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Monika Kansal is an award-winning educator, celebrated globally for her exceptional teaching and learning practices. She received prestigious awards like IEAA's Best Practice in International Education, Vice-Chancellor's Awards for Outstanding Contributions to Learning and Teaching, and the United Nation's Golden Pin award. With numerous international workshops and Australian grants totalling $83,150, she passionately integrates real-world knowledge into Financial Accounting, engaging industry and community through workshops, press and radio interviews.
Monika Kansal is also the Champion for Accounting, Business and Law. You can find more information on Monika above under Group Lead.
Rachel Atkinson is an early career researcher and VET Practitioner specialising in Business, Entrepreneurship, and Finance. Her teaching emphasizes developing communication, business planning, workplace relationships and team facilitation competencies. Rachel's research interest is in exploring and enhancing Student Engagement.
Martin Turner has 25 years’ experience in the financial markets: private equity, funds management and investments banking. He has two decades of experience as an academic. He has a PhD in Accounting Education and has taught over 10,000 students. His research interests include how to support students to demonstrate professional skills, such as critical thinking, while studying accounting at university.
Alexandra McEwan teaches Equity and Trusts, Animal Law, and Legal Research in CQU’s undergraduate LLB program. In 2022 Alexandra was awarded a Vice Chancellor’s Learning and Teaching Commendation for incorporating transformative learning principles into her teaching strategies. She is currently writing a results paper with Dr Luke Price on a transformative learning student experience study in the context of an international study tour focusing on wildlife law and protection.
John McLaren has formal qualifications in university teaching with a Graduate Certificate of University Teaching and Learning from Charles Darwin University. He has published in the area of Work Integrated Learning (WIL) with colleagues from other Universities with Tax Clinics as part of the National Tax Clinic Program. He presented research findings at the Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN) 2022 Conference on the impact of WIL with international students. His co-collaborators were Professor Freudenberg from Griffith University and Associate Profess Cull from Western Sydney University.
Dr. Shweta Singh, recently appointed as Director VET Teaching and Learning at Central Queensland University, Australia, boasts over 20 years in tertiary education. Renowned for her dedication, she received three consecutive Qld Training Awards. Her expertise spans various industries, emphasizing safe learning environments and bridging knowledge gaps. A Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, she is also an accomplished author and contributor to academic literature. Volunteering as a Board member for a Brisbane community organization for nine years, her research focuses on sustainable living pedagogy, with interests in sustainable agriculture practices like carbon sequestration, waste management to advocate clean and green food to the community. Her role encompasses the continuum of teaching practice:
Janitha Abeygunasekera is a Lecturer in Accounting at the School of Business and Law at CQU. She started her academic career in 2008 and has worked in several Universities within and outside Australia prior to joining CQU. Apart from teaching and research, she has experience in strategic planning, curriculum development, and quality assurance related tasks in Higher education. Also, she had been the Champion and Project Coordinator of a World Bank funded project (on Accelerating Higher Education Expansion and Development) while serving the Faculty of Management and Finance in the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. During these involvements, she had attempted to promote work integrated learning practices among students and to facilitate the promotion of research culture among students.
Further, she had been continuously developing her knowledge and increasing her involvement in learning and teaching by obtaining qualifications such as Fellow in Higher Education Academy (FHEA) UK and Certificate in Teaching in Higher Education (CTHE) with accreditation from Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA) UK; as well as she had been researching and publishing related to teaching and learning.
Scott Beattie is a teacher in the fields of criminology and law who has long term experience as an L&T Coordinator and has served a term as Deputy Dean (Learning and Teaching). His publications have examine the role of interactive learning strategies including simulations and game based learning, use of digital badges to supplement the learning experience and the design of challenge based environments. Scott’s latest book Challenge Based Learning: Engaging Students through Interactivity (Springer 2024) explores the foundations of challenge design including interaction, playful learning and deployment of appropriate difficulty level. Scott’s current research includes integration of First Nations knowledges, simulation design practice and understanding the impact of neurodivergence on the tertiary learning experience.
Dr Ritangi Narang is a passionate academic and researcher with over ten years of extensive experience in business administration, academic teaching, and accounting. She specializes in integrating sustainability education into business and accounting curricula, fostering student engagement, and advancing pedagogical practices. Dr. Narang is dedicated to creating innovative and inclusive learning environments that promote critical thinking and ethical awareness. She continuously strives for professional development and actively contributes to academic literature and policy-making in higher education.
Dr Mai Nguyen is a lecturer in Accounting at the School of Business and Law, CQUniversity. She teaches a wide range of Accounting units including introductory accounting, financial accounting and management accounting among all. Her research interests focus on the intersection between corporate governance, sustainability accounting and climate accounting. Currently, Mai is working extensively in improving student engagement and promoting sustainability in Accounting education, aiming to transform the teaching and learning in accounting to be more contemporary and effective.
Dr Jingduan Li is a Lecturer in Accounting at CQUniversity's School of Business and Law. He started teaching in 2017 and gained extensive teaching experience in various courses in accounting and business. He coordinated and taught numerous units at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels at CQU and other universities in Australia, such as Management Accounting, Financial Accounting, Auditing & Professional Practice, Statistics, and organisation resources. His research primarily focuses on CSR, ESG, international accounting, financial reporting, carbon accounting, corporate governance and MNCs.
