Dr Gisela van Kessel is an Associate Dean for UniSA Online. She is responsible for ensuring quality online degrees are delivered from UniSA: Business and UniSA: Clinical Health Sciences and UniSA: Allied Health and Human Performance. She is committed to excellence in curriculum design, innovative teaching, and enhanced student learning experiences.
Gisela is a registered physiotherapist and has extensive industry experience as a clinician and manager joining UniSA in 2000. She began her academic career in the Division of Health Sciences at UniSA and contributed to teaching, research, and leadership roles until her secondment to Associate Dean: UniSA Online in 2021. Dr van Kessel holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Physiotherapy, a ... Read more
About me
Dr Gisela van Kessel is an Associate Dean for UniSA Online. She is responsible for ensuring quality online degrees are delivered from UniSA: Business and UniSA: Clinical Health Sciences and UniSA: Allied Health and Human Performance. She is committed to excellence in curriculum design, innovative teaching, and enhanced student learning experiences.
Gisela is a registered physiotherapist and has extensive industry experience as a clinician and manager joining UniSA in 2000. She began her academic career in the Division of Health Sciences at UniSA and contributed to teaching, research, and leadership roles until her secondment to Associate Dean: UniSA Online in 2021. Dr van Kessel holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Physiotherapy, a Master in Health Service Management, and a Doctor of Public Health conferred in 2013 after successfully submitting a thesis exploring resilience to the effects of natural disasters.
Gisela conducts research in resilience and wellbeing with a current focus on student resilience and has published work on teaching cultural competence and ethics.
About me
Ministerial appointment to the South Australian Public Health Council
About me
Doctor of Philosophy Flinders University
Masters of Management in Health Service Management Flinders University
Graduate Diploma in Management University of South Australia
Bachelor of Applied Science South Australian Institute of Technology
Graduate Certificate in Physiotherapy University of South Australia
2017 Melbourne School of Population and Global Health 2017 Knowledge Transfer Awards for excellence in knowledge transfer achievements recognising the translation and impact of the work resulting from the ARC funded Beyond Bushfires: Community Resilience and Recovery study that examined the impacts of the Black Saturday and related bushfires of February 2009 on community members’ physical and mental health and wellbeing. The findings have informed the work of Red Cross, government service planning and recovery plans for disaster and terrorist activities across Australia and internationally.
Research
Excludes commercial-in-confidence projects.
2019 Curtin Learning and Teaching Grants Morrisby, C, Sanderson, B, Flavell, H, Bennett, D, Franklyn, K, Timms, L, Smart, S, Waters, R, Fernades, T, Hunter, S, van Kessel, G, Berndt, a, Careering ahead: Embedding employability thinking in undergraduate curricula
2017 ATN grant: Brewer, M, van Kessel, G (UniSA lead), Barnard, S, Sanderson, B, Ferns, S, Reubenson, R, Maresse, S, Cooper, B, Lane, M, Naumann, N, Caroline Rueckert, R,. Building graduate resilience for the disrupted future of the 21st century.
2015 Lifetime Support Authority of South Australia: Stanley, M, Mackintosh, S, van Kessel, G, Fryer, C, Hillier, S, Murray, C
2015 Lifetime Support Authority of South Australia: Stanley, M, Mackintosh, S, van Kessel, G, Fryer, C, Hillier, S, Murray, C
Choice and Control: Client and caregiver perspectives informing best practice
2014 UniSA Teaching and Learning Development Grant: King, S, Parkinson-Lawrence, E, Mosewich, A, van Kessel, G
Improving student success, well-being and retention
2013 UniSA Teaching Grant - Innovation and Development: van Kessel, G, Milanese, S, Gill, R.
Development of a student-centred tool that supports meta-learning for undergraduate students.
Research
Research outputs for the last seven years are shown below. Some long-standing staff members may have older outputs included. To see earlier years visit ORCID, ResearcherID or Scopus
Open access indicates that an output is open access.
