Claire Aitchison

Claire Aitchison

Associate Dean, Adelaide University Online

Adelaide University Online and Learning Futures

Academic

Dr Claire Aitchison has worked in higher education for over two decades researching and publishing on student learning and researcher and academic development. At UniSA she has applied these interests to the online environment working with academics, teaching & learning colleagues, and online educational designers to produce quality courses and programs for UniSA Online. As an Academic Developer, Claire aims to transform educator experiences by building knowledge and skills that positively impact student success. This ambition is achieved through a suite of activities including supporting academics to engage in teaching and learning scholarship, leading and coordinating courses and workshops, mentoring academic colleagues seeking Awards and Grants and supporting those wishing to disseminate their achievements.
In addition to being an active researcher in higher education, she has been awarded for teaching and leadership including: Advanced HE Senior Fellow, UWS Vice Chancellor’s Award for Leadership in HDR Teaching Excellence (joint winner); ALTC Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning; Australian Association for Research in Education Special Commendation for Research in Education. She is a founding editor of the popular blog Doctoral Writing SIG and the Journal of Academic Language and Learning, and is on the Board of Reviewers for the Journal of Teaching in Higher Education and Higher Education Research & Development.

Year Citation
2025 Potter, R., Crispin, C., Dollard, M. F., Aitchison, C., & Andrew, J. (2025). Women doctoral students and value creation through interdisciplinarity: a focus on the mechanisms. Innovative Higher Education, online(5), 1-31.
DOI
2025 Costabile, M., Birbeck, D., & Aitchison, C. (2025). Using simulations to meld didactic and constructivist teaching methods in complex second year STEM courses. International Journal of Science Education, 47(2), 173-190.
DOI Scopus2 WoS2
2024 McInnes, R., Hobson, J., Johnson, K., Cramp, J., Aitchison, C., & Baldock, K. (2024). Online course quality evaluation instruments: a scoping review. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, online(2), 1-21.
DOI Scopus4 WoS2
2021 Guerin, C., & Aitchison, C. (2021). Doctoral writing and remote supervision: What the literature tells us. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 58(6), 624-634.
DOI WoS8
2021 McInnes, R., Cramp, J., & Aitchison, C. (2021). Evaluating technologies for communicating mathematical and scientific reasoning in fully online engineering courses: a technology choice framework. International Journal on Innovations in Online Education, 5(2), 73-91.
DOI
2020 McInnes, R., Aitchison, C., & Sloot, B. (2020). Building online degrees quickly: academic experiences and institutional benefits. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 17(5), 1-19.
2020 Guerin, C., Aitchison, C., & Carter, S. (2020). Digital and distributed: learning and teaching doctoral writing through social media. Teaching in Higher Education, 25(2), 238-254.
DOI Scopus20 WoS11
2020 Aitchison, C., Harper, R., Mirriahi, N., & Guerin, C. (2020). Tensions for educational developers in the digital university: developing the person, developing the product. Higher Education Research and Development, 39(2), 171-184.
DOI WoS20
2018 Kumar, V., & Aitchison, C. (2018). Peer facilitated writing groups: a programmatic approach to doctoral student writing. Teaching in higher education, 23(3), 360-373.
DOI Scopus32 WoS25
2017 Guerin, C., Walker, R., Aitchison, C., Mattarozzi Laming, M., Chatterjee Padmanabhan, M., & James, B. (2017). Doctoral supervisor development in Australian universities: Preparing research supervisors to teach writing. Journal of Academic Language and Learning, 11(1), A88-A103.
WoS21
2016 Catterall, J., Aitchison, C., & Rolls, N. (2016). Disconnected pedagogies: experiences of international students in higher education. Journal of academic language & learning, 10(2), A70-A79.
2015 Guerin, C., Carter, S., & Aitchison, C. (2015). Blogging as community of practice: lessons for academic development?. International Journal for Academic Development, 20(3), 212-223.
DOI Scopus24 WoS14
2015 Aitchison, C. (2015). Writing the practice/practise the writing: writing challenges and pedagogies for creative practice supervisors and researchers. Educational philosophy and theory, 47(12), 1291-1303.
DOI
2013 Aitchison, C., & Mowbray, S. (2013). Doctoral women: managing emotions, managing doctoral studies. Teaching in higher education, 18(8), 859-870.
DOI
2012 Aitchison, C., Catterall, J., Ross, P., & Burgin, S. (2012). 'Tough love and tears': learning doctoral writing in the sciences. Higher education research and development, 31(4), 435-447.
DOI
2011 Ross, P. M., Burgin, S., Aitchison, C., & Catterall, J. (2011). Research writing in the sciences: liminal territory and high emotion. Journal of learning design, 4(3), 14-27.
DOI
2011 Catterall, J., Ross, P., Aitchison, C., & Burgin, S. (2011). Pedagogical approaches that facilitate writing in postgraduate research candidature in science and technology. Journal of university teaching & learning practice, 8(2, article no. 7), 1-12.
2009 Aitchison, C. (2009). Writing groups for doctoral education. Studies in higher education, 34(8), 905-916.
DOI