Finance, Economics, Financial Planning and Property
Marketing
Angelique McInnes is a passionate academic in Financial Planning in the School of Business & Law. With a PhD on Australia’s financial advice licensing model and extensive industry experience and qualifications, she bridges the gap between theory and practice by bringing real world expertise into education. Her work explores fintech, licensing frameworks, generative AI in learning, and innovative teaching strategies that prepare students for the future of financial services. Through strong industry partnerships she brings real-world tools and insights into the classroom, ensuring graduates are job-ready and forward-thinking. She’s committed o advancing the financial advice profession by championing initiatives that promote the professionalization of financial advisers.
Steven Boyd is a practicing property valuer and real estate educator with an interest in how students learn. His research extends from the design and development of serious games to incorporate a diverse suite of learning activities and assessments to help non-traditional students learn more effectively. Most recently Steven’s research has focused on AI in real estate education (AIREE), and applied in delivery of industry modules for valuers, asset and funds management along with property developers.
Management
Jintao Zhang is a lecturer at the School of Business and Law. He has been teaching management and international business since 2009. His work earned him several teaching awards, including merit certificates and Dean's awards before he joined CQUniversity. Jintao has developed emerging research interests in student engagement and discipline-specific education, aiming to enhance the learning experience and teaching effectiveness. His current research and teaching efforts are focused on better engaging students and tailoring education to specific disciplines.
Human Resource Management
Upamali is a Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management (HRM) at CQUniversity’s School of Business and Law. As an experienced HRM educator, Upamali is experimenting with the integration of artificial intelligence in teaching and learning. Her commitment to enhancing student engagement and the learning experience has resulted in her receiving Student Voice Awards in multiple years. As an active research supervisor, she focuses on exploring effective ways to implement a cohort model for research higher degree (RHD) student supervision, which benefits both supervisors and students. This impactful work has secured her consecutive internal research funding in 2023 and 2024.
MBA Leadership
Anja Pabel, PhD, BBus (Hons I), is the Manager and Academic Lead for CQUniversity’s hyperflexible online Leadership and Innovation courses and serves as the Head of Course for the MBA (Leadership). She is a Senior Fellow of Advance HE (SFHEA), a recognition of her leadership in teaching and learning, mentorship of colleagues, and significant contributions to curriculum development. Anja’s research focuses on hyperflexible learning, student experience, and the use of humour as a strategy to enhance online engagement and learning in higher education. She has received multiple awards and commendations for her dedication to learning and teaching and regularly shares her scholarship and practice at national conferences, including HERDSA and STARS.
Anja's Projects
Dr. Darren Turnbull is an educator and researcher in CQUniversity’s School of Business and Law, currently teaching across Certificate and Diploma programmes in the School’s VET team. His principal research focus is on Learning Management Systems and their deployment in cross-cultural contexts. He has worked across RTOs globally, including China, Qatar, the UAE, and Canada. Current interests include investigating the use of generative AI to enhance student engagement, support authentic assessment, and strengthen learning design in VET. He also collaborates with a colleague in the School of Business on simulation research exploring creative, scenario-based environments that support Year 10 and VET learners and inform realistic career pathways that can be pursued post-qualification. In parallel, he contributes to programme development initiatives that responsibly incorporate GenAI into course offerings, with attention to equity, privacy and academic integrity.
Cait White is Lecturer in Business Communications at CQUniversity’s School of Business and Law. She is a senior fellow of HEA, and she teaches in the area of Internal Business Communications and is an active supervisor of research higher degree students. Cait has an interest in student engagement and her most recent research has explored the use of instructional videos within the classroom. Cait’s teaching and learning based research has presented at both national and international conferences.
Stephanie Macht is Senior Lecturer in Strategic Management at CQUniversity’s School of Business and Law. She teaches in the areas of entrepreneurship, professional development, and research methods, and is an active supervisor of research higher degree students. Stephanie’s most recent research interests revolve around learning and teaching in Higher Education, with a specific focus on research that explores, supports, and enhances the student experience, for example through gamification and contemporary approaches like Design Thinking.
Geoff Chapman is a senior lecturer in the School of Business and Law, specialising in Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour. He is a senior fellow of HEA, and a member of ANZAM and MOBTS. His research expertise spans many areas of student engagement, from group dynamics to gamification, and his latest LTRD-funded research project focused on how an online escape room activity improved student experience.
Associate Professor Anthony Weber is Director, Learning and Teaching Futures. In 2022 Anthony received a Vice-Chancellor's Commendation for Outstanding Practice in Learning and Teaching in recognition of the sustained positive impact on the overall student experience, for the innovative creation of the first student-developed and student-led academic integrity program - Students Against Academic Misconduct - centred on education and preventing academic misconduct. Anthony was also the recipient of the Vice-chancellor's Award for Outstanding Contributions to Learning and Teaching in 2019. In 2022 was appointed Fellow Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia and Senior Fellow HEA in 2021. In 2022 Anthony was part of a team that received an award for Best Practice in International Education award for Cross-Cultural Engagement with Students from the Subcontinent Academic and Professional Staff Resource Kit (CQU).
Ritesh Chugh, a Professor in Information and Communication Technologies, specialises in educational systems, pedagogies, and tech-enhanced learning, with research featured in leading academic journals. He's acclaimed for nurturing student outcomes through reflective teaching. Notable accolades include the Best Practice in International Education Award and the Dean's Award for mid-career research excellence. He's also recognised with the Vice-Chancellor's Award for Good Practice in Learning and Teaching and a staff award for international education contributions. In mainstream media, Ritesh engages in public scholarship on socio-tech topics, nationally and internationally. He's a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, further affirming his dedication to advancing educational excellence.
Pedagogy involves the methods and strategies teachers use to facilitate learning.
Research on our engagement with international students is crucial for understanding the unique experiences and challenges they face.
Discipline education explores how students learn within a specific field - such as Accounting, management and business laws.