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2021 |
Open access
4
4
|
| 2019 |
167
131
5
|
| 2019 |
Open access
12
11
4
|
| 2018 |
Open access
|
| 2012 |
35
30
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2024 |
Open access
4
|
| 2024 |
17
16
1
|
| 2024 |
Open access
|
| 2023 |
3
|
| 2022 |
Open access
9
7
3
|
| 2022 |
Open access
5
7
4
|
| 2022 |
Open access
3
3
|
| 2022 |
Open access
3
3
|
| 2022 |
Open access
8
6
4
|
| 2021 |
Open access
4
4
|
| 2019 |
167
131
5
|
| 2019 |
Open access
6
5
7
|
| 2019 |
Open access
65
66
20
|
| 2019 |
Open access
12
11
4
|
| 2018 |
Open access
45
41
2
|
| 2018 |
Open access
|
| 2017 |
Open access
63
64
35
|
| 2017 |
8
8
14
|
| 2016 |
Open access
14
4
|
| 2016 |
Open access
15
17
47
|
| 2016 |
Open access
5
|
| 2015 |
9
8
5
|
| 2015 |
Open access
13
10
2
|
| 2014 |
Open access
5
7
1
|
| 2013 |
8
9
|
| 2013 |
Open access
114
107
|
| 2012 |
17
16
|
| 2012 |
28
23
|
| 2012 |
35
30
|
| 2012 |
Open access
|
| 2010 |
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2015 |
Open access
|
http://www.enhancingresilience.com/
Research
2017 Melbourne School of Population and Global Health 2017 Knowledge Transfer Awards for excellence in knowledge transfer achievements recognising the translation and impact of the work resulting from the ARC funded Beyond Bushfires: Community Resilience and Recovery study that examined the impacts of the Black Saturday and related bushfires of February 2009 on community members’ physical and mental health and wellbeing. The findings have informed the work of Red Cross, government service planning and recovery plans for disaster and terrorist activities across Australia and internationally.
2008 High Commendation - Chancellor’s Awards for Community Engagement (the course Health Promotion in Physiotherapy-Good Beginnings Australia projects)
External engagement & recognition
| Organisation | Country |
|---|---|
| Aboriginal Women's Advisory Group | AUSTRALIA |
| Auckland University of Technology | NEW ZEALAND |
| Australian Catholic University | AUSTRALIA |
| Australian National University | AUSTRALIA |
| Bond University | AUSTRALIA |
| Central Australian Aboriginal Congress | AUSTRALIA |
| Central Queensland University | AUSTRALIA |
| Charles Sturt University | AUSTRALIA |
| CSIRO Australia (Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research organisation) | AUSTRALIA |
| Curtin University | AUSTRALIA |
| Edith Cowan University | AUSTRALIA |
| Flinders University | AUSTRALIA |
| Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre | AUSTRALIA |
| Heart Foundation of Australia | AUSTRALIA |
| La Trobe University | AUSTRALIA |
| Lyell McEwin Hospital | AUSTRALIA |
| Menzies School of Health Research | AUSTRALIA |
| Monash University | AUSTRALIA |
| Neuromoves | AUSTRALIA |
| Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara Women’s Council | AUSTRALIA |
| Queensland University of Technology | AUSTRALIA |
| Royal Adelaide Hospital | AUSTRALIA |
| Royal Children's Hospital | UNITED KINGDOM |
| South Australian Health and Medical and Research Institute (SAHMRI) | AUSTRALIA |
| The Queen Elizabeth Hospital | AUSTRALIA |
| University of Canberra | AUSTRALIA |
| University of Melbourne | AUSTRALIA |
| University of Newcastle | AUSTRALIA |
| University of South Australia | AUSTRALIA |
| University of South Florida | UNITED STATES |
| Western Sydney University | AUSTRALIA |
External engagement & recognition
| Engagement/recognition | Year |
|---|---|
Council MemberSouth Australian Public Health Council |
2017 |
Member, CommitteeAustralian Health Promotion Association South Australian Branch |
2017 |
Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student LearningOffice for Learning and Teaching, Department of Education and Training, Australian Government |
2012 |
2000-2006 Elected member of The Physiotherapists Board of South Australia
1997-1998 Member of the National Cardiorespiratory Special Interest Group Committee
1995–1996 Chairperson of the National Cardiorespiratory Special Interest Group
1994–1996 Chairperson of the South Australian Chapter of the Cardiorespiratory Special Interest Group
2022 AdvanceHE Senior Fellow
2012 Australian Awards for University Teaching. Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning. The Office for Teaching and Learning. Australian Government. (Ethics and Communication REHB 4034) For facilitating the development of moral judgment in final year physiotherapy students through a pedagogy involving perturbation of existing moral reasoning frameworks.
2011 University of South Australia Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning in recognition of the contribution towards the creation of effective learning environments and to the quality of student learning at UniSA for the course Ethics and Communication)
Teaching & student supervision
Supervisions from 2010 shown
| Thesis title | Student status |
|---|---|
| Let's get real: Developing Authentic, Industry Relevant Curricula in Journalism and Media Communication Education | Current |
| Resilience to challenges of returning to society: A sociological qualitative study of young leukaemia survivors in China | Current |
| Exploring self-efficacy of clinical skills in a cohort of Australian radiography students | Completed |
| The psychometric properties, and the use, of Short Physical Performance Battery in residential aged care: findings from the literature and frontline clinical practice | Completed |
