Global educators gather in Ōtautahi Christchurch

Photo caption: Executive Dean Education Professor Joce Nuttall opens the 2025 International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL) Conference. 

The conference brings together educators, researchers, and students committed to advancing teaching and learning as serious scholarly work, with a focus on innovation and collaboration in tertiary education.

Executive Dean Education Professor Joce Nuttall opened the conference, encouraging attendees to connect with researchers. The conference theme Exploring the Changing Landscapes of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning aligns with Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury’s (UC) commitment to research that reimagines how people teach and learn.

At UC, researchers are exploring new ways to connect theory and practice, embedding sustainability and bicultural perspectives in the curriculum, and using data-informed approaches to support student success and wellbeing.

Two UC academics, volcanologist Professor Ben Kennedy and Health Sciences Professor Chris North, are part of the conference planning committee. Both have been recognised for their teaching excellence, with Professor Kennedy receiving the UC Teaching Medal in 2019 and the Prime Minister’s Science Communication Prize in 2023, and Professor North named the 2025 UC Teaching Medal recipient this week.

UC’s innovative student success programme Kia Angitu and its Analytics for Course Engagement (ACE) system are also featured during the conference as examples of effective student support. These initiatives combine technology and proactive outreach to help students thrive throughout their studies. The Te Kākau a Māui enrichment programme, which supports 130 new students each year committed to making positive change, is another highlight of UC’s holistic approach to learning and wellbeing.

The first keynote of the week takes place this afternoon with Professor Melinda Webber from Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland presenting How the Mana Model and Other Mātauranga Māori Learning Frameworks Can Help Us to Reconceptualise Teaching and Learning. Her session explores how mana, a person’s sense of authority, belonging and capability, can be fostered in university learning environments.

On Wednesday, Professor Sarah Elaine Eaton from the University of Calgary delivers Grounding Ourselves in Shifting Terrain: Postplagiarism and Academic Integrity in a Changing Educational Landscape, focusing on the implications of generative AI for teaching, learning and ethical assessment.

With a full week of panels and discussions, ISSOTL 2025 provides an opportunity for global collaboration and knowledge exchange, advancing the shared goal of enhancing teaching and learning across disciplines and borders.