Australian Screen Production
Education & Research Association
Scholarship of Teaching & Learning:
Online Symposium
The ASPERA L&T Online Symposium series was established to share best practices in screen production education and evidence our collective contributions to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) in our discipline.
The ASPERA L&T Sub-Committee organised the first Online Symposium in November 2023 as an extension of discussions and panel presentation during the 2023 Annual ASPERA Conference at Flinders University in Adelaide. Following a panel on Diversity & Inclusion in the Screen Production Classroom, we felt that a regular forum of short lightning talks is a sustainable way to encourage ongoing exchange, debate, reflection, and professional development for academics at ASPERA member schools and beyond.
ASPERA member schools are diverse in their program offerings and structures, geographic realities, and student profiles. Yet, we share a focus on authentic screen production pedagogies. With screen production education typically closely embedded into local screen industries, the online symposia reach beyond the local and everyday, connecting colleagues and building knowledge across institutions.
The Higher Education Standards Framework (Teqsa 2021) describes Scholarship as “those activities concerned with gaining new or improved understanding, appreciation and insights into a field of knowledge, and engaging with and keeping up to date with advances in the field”. The ASPERA L&T Online Symposium series encourages a scholarly engagement in learning and teaching of screen production as well as a discipline-specific practitioner inquiry (Huber 2013) by providing a forum for colleagues to:
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evaluate and reflect upon their own teaching practices;
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maintain their knowledge of current developments in the field; and
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disseminate new knowledge of screen production education.
The ASPERA Learning & Teaching Online symposia allows us to build an evidence-based public repository across institutions with a view to continuously improve student learning and for colleagues to review and build upon in their own teaching practice. To achieve this, we share all contributions to the ASPERA L&T Online Symposium series on these pages and encourage colleagues to actively and regularly review, engage, and contribute.
2026, 1
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Addressing equity barriers in screen production education and transforming collaborative learning
In this symposium, Dr Bettina Frankham, the inaugural 2025 ASPERA Learning & Teaching Award recipient, outlined her work developing evidence-informed pedagogical innovations that systematically address equity barriers in screen production education, transforming collaborative learning for 200+ first-year students.
Bettina teaches into the Media Arts program at UTS. Bettina is a practice-led researcher in digital media. Her industry experience spans multiple forms of media including television, radio and web production. As a moving image practitioner she makes creative works that cross into territories of documentary, art and poetry.
The write up of this edition is Bettina’s successful application for the 2025 ASPERA Learning & Teaching Award. The accompanying video features her presentation to colleagues during the ASPERA L&T Online Symposium.
Date: Tuesday 17th February 2026
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Organising Committee: David Balfour (VCA), James Thompson (SAE), Jill Holt (Swinburne), Kerreen Ely-Harper (Curtin), Nico Meissner (Griffith), Nicole McCuaig (QUT), Rachel Wilson (RMIT) & Tom Young (Flinders)
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Virtual Host: Nicole McCuaig (QUT)
Presenter:
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Bettina Frankham (UTS)
2025, 1
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Generative Ai in the Screen Production Classroom
The rapid emergence and integration of generative AI/machine learning tools in screen production has sparked significant interest and debate within our institutions.
This online symposium explored some of the nuanced ways in which we are incorporating these technologies into our classrooms, the impact on students’ learning and creativity, and the broader implications for academic integrity, skill development, and industry expectations.
Date: Tuesday 22nd July 2025
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Organising Committee: Andrew O’Keefe & David Balfour (VCA), James Thompson (SAE), Jill Holt (Swinburne), Kerreen Ely-Harper (Curtin), Nico Meissner (Griffith), Rachel Wilson (RMIT) & Tom Young (Flinders)
Virtual Host: Tom Young (Flinders)
Presenters:
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Elizabeth Hoyle: Evolving Modes of Screen Production – The AI Workshop
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Jennifer Stokes, John Pike & Thomas Folber: Building critical AI literacy and fit for purpose application of Generative AI in Digital Literacy: Screen, Web and New Media.
Ross McLennan: Scepticism to Screen: Transforming AI Filmmaking Through Collaborative Teaching
2024, 2
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Innovations in assessing screen production courses
Screen production academics are challenged with assessing creative works–screenplays, films, videos, animations–and expressing that ‘judgement’ in quantitative/number forms, most often in the form of rubrics.
This session is designed to share case studies and the strategies that work for you and your students when assessing their screen production work. We will discuss the challenges but focus more on the tangible assessment practices that have proven effective for you.
Date: Monday 14th October 2024
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Organising Committee: Andrew O’Keefe (VCA), David Balfour (AFTRS), Jill Holt (Swinburne), Kerreen Ely-Harper (Curtin), Nico Meissner (Griffith), Rachel Wilson (RMIT), Teresa Rizzo (SAE) & Tom Young (Flinders)​
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Virtual Host: Andrew O'Keefe (VCA)
Presenters:
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Dr Zac Fitz-Walter Innovative Rubric Design and Modern Practices for Assessing Video Game Assignments
Dr Tom Young: Evolving Screen Production Assessment at Flinders University
Dr Angie Black: Assessing Creative Practice: Implementing Production Process Meetings in Filmmaking Education
2024, 1
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End of Year Showcases
What does a successful end of semester/year exhibition for screen production courses look like?
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As student cohorts grow in numbers together with a general shift in student engagement and viewing practices, there are new challenges when arranging end of semester/year screenings/events.
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The symposium was designed to share case studies about the tactics and strategies that work for colleagues and their students when sharing their screen production work. We discussed the challenges but focused more on the things we do to ensure success when screening, promoting and celebrating all the student’s hard work.
Date: Thursday 15th February 2024
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Organising Committee: Andrew O’Keefe (VCA), David Balfour (AFTRS), Jill Holt (Swinburne), Kerreen Ely-Harper (Curtin), Nico Meissner (Griffith), Rachel Wilson (RMIT), Teresa Rizzo (SAE) & Tom Young (Flinders)
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Virtual Host: Teresa Rizzo (SAE)
Presenters:
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Andrew O’Keefe: VCA/MIFF Graduate Season 2020 - 2023
Phoebe Hart: QUT Endslate
Kerreen Ely-Harper: Graduation Screenings – Value, Impact and Sustainability: Curtin Razor as a case study
Max Schleser, Susan Kerrigan, Jill Holt: The Swinburne University of Technology Film and Television Graduating Students’ Screening and Industry Award Night
2023, 1
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Diversity and Inclusion in the Screen Production Classroom
The first ASPERA L&T Online Symposium was an extension of a Learning & Teaching panel during the 2023 ASPERA Conference at Flinders University in Adelaide. With screen production programs growing in enrolments and popularity across the world, the diversity of our students increases too.
The symposium explored inclusive screen production teaching practices and how diversity in the classroom can enrich learning experiences for everyone.
Date: Wednesday 6th December 2023
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Organising Committee: Andrew O’Keefe (VCA), David Balfour (AFTRS), Jill Holt (Swinburne), Kerreen Ely-Harper (Curtin), Nico Meissner (Griffith), Rachel Wilson (RMIT), Teresa Rizzo (SAE) & Tom Young (Flinders)
Virtual Host: Nico Meissner (Griffith)​
Presenters:
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​Tania Visosevic: Beyond the Script: Re-Shaping Understanding
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Peter George: Encouragement of Diverse LGBTIQ+ and Neurodiverse Applicants for Specific Internship Programs
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Kerreen Ely-Harper: Memory Tales – A Social Memory Online Documentary Film Project