Antonella Strambi

Born and educated in Milan (Italy) I began my academic career with an undergraduate degree in Arts, specialising in Media and Communication as well as language teaching. My early professional roles are rather diverse and include two years as a Marketing and Communication Officer for a theatre company and a year as a librarian. As a recipient of an International Postgraduate Research Scholarship, I completed my PhD at the University of Sydney in 2002, with a thesis examining the impact of computer-mediated interaction and communication on language learning. This was a pioneering study when it began in 1998; it led to a subsequent project and a publication that has received over 200 citations and is considered a seminal paper in the area of distance language teaching and learning. 

After 20 years as a lecturer and researcher in languages and applied linguistics, in 2018 I joined the Academic Development team in the Teaching Innovation Unit, where I have applied my extensive experience in teaching and learning to support UniSA staff in their curriculum innovation and quality learning design. My role in the TIU also involves managing and facilitating the Teaching and Learning Innovation Grants application and assessment process. 

I am a creative, highly skilled curriculum designer and have been the recipient of several teaching and learning innovation grants, including a Seed Grant from the Australian Office for Learning and Teaching for the project "Helping First Year Students Flourish through Languages: Integrating Positive Psychology, Transition Pedagogy, and CLIL Principles." More information about this project can be found on the L2Flourish website. In recognition of my leadership in teaching and curriculum design, I have been awarded a Senior Fellowship of AdvanceHE. 

My research interests focus on socio-emotional learning and student and staff wellbeing, particularly from a relational perspective. I have published articles in professional journals investigating the role of emotion communication, humour, and self-disclosure in building rapport, as well as looking at the potential of text analytics to gain insight into students' learning experiences. I completed the 16-week Instructional Coaching Institute offered by Jim Knight and am passionate about offering professional development opportunities that empower educators, by employing coaching and mentoring approaches. I am also currently studying for a Diploma of Counselling to further develop my person-centred approach to academic development. 

Currently, I am engaged in the following projects, which underscore my commitment to enhancing the learning and teaching experiences of UniSA students and staff:

• Affirming and Inclusive Engaged Learning for Neurodivergent Students: I was selected to participate in a 3-year research seminar led by the Centre for Engaged Learning at Elon University (US). I am collaborating with colleagues to explore the experiences of collaborative learning for neurodivergent students.
• 'Neurodiversity @ UniSA' Special Interest Group: I established and currently co-lead this group, which aims to advance academic research, policy, and practice regarding neurodiversity at UniSA and the new Adelaide University.
• Wellbeing research and publications: I have contributed to academic publications on student and educator wellbeing, with my latest work being an invited chapter in a book edited by Jacqui Oades, Narelle Lamon, and others, focusing on wellbeing literacy, soon to be published by Routledge.
• Epistemic Emotions Research: I recently completed a research project funded through the UniSA Online scholarship scheme, working with Dr Sisi Liu, Assoc. Prof. David Caldwell, and Assoc. Prof. Rhoda Abadia. Our study investigated the semi-automated detection of epistemic emotions—particularly confusion—in student-generated text to capture the experience of the 'productive struggle'.
• Teach, Design, Thrive: A Handbook for Tertiary Educators: I am leading the collaborative creation of this Open Educational Resource, which will be published on the Open Educational Resources Collective Pressbooks platform. The expected publication date is 2025.

Qualifications

• Doctor of Philosphy The University of Sydney

• Bachelor of Literature The Catholic University of Milan