Keynote speakers
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Professor Stephan ABELE
Professor; Chair of Vocational Education, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany
Bio:
Stephan Abele is Professor of Vocational Education at Technische Universität Dresden, Germany. Holding a diploma in Mechanical Engineering and teacher training for vocational schools, he received both his doctorate and habilitation in Vocational Education, each recognized with academic awards. His research focuses on vocational teacher education, vocational teaching and learning, and technology-based assessment of vocational competences, with a strong emphasis on empirical-quantitative, hypothesis-testing methods. Professor Abele has secured about €3 million in third-party funding and authored around 80 publications, many of them peer-reviewed. His international experience includes research stays at ETS (Princeton), Maastricht University, the University of Luxembourg, and the University of Melbourne. For the OECD, he chaired the expert group that developed the competence assessment framework for automotive vocational training in PISA-VET and continues to serve on its international expert panel. His current projects explore digital, simulation-based assessments in final examinations in vocational education as well as enrolment, dropout, and knowledge development in vocational teacher education.
Professor Stephen BILLETT
Professor of Adult and Vocational Education, Griffith University, Australia
Bio:
Dr Stephen Billett is Professor of Adult and Vocational Education at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. After a career in clothing manufacturing, he was a vocational educator, teacher educator, professional educator and policy work in Queensland. Since 1992, he has researched and published widely in fields of learning for occupations, vocational education, workplace learning, work, higher education and conceptual accounts of learning for occupational purposes. He was a Fulbright scholar (1999), National Teaching Fellow (2009-11), ARC Future Fellow (2011-16) recipient of honorary doctorates from Jyvaskala University, Finland (2013), University of Geneva (2020) and University West, Sweden (2024), elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences of Australia (2015), research fellow at Oxford University (2019-22), adjunct professor at University of Stavanger, Norway (2019-23) and University Vast, Sweden (2019-2023). His current projects focus on: the standing of vocational education, integration of work experiences to promote employability, alignments between learning and innovations at work, resilience in healthcare workers, worklife learning, continuing education and training, developing adaptability through internships in Singaporean post-secondary educational institutions, wisdom in practice and widening access to mature ages students. He is the founding and editor in chief of the journal Vocations and Learning, and the Professional and practice-based learning book series.
Professor Sarojni CHOY
Professor of the School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University, Australia
Bio:
Professor Sarojni Choy is a distinguished academic with expertise in workforce development and vocational and continuing education and training policy and practice. She has strong leadership in research, teaching, management, industry engagement, and policy at national, state, and international levels. Her research interests include workplace learning, practice-based learning, continuing education and training, and the integration of learning across various contexts.
Prof. Choy's evidence-based work explores how adults acquire skills and knowledge for productive work, with significant implications for enhancing learning and workforce sustainability in emerging economies. She has collaborated with various industry partners to bridge the gap between academic research and its practical applications. These collaborations have been instrumental in ensuring that her research has a tangible impact on improving educational outcomes and supporting workforce development. Her extensive publication record highlights her contributions to these fields, showcasing her commitment to advancing educational practices and supporting professional growth.
Professor of Adult and Vocational Education, Griffith University, Australia
Professor Beena GIRIDHARAN
Bio:
Professor Beena Giridharan is a higher degree by research supervisor at the Faculty of Humanities and Health Sciences at Curtin University Malaysia after completing tenure as the Dean for Learning and Teaching at Curtin Malaysia, and a five- year tenure (2016-2021) as Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor at Curtin University, Malaysia. She attained a doctoral degree in Applied Linguistics and Education from Curtin University, Western Australia. She has a first class Masters’ degree in English Language and Literature, and a first class Bachelor’s Degree in Science. Her research and academic interests include: vocabulary acquisition in ESL, educational administration and leadership; higher education practices, transnational education (TNE) multi-disciplinary micro-credentialing in higher education ( MdMc) and, and social and cultural studies. As a member of an OLT (Office of Learning and Teaching, Australia) funded project entitled ‘Learning without Borders’ she has investigated leadership roles in Trans-National Education (TNE) and internationalization of the curriculum. Beena Giridharan is a Fellow of the Curtin Academy, a prestigious active, honorary network of exceptional leaders committed to and passionate about the collaboration and dissemination of teaching excellence at Curtin University. Beena Giridharan is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) since 2006. Beena Giridharan won the 2006 Carrick Australian Award for Excellence and Innovation in University Teaching, and the 2006 Curtin University, Australia, Excellence in Teaching and Innovation award, and was a visiting professor at the Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA between 2007- 2008. She is a recognized global leader in higher education and is appointed as Country Director (Malaysia) for International Higher Education Teaching and Learning (HETL- USA). Dr Giridharan is an associate editor for the IAFOR Journal of Education, and Journal of Literature and Librarianship, USA, and an editorial board member of the Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education. Her publications include a book on Microcredentials, Introducing Multidisciplinary Micro-credentialing: Rethinking Learning and Development for Higher Education and Industry, Emerald Publishing: London( 2023), a book on Vocabulary Acquisition Patterns in Adult Tertiary (ESL) Learners (2013), an international handbook on Transnational Education: Leadership in transnational education and internationalization of curriculum (2012), several book chapters, publications in journals, and refereed conferences. She is often invited as keynote speaker and plenary speaker at a number of higher education conferences regionally, and internationally.
Professor Jin YANG
East China Normal University, Shanghai
Bio:
Prof YANG Jin has developed his career as both a civil servant and a researcher in the education system of China. He has worked progressively in different branches of the Ministry of Education of China, as Director of Division of Teaching and Learning Support of Department of Vocational and Adult Education, Deputy Director-General of Department of Basic Education, and then as Director-General and Research Professor of the Central Institute for Vocational and Technical Education (CIVTE). He was appointed as a member of the 10th session of the National Inspectorate of Education of China, and elected as Vice President of both the Chinese Adult Education Association and the Chinese Society for Technical and Vocational Education.
He obtained substantial international experience in three successive positions as senior programme specialist in UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), Minister Counsellor for Education in the Embassy of China to France, and then Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of China to UNESCO.
He holds a B.Sc degree in mechanical engineering from Xi’an Jiaotong University in China, an M.Ed degree in comparative education and a PhD in economics of education from the University of Manchester in the U.K., and an honorary doctorate of education from the University of Bolton in the U.K.
Professor of Education at the School of Education, University of Waikato, New Zealand
Professor Joyce Hwee-Ling KOH
Bio:
Joyce is currently a Professor at the School of Education of the University of Waikato, New Zealand. Prior to joining academia, Joyce held professional and consulting positions in adult education and learning design. As a teacher educator at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University of Singapore from 2008 - 2018, Joyce has successfully collaborated with Singapore schools and teachers to develop research and professional development programmes by infusing technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) with design thinking. From 2018 to 2024, she led research-informed teacher professional development programmes for educational technology at the University of Otago’s Higher Education Development Centre in New Zealand.  Joyce is an active and well-cited researcher with more than 80 research publications in the form of peer-reviewed articles, academic books, and academic book chapters for topics such as TPACK, educational technology in higher education, and design thinking. She currently serves as a Senior Associate Editor of the Asia-Pacific Educational Researcher.