Topics included:
- the historical significance of open-ended feedback
- the role of AI in feedback
- ensuring ethical and fair analysis
- fostering actionable outcomes.
Explorance, in partnership with the University of New South Wales, co-hosted the annual Explorance Bluenotes conference APAC 2024 on 13 and 14 May in Sydney. The theme for this year’s conference was ‘Transforming Education with AI-Driven Insights and Student Feedback’, which was certainly timely given the remarkable and rapid evolution of AI that is transforming how we work, and interact, with technology. The two-day conference was attended by 70 delegates from across Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia, looking forward to an opportunity to connect and share experiences around student feedback and explore innovative feedback analytics solutions.
The conference kicked off on day one with a keynote address from Professor Alex Steel from the University of New South Wales, who discussed the importance of understanding AI—what it does and how it works—before we can use it effectively. This was followed by an engaging panel discussion focusing on unlocking the power of open-ended student feedback to enhance the teaching and learning experience from panellists Professor Lynn Gribble (University of New South Wales), Ms Emma Dawes (University of Newcastle) and Ms Jacqueline Tan (Singapore University of Social Sciences).
The second half of the day consisted of a series of engaging and informative presentations from delegates who are undertaking innovative work focused on the utilisation of AI in the student feedback process, which generated active discussion amongst attendees. Topics included harnessing early-semester student feedback and AI for educational enhancement, and practical uses of AI for institutional reporting.
Day one ended with dinner at the Coogee Bay Hotel, which provided a wonderful opportunity for conference attendees to socialise and network over drinks, delicious food, and a gorgeous view overlooking Coogee Beach.
Dr May Lim opened day 2 with a keynote presentation on the utilisation of generative AI tools to provide insightful and timely feedback across written, oral, and project-based assessment tasks in engineering education. This was followed by more opportunities for individual institutions to share how they are currently using AI to enhance learning and teaching experiences, make better use of qualitative feedback with MLY by Explorance and close the feedback loop.
Day 2 also saw an opportunity for delegates to come together in small groups for roundtable discussions on a range of topics:
- experiences and best practices for increasing response rates
- data-driven decision-making to transform the student experience
- quality and accuracy of source systems
- developing a feedback culture
- diving deeper into feedback with AI – practices and policies.
A huge thank you to both Explorance and the University of New South Wales for hosting such an experience-rich event, and thank you to all of the presenters who shared their innovative work in such an engaging and informative way.
Cassandra Saunders
Lecturer, Learning and Teaching, University of Tasmania
