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Amanda Edgar

(she/her)

Senior Lecturer, Learning Spaces Innovation

Deakin Learning Futures/Digital Learning

Orcid identifier0000-0002-2931-5052 (opens in a new tab)⁠
  • Senior Lecturer, Learning Spaces Innovation
    Deakin Learning Futures/Digital Learning
  • Melbourne Burwood Campus, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125

TEACHING EXPERTISE

Amanda Edgar is an educational leader with expertise in how assessment, digital technologies, learning environments and institutional systems interact. Her work focuses on how assessment, technology, learning environments and institutional systems can be designed to improve student learning, participation and success at scale.

 

Amanda developed into an excellent teacher through leadership in assessment, clinical learning, and simulation-based education. She led the design and evaluation of clinical reasoning assessments, virtual simulation and Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs), with this work attracting international collaborations spanning India, Malawi, New Zealand, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Her expertise expanded through leadership of assessment innovation at institutional scale. As Expert Academic Lead for Deakin's End-of-Unit Assessment Reform, she contributed to a university-wide shift towards authentic assessment (reducing examination sittings from approximately 70,000 to 18,000) and supporting more than 1,200 academic staff to design practice-based assessment.

 

Building on this foundation, Amanda's work evolved from assessment and simulation-based education to the design and evaluation of educational systems. She has led major institutional initiatives including Deakin's Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) transformation, the Building B Learning Spaces Refresh, learning activity and learning space nomenclature reforms, extended reality initiatives, and evidence-informed approaches to learning environment design and evaluation. Through the Building B and BYOD refresh, 45 learning spaces were transformed to support active and collaborative learning, resulting in an increase of more than 80% in teaching capacity and a 116% increase in occupancy. Evaluation findings demonstrated significant shifts in teaching practice and student engagement, with all educators reporting an enhanced ability to engage students both individually and in groups, and all students reporting that the spaces supported participation in class activities and access to the technologies they required for learning.

 

Amanda's approach to teaching and learning is grounded in the integration of scholarship and practice. She studies the educational systems she leads and applies evidence to improve learning, teaching and student experience. Her contributions to teaching and learning have been recognised through a Deakin Vice-Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence (2021), an Australian Awards for University Teaching (AAUT) Citation (2023), a QS Reimagine Education Award (2024), and CAULLT/CAUDIT Award shortlisting (2025).

