Associate ProfessorVictoria Duckett

Unit Chair for the capstone Australian screen unit. Led curriculum redevelopment, embedding Australian animation, diverse screen cultures, stronger links between theory and production, industry speakers and revised assessment rubrics. Changes to feedback and assessment contributed to a substantial improvement in student satisfaction.

Unit Chair and lecturer. Delivered an interdisciplinary unit connecting cinema, psychology and psychoanalytic theory. Student feedback praised the depth of disciplinary knowledge, enthusiasm, engaging delivery, responsiveness and commitment to student achievement.

Unit Chair for units introduced during the rollout of the Bachelor of Entertainment Production, including: Producing Entertainment, Consuming Entertainment, Distributing Entertainment , and Programming Entertainment

As founder of the course and for 3 years Course Director, I led the design, accreditation, launch and delivery of Deakin’s Bachelor of Entertainment Production, developing a distinctive industry-facing curriculum that combined creative production, critical inquiry, internships and professional portfolio development. I also managed the course’s orderly teach-out, ensuring that students were supported and able to complete their studies without disruption, despite significant challenges, including sustained concerns and complaints from some parents. My leadership and commitment to the student cohort were formally recognised by the Head of School, who commended my “personal efforts to teach brilliantly in an innovative course,” while the Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning, separately recognised my excellence in teaching.

Led curriculum renewal across the Film Studies sequence in the Bachelor of Film, Television and Animation. This included redesigning ACF104 and ACF320 and creating the new ACF206 Film Festivals unit. Changes introduced industry-facing pedagogy, inclusive curriculum, archive-based research, video essays and stronger integration of theory and creative practice.

Led teaching-related international engagement, incoming mobility, educational partnerships, international masterclasses and initiatives supporting student pathways and retention

Led interdisciplinary Creative Arts Honours teaching across Burwood, Geelong and online cohorts, introducing scaffolded writing workshops, extended consultations and specialist support from Deakin librarians and Language and Learning advisers. I strengthened students’ capacity to articulate creative practice as research and supported their progression into master’s and doctoral study.

Led the teaching team responsible for implementing the new degree. Mentored junior, contract and sessional academics, observed classroom teaching, supported assessment development and promoted consistency across newly introduced units.

Member of the six-person committee responsible for developing two interdisciplinary first-year units taught across the School’s 12 discipline areas. Contributed to unit guides, study guides, seminar activities, slides and teaching resources for large cohorts of approximately 750–800 students.

Unit Chair for the interdisciplinary Creative Arts Honours research unit. Supported students to articulate creative practice as research and introduced structured workshops in research writing, referencing and thesis development.

Designed and introduced this new unit in 2018 for commencement in 2019. Students researched, curated and presented their own film festival programs, connecting film scholarship, programming, audience development and contemporary industry practice.

Unit Chair and curriculum leader for this large first-year Film, Television and Animation core unit. Redesigned the unit to strengthen industry-facing, inclusive and practice-based learning. Introduced archive-based research, creative assessment and the video essay as a mode of scholarly communication.

Co-founded the Bachelor of Entertainment Production with Professor Deb Verhoeven and wrote the Academic Course Proposal for approval by the Faculty Board. Led the coordination, evaluation and national accreditation of the degree, ensuring alignment with the Australian Qualifications Framework and relevant national course and qualification standards. As Course Director from 2016 to 2018, I led a work-integrated, interdisciplinary degree that helped pioneer digital humanities teaching in the School of Communication and Creative Arts. I wrote new unit guides, chaired the program’s core units, supported the delivery of eight new units across three years, and mentored junior and sessional staff in curriculum design, online assessment and teaching delivery. I also advised students on course mapping, credit for prior learning and career pathways. The degree operated from 2015 to 2018 and entered teach-out after its final intake.

I introduced the video essay through the redesign of ACF104 — Screening Film History, giving students the option of submitting either a traditional research essay or a video essay. I then promoted the video essay more broadly across Film, Television and Animation as a serious form of scholarly communication, supported by examples and relevant scholarship.

Designed assessments requiring students to work with archival and primary-source materials rather than relying solely on secondary scholarship. I also developed projects with Deakin’s Information and Records Services in which Entertainment Production students used creative media to interpret and activate archival collections.

I introduced the initiative in 2019 through ACF206 Film Festivals and extended it into ACF320 The Australian Moving Image in 2020–2021. Invited speakers included Alexander Hipwell, Spiro Economopoulos, Geoffrey Wright and Tony Ayres.

In 2015, I helped spearhead the development of the SparkStart online learning initiative, producing short, engaging videos that introduced undergraduate students to Faculty research. The initiative was adopted in ACC100, reaching a cohort of more than 850 students, and contributed to the wider use of research-led video content in CloudDeakin

Provided sustained mentoring to colleagues at international partner institutions, including advice on research projects, publications and potential doctoral study. This includes Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Symbiosis International University, O.P. Jindal Global University, and partner universities engaged through Deakin’s teaching masterclasses and research-development activities.

Mentored sessional, contract and junior academics teaching in the Bachelor of Entertainment Production and Film Studies. This included classroom observation, feedback, assessment development, rubric design and support for consistent delivery. I also applied an in-class mentoring model to train and support junior colleagues delivering newly developed units. I introduced seminar guidelines, lesson plans, slides, readings and assessment activities for tutors and sessional staff. Materials developed for large first-year units were used by approximately ten teaching staff.

Kathryn Ann Morrison - School of Communication and Creative Arts

Briony Kidd - School of Communication and Creative Arts

Vinyasa Hegade - School of Communication and Creative Arts