Rate My Professor Sarah Davey

Dr Sarah Davey is a Lecturer in Biosciences in the School of Biological Sciences within the College of Sciences at Adelaide University. A medical scientist with a background in molecular biology and biotechnology, she completed her PhD in Medical Science at the University of South Australia from 2011 to 2017, focusing on the von Hippel-Lindau tumour suppressor protein and its novel role in microtubule regulation. She holds a Bachelor of Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology (Honours) from 2010 to 2011 and a Bachelor of Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology from 2008 to 2010, both from the University of South Australia. Since 2012, Davey has taught as a tutor and demonstrator in undergraduate courses covering molecular biology, biotechnology, physiology, pathophysiology, and genetics, including coordinating physiology and pathophysiology for nursing and midwifery programs. She served as Lecturer in Bioscience at the University of South Australia from 2022 to 2025 and is currently on secondment to Adelaide University's Teaching Innovation Unit as a lecturer and academic developer specializing in curriculum development.

Davey's research specializations encompass the scholarship of teaching and learning, with interests in artificial intelligence, assessment development and evaluation, curriculum design, student engagement, learning motivation, and emotion. She received a 2024 University of South Australia Teaching Award worth $7000 for creating and implementing interactive oral assessments in genetics laboratory classes. Additionally, she and Dr Chris Della Vedova were recognized at the 2025 national awards for innovative interactive oral assessment in first-year chemistry. Key publications include 'Utilising one-on-one interactive oral assessments as the major final assessment within a bioscience course' (Davey et al., 2025, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education) and 'A case study of solving a complex genetics problem to develop generative AI literacy in health science' (Della Vedova et al., 2026, Learning Letters). Davey has contributed to collaborative projects developing best practice toolkits for interactive oral assessments and investigating student perspectives on generative AI in assessments. She serves as a member of the CHS Academic Unit Board at the University of South Australia (2022-2025), the Higher Education Research Network assessment and AI digital learning clusters, and holds memberships in the HERDSA South Australia Branch and ASCILITE. As co-supervisor, she oversees doctoral research on AI's role in pedagogy and assessment practices.