Kate Thomson

Dr. Kate Thomson is a Senior Lecturer in Work Integrated Learning at the University of Sydney’s Sydney School of Health Sciences. She holds a PhD in Education (Sydney), a Graduate Certificate in Education Studies (Higher Education), and a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours). Her roles include Associate Editor for Higher Education Research and Development and Honorary Adjunct Fellow at Western Sydney University’s Learning Transformations initiative.

Education:

• PhD (Sydney)
• GradCertEdStudies (HigherEd) (Sydney)
• MIH (Distinction) (Curtin)
• BPsych (Hons) (Macquarie)

Research Interests:

• Professional learning through informal conversations and peer mentoring
• Student learning before/during/after clinical placements
• Measuring educational quality and evidence-based teaching practices
• Innovative methodologies like grounded theory and design-based research

Recent Research Trends: Dr. Thomson’s publications emphasize enhancing work-integrated learning outcomes through structured frameworks and evidence-based interventions. Her 2025 studies focus on curriculum improvements for radiography and analyzing informal learning interactions in health professions. Earlier work explores placement readiness and ethics education, reflecting her cross-disciplinary impact.

Awards:

• 2020 Sydney School of Health Sciences Teaching Award
• 2016 HERDSA Taylor & Francis Prize (Best New Researcher)
• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2019)

Grants & Advising: Secured over $200k in grants, including a 2023 project on workplace well-being and a 2015 mobile platform (Ask Charlie) linking student feedback to teaching resources. Supervises at Honours/Masters/PhD levels, with current advisee Gretel Evans.

Labs/Teams: Leads initiatives in Learning Transformations (Western Sydney University) and collaborates with the Australian Collaborative Education Network and Society for Learning Analytics Research.