PRESENTER: Associate Professor Simone Taffe (Swinburne) Winner of 2017 Australian Award for University Teaching Excellence

TOPIC:Ten principles for equipping students to excel in the workplace

Associate Professor Simone Taffe has helped hundreds of students gain the professional skills they need to be work-ready and achieve national and international success. For ten years, Simone has tailored problem-based learning to suit design students. Her innovative method uses authentic problems to embed authentic learning: students across all levels and capabilities work with genuine clients and real-world design scenarios. They work on branding, websites, games and service designs. Simone’s teaching approach gives students a structured tertiary experience which later equips them to excel in the workplace.

Simone was instrumental in establishing the Swinburne Design Factory, providing an international authentic learning platform for multi-disciplined student teams. Her students have secured high profile jobs, implemented designs for the community, won prestigious design awards and funding, registered design patents and established their own businesses. Her sustained commitment to problem-based learning in design education has led to university-wide outstanding teacher recognition, including a 2017 Australian Award for University Teaching excellence.

Simone will present ten principles for realistic problem-based learning in tertiary education, equipping students to flourish in their chosen careers. Simone will explain the 'follow me' coaching style of teaching where students no longer work for the teacher and assessment but alongside the teacher and industry partners.