Rate My Professor Joanne Lisciandro

Joanne Lisciandro is a Senior Lecturer in University Preparation Pathways at Murdoch University. She holds a PhD and BSc (Honours) and has worked in enabling education for over ten years, focusing on supporting non-traditional and educationally disadvantaged students transitioning to undergraduate study. Previously, she served as OnTrack Unit Coordinator for Murdoch University's pre-university enabling program, which provides pathways for students without standard entry requirements like an ATAR. Her research examines first-year retention, academic performance, student wellbeing, resilience, academic self-efficacy, and socio-emotional learning in enabling contexts. Lisciandro has contributed to understanding how enabling programs like OnTrack promote student success, with studies showing that participants achieve retention and performance outcomes comparable to direct-entry students.

Lisciandro's key publications include 'First-year university retention and academic performance of students entering via an Australian enabling program' (2022, Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management), analyzing cohorts from 2014-2016; 'It’s the Principle that Counts: Designing Curriculum for Diverse Enabling Student Cohorts' (2023, book chapter); 'Looking into the "Dark Mirror": Autoethnographic Reflections on the Impact of COVID-19 and Change Fatigue on the Wellbeing of Enabling Practitioners' (2023); 'Emotional labour demands in enabling education: A qualitative exploration of the unique challenges and protective factors' (2018); 'Strategies for embedding socio-emotional learning as part of a holistic enabling transition pedagogy' (2016); 'OnTrack to science literacy: addressing the diverse needs of non-traditional students' (2014); and earlier works on neonatal immunology such as 'Neonatal antigen-presenting cells are functionally more quiescent in children born under traditional compared with modern environmental conditions' (2012). She has presented at the Murdoch Teaching and Learning Scholars Forum (2024) and collaborated on projects fostering resilience in disadvantaged learners, including with Edith Cowan University researchers. With over 320 citations, her work influences enabling pedagogy across Australian universities, including models of student wellbeing support and practitioner precarity during pandemics.