Rate My Professor Brendan Nettle

Mr Brendan Nettle serves as a Lecturer in Podiatry at the School of Allied Health and Human Performance, College of Health, Adelaide University. A registered podiatrist, he graduated with a Bachelor of Podiatry from the University of South Australia in 2002 and later obtained a Bachelor of Education (Middle and Secondary) in 2009. He holds an Advanced Higher Education Fellowship (FHEA) since 2019, Professional Certificates in Practice Education (Courses 1 and 2, 2022), and is currently enrolled in Teaching in Higher Education. Prior to his academic career, Nettle worked extensively as a clinical podiatrist across various sectors including community, hospital, rehabilitation, aged care, academic, and private practice in both Australia and the United Kingdom. His clinical roles included positions within the National Health Service in the UK and Country Health SA in Australia. He joined the University of South Australia in 2015 in a teaching-focused capacity, continuing at the merged Adelaide University.

Nettle's academic interests focus on fostering positive student-teacher relationships, creating safe learning environments, podiatry-specific pedagogy, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. He coordinates several courses, including Applied Podiatry Studies 300, 301, 400, Clinical Podiatry Practice 400A, 400H, and 401A, and serves as the fourth-year clinical placement coordinator for the Bachelor of Podiatry (Honours) program. A key contribution to the field is his co-authored publication, "An exploration of the use of 3D printed foot models and simulated foot lesions to supplement scalpel skill training in undergraduate podiatry students: A multiple method study," published in PLOS ONE in 2021 alongside Helen A. Banwell, Ryan S. Causby, Alyson J. Crozier, and Carolyn M. Murray. His innovative teaching methods have been recognized with the Australian Awards for University Teaching (AAUT) Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning in 2022 (shared with Banwell and Causby), a UniSA Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning in 2020, and a Commendation for Sustained Excellence in Teaching in 2022. Nettle's teaching philosophy emphasizes balancing knowledge and skill acquisition with strong student-teacher relationships to optimize learning.