1330655
Dr Natasha Arthars
Faculty of Engineering,
School of Mech., Medical & Process Engineering
Biography
Dr Natasha Arthars joined Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in 2022 as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, initially in the School of Teacher Education and Leadership before moving to the Faculty of Engineering.Natasha holds a PhD in Education from the University of Sydney, Master of Learning Sciences and Technology (Research) from the University of Sydney, Master of Business from the University of Newcastle, Bachelor of Training and Development from the University of New England, and numerous Vocational Education and Training qualifications, including a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.
Natasha’s interest in vocational education and training (VET) stems from a professional background managing and training in VET programs since 2008 and her own tertiary education journey, which started with a Traineeship where she completed a Certificate III in Business Administration (Legal) at a law firm in 2003.
Natasha's research focuses on knowledge and learning across the settings where tertiary education and work intersect — from classrooms to factory floors, collaborative groupwork to online spaces. Much of her current work is situated in manufacturing education contexts, examining how expertise is developed and transmitted in technically complex, tool-rich environments. Drawing on close analysis of how learning actually unfolds, her work informs the design of learning experiences and environments, as well as broader conversations about the institutional and policy conditions that shape opportunity across higher education and VET. Technology runs through much of this work, from learning analytics to generative AI.
She has been active in research since 2017, with roles at the University of Sydney, Griffith University, and QUT. She has served as a Chief Investigator on funded research projects attracting over $1.25 million in combined funding across multiple universities. Her work has generated 30+ peer-reviewed publications and over 350 citations, and has achieved international policy uptake with publications cited in Austrian Government parliamentary documents informing legislative discussion on digital education reform, and in a UNESCO Global Research Policy and Practices Report on AI-supported digital citizenship education. Her work has been recognised with an Australian Award for University Teaching (AAUT) Citation and the 2024 Journal of the Learning Sciences Outstanding Article of the Year award.
Natasha serves as an Executive Committee Member of the Australasian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) where she has been a member of the organising committee for the 2023 and 2024 conferences and is Co-Chair of the 2026 conference. She was the Queensland Representative of the Australian Council of Deans of Education Vocational Education group (ACDEVEG) (2024–2025) and chaired the ACDEVEG 2024 conference. She previously led the Training and Skills with Technology theme at QUT's Digital Learning for Change (DL4C) research group.
Personal details
Positions
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Faculty of Engineering,
School of Mech., Medical & Process Engineering
Keywords
Learning Sciences, Learning Analytics, Vocational Education and Training, Interdisciplinarity, Complex problem solving, Epistemic environments, Educational technology
Research field
Other Education, Curriculum and pedagogy, Education systems
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2020
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy (University of Sydney)
- Master of Learning Sciences and Technology (University of Sydney)
- Master of Business (with Distinction) (University of Newcastle)
- Graduate Certificate in Business Administration (University of Newcastle)
- Bachelor of Training and Development (University of New England)
Professional memberships and associations
Australasian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) - Executive Member
Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE)
Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE)
International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS)
Teaching
EUN673 Big Data and Learning Analytics
Publications
- Arthars, N., Markauskaite, L. & Goodyear, P. (2024). Constructing shared understanding of complex interdisciplinary problems: Epistemic games in interdisciplinary teamwork. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 33(2), 405–442. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/248568
- Huijser, H., Arthars, N., Cook, R., Cunningham, S., Kickbusch, S., Thompson, K., Vasco, D. & Winter, G. (2023). Applying Learning Analytics in Designing for Professional Skills and Attributes in Tertiary Education. In G. Durak & S. Cankaya (Eds.), Perspectives on Learning Analytics for Maximizing Student Outcomes (pp. 246–262). IGI Global. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/244091
- Cerimagic, S., Arthars, N., Eden, D. & Grunfeld, J. (2022). Bridging education to employment through virtual experience placement. Reconnecting relationships through technology: Proceedings of the 39th International Conference on Innovation, Practice and Research in the Use of Educational Technologies in Tertiary Education, ASCILITE 2022. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/236436
- Arthars, N. & Liu, D. (2020). How and Why Faculty Adopt Learning Analytics: Wide-Scale Learning Analytics Adoption through a 'Diffusion of Innovation' Lens. In D. Ifenthaler & D. Gibson (Eds.), Adoption of Data Analytics in Higher Education Learning and Teaching (pp. 201–220). Springer. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/236033
- Vigentini, L., Liu, D., Arthars, N. & Dollinger, M. (2020). Evaluating the scaling of a LA tool through the lens of the SHEILA framework: A comparison of two cases from tinkerers to institutional adoption. The Internet and Higher Education, 45. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/236031
- Markauskaite, L., Muukkonen, H., Damsa, C., Thompson, K., Arthars, N., Celik, I., Sutphen, M., Esterhazy, R., Solbrekke, T., Sugrue, C., McCune, V., Wheeler, P., Vasco, D. & Kali, Y. (2020). Interdisciplinary learning in undergraduate and graduate education: Conceptualizations and empirical accounts. The Interdisciplinarity of the Learning Sciences: 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2020, Volume 1, 398–405. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/210388
- Damsa, C., Richter, C., Allert, H., Pargman, T., Markauskaite, L., Arthars, N., Spence, N., Andreadakis, Z. & Slotta, J. (2020). Learning in unbounded landscapes - conceptualizations and design from an ecological perspective. Interdisciplinarity in the Learning Sciences: Proceedings of the 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences, ICLS 2020, 1, 366–373. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/236030
- Huber, E., McEwen, C., Bryant, P., Taylor, M., Arthars, N. & Boateng, H. (2020). Learning from a rapid transition to remote emergency teaching: Developing a typology of online business education designs. Proceedings of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE 2020): 37th International Conference on Innovation, Practice and Research in the use of Educational Technologies in Tertiary Education, 119–124. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/236168
- Liu, D., Kondo, E., King, D., Arthars, N., Dollinger, M. & Vigentini, L. (2019). Empowering teachers to personalize learning support: Case studies of teachers' experiences adopting a student- and teacher-centered learning analytics platform at three Australian universities. In D. Ifenthaler, D. Mah & JY. Yau (Eds.), Utilizing learning analytics to support study success (pp. 223–248). Springer. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/236032
- Dollinger, M., Liu, D., Arthars, N. & Lodge, J. (2019). Working together in learning analytics towards the co-creation of value. Journal of Learning Analytics, 6(2), 10–26. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/235914
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Natasha, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Filter publications:
A complete list of publications is available at: https://www.qut.edu.au/about/our-people/academic-profiles/natasha.arthars
Supervision
Current supervisions
- The Impact of a Relational Approach to Work Integrated Learning on Student Employability
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Lori Lockyer
The supervisions listed above are only a selection.