared practices, the conference explores four key areas:
Integrating AI in ways that support human agency
Exploring how to balance learning with, without, and about AI, ensuring students develop strong disciplinary foundations alongside the capacity to act effectively in complex, technology-rich environments.
Designing for visibility and integrity in learning
Building on Monash’s leadership in Programmatic Assessment and AI Review (PAAIR), this area explores how curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment can make learning visible, support valid judgement, and sustain meaningful engagement in AI-mediated contexts.
Day 1 – 30 September
Open to all Monash staff and external colleagues (by invitation)
We open Day 1 with our feature keynote session:
“Building Connections with Emeritus Professor Liz Johnson”
Strap yourself in for a whirlwind of wisdom and insight that gets to the heart of what it means to "build connections" in contemporary higher education. Join Emeritus Professor Liz Johnson for a conversation exploring the many roles people play in educational practice, and how perspectives and understandings shift, depending on where we stand. In conversation with a panel of educational leaders, Professor Johnson will respond to bold provocations from Monash educators across disciplines, drawing out new ideas, questions and challenges.
Day 1 at a glance
| Session | Description |
|---|---|
| Active keynote workshop Creative Connections | Get ready to roll up your sleeves and dive into an energising, hands-on workshop that transforms ideas into action. This interactive session invites participants to engage in a playful yet purposeful creative activity designed to spark dialogue, surface challenges, and plant the seeds for future collaboration. Together, participants will craft creative prompts to inspire new ways of thinking about connection, purpose and practice. This session flows straight into an extended networking lunch, setting the stage for thoughtful conversations and new professional relationships. |
| Poster sessions Sharing research and practice | Educators and researchers will showcase projects, innovations, and inquiries related to a wide range of learning and teaching themes. You’ll have the opportunity to engage in small-group dialogue and learn from peers across institutions. |
| Panel discussion Making evidence of learning visible across an AI-integrated curriculum | As AI technologies become increasingly embedded in learning, teaching and assessment, what counts as evidence of student learning and how do we make it visible? This panel will explore strategies, challenges, and critical questions around evidencing learning in a rapidly evolving educational landscape. Panellists, each with a key role and a different perspective, will reflect on what it means to surface learning in ways that are authentic, meaningful, and responsive to change. Together, we’ll consider how AI invites us to rethink long-held assumptions about assessment, visibility, and educational value. Expect a robust and thoughtful discussion, with opportunities for participants to pose questions to some of the leaders helping to shape our response to the challenge of AI, education, and the assurance of learning. |
| Mini symposium Programmatic approaches to curriculum design | Join us for a fast-paced and practical "mini symposium", showcasing how educators across disciplines are embracing programmatic thinking in curriculum and assessment design at Monash. You’ll hear quick-fire case studies from colleagues working at the coalface, covering integrated curriculum planning, scaffolded learning outcomes, and whole-of-program approaches that support deeper, more connected student learning. Presenters will share some of the tools, processes, insights, and challenges that have developed out of Monash's Programmatic Assessment and AI Review (PAAIR) project and wider Assessment Advancement initiative. From the strategic to the messy, this session will offer real-world examples of how program-level thinking is taking shape across different contexts. The session will conclude with a discussion on how these approaches can be adapted and applied elsewhere, and some of the opportunities and barriers to moving towards more holistic, program-wide perspectives. Whether you're just starting out or already experimenting with programmatic approaches, this session will inspire practical action and deeper thinking about how we can intentionally and holistically shape student learning journeys. |
Day 2 – 01 October
Open to all Monash staff only
“Deep dives, fresh perspectives and bold conversations”
Start the day by reconnecting with Monash colleagues over coffee before the official start of Day 2. This second day of the conference will focus on expanding our understandings of a wide range of educational practices through parallel sessions, lightning talks and a closing plenary panel and networking.
Day 2 at a glance
| Session | Description |
|---|---|
| Parallel sessions |
The program features two separate blocks of parallel sessions, each comprising three sessions running at the same time. Session 1: Futures – Preparing Students for Industry and Society This session will explore some of the challenges and debates around how we can better equip our students for an uncertain and rapidly changing world, and the role higher education plays in shaping graduate futures. Session 2: Leadership – Zooming In and Out Educational leadership takes many forms, from within individual units to course coordination and broader strategic contexts. This session will examine the importance of educational leadership and how it might be cultivated in different forms. Session 3: Evaluation – Beyond Student Evaluation of Teaching and Units (SETU) How can we understand and improve teaching effectiveness and student experience beyond standard student feedback tools? This session will invite you to rethink what meaningful evaluation looks like, using real-world case studies. Session 4: Collaborating in Education A thoughtful look into meaningful educational collaboration between students, educators and others across disciplines, faculties, and even institutions. Session 5: Navigating the Culture of Higher Education Research This session invites you to critically explore the culture of higher education research—why it matters, how it’s practiced, and what it takes to make it impactful. Session 6: Inclusion in Education: Why Be Inclusive? This session is an invitation to reflect critically and practically on inclusion, why it matters, how it's enacted, and what impact it can have on learners and learning. |
| Lightning talks | A series of rapid-fire presentations (5 minutes each) on initiatives, innovations and inquiries across Monash, followed by an audience Q&A. |
| Plenary response Beyond boundaries | This plenary session brings the Monash Learning and Teaching Conference full circle, inviting us to reflect on the ideas, insights, and questions that have emerged over the past two days. Featuring a panel of leading Monash educators, this session will draw together threads from across the keynote, provocations, panels, lightning talks, posters, and parallel sessions, surfacing themes, highlighting tensions, and exploring what it really means to think across boundaries in contemporary education. While this session leads us to the conclusion of the conference, it holds open the door to what comes next: continued conversations, new collaborations, and ongoing connection-building, within Monash and beyond. |
| Closing remarks & networking function | We close the conference with brief words of gratitude and reflection on some of the key takeaways from the conference. Participants are invited to stay for a networking function to continue conversations, share insights, and connect with colleagues new and familiar in a relaxed setting. |
View the full conference program
Day 1 | 30 September
Day 2 | 01 October
Explore the innovative ideas, research, and practices shared at the Learning and Teaching Conference. The Abstract Book showcases the wide range of contributions from educators, researchers, and professional staff who are shaping the future of learning and teaching at Monash University.
Missed the conference?
Catch up on key highlights, reflections, and insights on our blog.
Join a vibrant community of educators, researchers, and professional staff driving innovation in teaching and learning.
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