Year Citation
2024 Aitchison, C., Bell, A., Bretana, N., Butler, M., Causby, R., Costabile, M., . . . Serrada, I. (2024). Case study 12: building a community of practice through gentle leadership. In K. Butler-Henderson, & A. Ashok (Eds.), Source details - Title: The Gentle Academic: Case studies in Higher Education Leadership (pp. 50-55). Australia: Charles Sturt University.
2023 Guerin, C., & Aitchison, C. (2023). Finding confidence in writing: doctoral writing groups. In D. L. Elliot, S. S. E. Bengtsen, & K. Guccione (Eds.), Source details - Title: Developing Researcher Independence Through the Hidden Curriculum (pp. 147-156). Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
DOI
2021 Mewburn, I., Guerin, C., & Aitchison, C. (2021). Networks as learning environments for doctoral education. In A. Lee, & R. Bongardt (Eds.), Source details - Title: The Future of Doctoral Research: Challenges and Opportunities (pp. 195-206). US: Routledge.
DOI
2018 Aitchison, C. (2018). Writing an identity into being. In S. Carter, & D. Laurs (Eds.), Source details - Title: Developing Research Writing: A Handbook for Supervisors and Advisors (pp. 193-197). US: Routledge.
DOI
2018 Aitchison, C., Carter, S., & Guerin, C. (2018). Blogging: connecting research communities online. In R. Erwee (Ed.), Source details - Title: Postgraduate Education in Higher Education (pp. 153-164). Singapore: Springer.
DOI
2017 Guerin, C. M., & Aitchison. (2017). Peer writing groups. In S. Carter, & D. Laurs (Eds.), Developing Research Writing A Handbook for Supervisors and Advisors (pp. 51-55). Abingdon: Routledge.
DOI
2016 Guerin, C., Aitchison, C., & Carter, S. (2016). Networks, nodes and knowledge: Blogging to support doctoral candidates and supervisors. In M. Fourie-Malherbe, R. Albertyn, C. Aitchison, & E. Bitzer (Eds.), Postgraduate Supervision: Future foci for the knowledge society (1st ed., pp. 269-282). Stellenbosch: SUN Press.
DOI
2016 Aitchison, C., & Mowbray, S. (2016). Doctoral writing markets: exploring the grey zone. In T. Bretag (Ed.), Source details - Title: Handbook of Academic Integrity (pp. 287-301). Singapore: Springer.
DOI
2016 Aitchison, C. (2016). Research writing: purposes, practices and pedagogies in contemporary times. In F. -M. Fourie-Malherbe (Ed.), Source details - Title: Postgraduate supervision: future foci for the knowledge society (pp. 33-49). Stellenbosch: SUN Press.
2015 Proctor, H., & Aitchison, C. (2015). Markets in education : 'school choice' and family capital. In G. Goodwin (Ed.), Source details - Title: Markets, rights and power in Australian social policy (pp. 321-339). Sydney: Sydney University Press.
2014 Aitchison, C. (2014). Learning from multiple voices: feedback and authority in doctoral writing groups. In C. Guerin (Ed.), Source details - Title: Writing groups for doctoral education and beyond: innovations in practice and theory (pp. 51-64). US: Routledge.
2014 Aitchison, C., & Guerin, C. (2014). Writing groups, pedagogy, theory and practice: an introduction. In C. Aitchison, & C. Guerin (Eds.), Writing Groups for Doctoral Education and Beyond: Innovations in Practice and Theory (1 ed., pp. 3-17). United Kingdom: Routledge.
Scopus64
2012 Aitchison, C., & Paré, A. (2012). Writing as craft and practice in the doctoral curriculum. In A. Lee, & S. Danby (Eds.), Source details - Title: Reshaping doctoral education: International approaches and pedagogies (pp. 12-25). UK: Routledge.
DOI
2011 Lee, A., & Aitchison, C. (2011). Working with tensions : writing for publication during your doctorate. In T. Rocco, & T. Hatcher (Eds.), Source details - Title: The handbook of scholarly writing and publishing (pp. 62-74). US: Jossey-Bass.
2010 Aitchison, C., & Lee, A. (2010). Writing in, writing out: doctoral writing as peer work. In M. Thomson (Ed.), Source details - Title: The Routledge doctoral supervisor's companion (pp. 260-269). US: Routledge.
DOI
2010 Aitchison, C. (2010). Good mothers go school shopping. In S. Goodwin, & K. Huppatz (Eds.), Source details - Title: The good mother: contemporary motherhoods in Australia (pp. 89-110). Australia: Sydney University Press.
2010 Aitchison, C. (2010). Learning together to publish: writing group pedagogies for doctoral publishing. In C. Aitchison, B. Kamler, & A. Lee (Eds.), Source details - Title: Publishing pedagogies for the doctorate and beyond (pp. 83-100). US: Routledge.
2009 Lee, A., & Aitchison, C. (2009). Writing for the doctorate and beyond. In D. Boud, & A. Lee (Eds.), Source details - Title: Changing practices of doctoral education (pp. 87-99). US: Routledge.
2009 Aitchison, C. (2009). Research writing groups. In J. Higgs, D. Horsfall, & S. Grace (Eds.), Source details - Title: Writing qualitative research on practice (pp. 253-266). Netherlands: Sense Publishers.

Connect With Me

External Profiles

Other Links