TEACHING ACTIVITIES

  • TEACHING AND LEARNING LEADERSHIP ROLE
    FEATURED
    Featured
    Chair, Campus Learning Spaces Working Group (2023 - present) (opens in a new tab)⁠
    1 Feb 2023
    Chair the Campus Learning Spaces Working Group, providing cross‑university leadership for learning space design and investment. This work informs major infrastructure decisions and aligns academic, digital and infrastructure portfolios, embedding pedagogy and student experience into campus planning and refurbishment across multiple campuses.
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  • TEACHING AND LEARNING LEADERSHIP ROLE
    FEATURED
    Featured
    End of Unit Assessment Project (Expert Academic Lead) (2022) (opens in a new tab)⁠
    8 May 2022 - 18 Dec 2022
    Led university‑wide shift away from multiple‑choice and written examinations during COVID‑19, reducing examination sittings from 70,000 to 18,000 and enabling two faculties to remove exams entirely. Established frameworks and governance supporting over 1,200 staff to design authentic, practice‑based assessment aligned with contemporary higher education contexts.
    MORELEARN MORE (opens in a new tab)
  • TEACHING AND LEARNING INITIATIVE DEVELOPED
    FEATURED
    Featured
    Virtual Mobility and Simulation in International Education (Project Lead) (2019-23)
    Led development of a multi-award winning virtual simulation model embedded across multiple years of the optometry program and extended internationally. Scaled from 8 students to 167 students and 668 placement hours in 3 months, replacing limited placement opportunities with structured capability development. Evaluation showed improved student engagement (85% agreement on learning effectiveness, up from 75%) and increased confidence in professional capabilities.
  • TEACHING AND LEARNING INITIATIVE DEVELOPED
    FEATURED
    Featured
    Envirocare Digital Learning Platform (Program Director) (2023-25) (opens in a new tab)⁠
    Led development of a national, open‑access digital learning platform supporting integration of Indigenous knowledges into higher education curricula. Reaching 10,00+ students anually across 33 universities, influencing teaching practice and supporting culturally responsive curriculum design. Contributed to workforce development, including transition of Indigenous student contributors into employment. Recognised internationally through QS Reimagine Education Award (2024).
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  • TEACHING AND LEARNING INITIATIVE DEVELOPED
    FEATURED
    Featured
    Transitioning to Bring Your Own Device Learning Spaces (Project Lead) (2023-26) (opens in a new tab)⁠
    Led the transition from fixed computer laboratories to BYOD learning environments across four campuses. Evaluation shows improved utilisation (up to ~80%), increased use of spaces beyond timetabled teaching, and staff-reported shifts toward more collaborative and flexible teaching practices.
    MORELEARN MORE (opens in a new tab)
  • TEACHING AND LEARNING INITIATIVE DEVELOPED
    FEATURED
    Featured
    Learning Activities Nomenclature (Project Lead) (2023-24)
    Led cross‑university implementation of a shared learning activity nomenclature, aligning policy, curriculum design and institutional systems. Embedded across BRUCE, Syllabus Plus and student-facing platforms, improving consistency in learning design and supporting clearer communication of learning expectations to staff and students, supported by co‑designed with students.
  • TEACHING AND LEARNING INITIATIVE DEVELOPED
    FEATURED
    Featured
    XR @ Deakin (Project Lead) (2025-present) (opens in a new tab)⁠
    Leads a cross-institution network in extended reality, identifying 19 initiatives involving around 40 academic leads across all faculties and supporting capability development in simulation and immersive learning. This has influenced the upcoming investment in a dedicated XR learning space at Deakin.
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  • TEACHING AND LEARNING INITIATIVE DEVELOPED
    FEATURED
    Featured
    Learning Space Nomenclature (Project Lead) (2025-present)
    Leading cross‑university development of a shared learning space nomenclature addressing inconsistencies across over 46 terms used in institutional systems. Aligns policy (learning environments and activities), curriculum, timetabling and infrastructure platforms, improving clarity of learning expectations and enabling more effective decision‑making and utilisation of learning environments at scale.
  • TEACHING AND LEARNING INITIATIVE DEVELOPED
    FEATURED
    Featured
    Teaching Pods (Project Lead) (2023-25) (opens in a new tab)⁠
    Led the implementation and scaling of Teaching Pods to support online and hybrid teaching. Usage increased from 1,398 instances (2023) to 2,546 instances (2025), supporting shifts toward digitally enabled and flexible teaching practices.
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  • UNIT CHAIR
    HMO703 Community Optometry 1 & HMO704 Community Optometry 2 (Unit Chair) (2021-2023) (opens in a new tab)⁠
    13 Jun 2021 - 12 Feb 2023
    Led redesign of clinical placement and assessment systems across the optometry program, including development of digital tools and supervisor training to support workplace‑based assessment for large, distributed teaching teams. This work improved consistency of assessment and was adopted across courses in the Faculty of Health. Elements of the model have been recognised by accreditation bodies as sector‑leading and informed a faculty‑wide supervisor training approach.
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  • UNIT CHAIR
    Curriculum Redesign HMO201 - Science of Vision 2 (Unit Chair) (2019)
    6 Oct 2019 - 28 Feb 2020
    Led redesign of core undergraduate curriculum and assessment in response to low performance and satisfaction. Achieved an increase in student satisfaction from 30% to 97% and improved academic outcomes through alignment of curriculum, assessment and learning design.
  • TEACHING AND LEARNING INITIATIVE DEVELOPED
    Inclusive Assessment and OSCE Design (Assessment Lead) (2017-2022)
    Worked with students, academic staff and support units to redesign OSCE assessments to improve accessibility and inclusion. This work led to changes in assessment practice and was presented at institutional forums and CRADLE publications.
  • UG, HONOURS OR MASTERS DEGREE SUPERVISION
    Exploring how Medical Students Co-Construct Clinical Reasoning in Role-Based Team Simulations, revealed through Microanalytic Examination of Decision-Making
    15 Dec 2025 - 13 Dec 2026