Phillip Dawson

Professor Phillip Dawson is the Co-Director of the Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE) at Deakin University. With over 20 years of experience in Australian higher education, he is a leading researcher in assessment practices, academic integrity, and the impact of artificial intelligence on education.

His research focuses on:

• Assessment security in digital environments
• Feedback practices in higher education
• Academic integrity and cheating prevention
• Impact of artificial intelligence on assessment
• Evaluation of educational technology
• Grade inflation and assessment validity

Professor Dawson's scholarly contributions have established him as a key voice in higher education assessment. His work has been featured in major media outlets including ABC TV, The Australian, The Age, Times Higher Education, BBC, VICE, Vox, and the Financial Times. He is frequently called upon to contribute to public debates on higher education policy and practice, including discussions in the Australian parliament.

His notable achievements include:

• Four university-level teaching awards
• A citation from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council
• Authorship of two influential books: 'Defending Assessment Security in a Digital World' (Routledge, 2021) and 'Re-imagining University Assessment in a Digital World' (Springer, 2020)

Professor Dawson leads major research projects funded by the Australian Research Council, the Office for Learning and Teaching, and educational technology companies including Turnitin, Inspera and NetSpot. His current research examines how to design assessments that maintain validity in the age of generative AI, moving beyond simple rule-setting to fundamental structural changes in assessment design.

Beyond his academic work, Professor Dawson is an active performer in comedy, particularly through 'The Peer Revue,' an academia-themed improv show which he both performs in and produces, demonstrating his commitment to making academic concepts accessible and engaging to broader audiences.