Biography and expertise
Biography
Dr Polly Lai is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Teaching and Learning, Southern Cross University, Australia. Before joining Australian universities, including UNSW and QUT, she served as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Learning and Cognition Lab (LCL) led by Regents Professor Michelene Chi at Arizona State University, USA.
Dr Lai's work contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals
Research
Dr Lai received the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE) Research Grant Award (General Academic) and is leading a research project on Hybrid Learning Spaces, funded by the Council of Australasian University Leaders in Learning and Teaching (CAULLT). She has published extensively, including several journal articles and a book chapter, in areas such as STEM education, learning and instruction, and educational technology. Her expertise in Productive Failure has earned her invitations to review relevant articles for prestigious journals, including Instructional Science (https://link.springer.com/journal/11251) and the Journal of Computer Assisted Learning (JCAL) (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652729).
Other
Dr Lai has led major university-wide initiatives, such as the SCM transition projects for the Faculty of Business, Law and Arts, and The Hotel School, as well as the HEA Fellowship Programme at Southern Cross University. Holding a PhD in Learning Sciences and Technology from the University of Sydney, Dr Lai serves as an Associate Editor for the Australasian Journal of Educational Technology (AJET) (https://ajet.org.au/index.php/AJET). Since 2019, she has mentored over 300 academic staff in curriculum design, learning innovation, and HEA fellowship development.