Rate My Professor Kathy Darzanos

Kathy Darzanos is a Lecturer in the School of Computer Science and Information Technology within the College of Engineering and Information Technology at Adelaide University. Employed at the institution since 1998, initially at the University of South Australia, she holds a teaching-focused position and serves as Lead Academic Integrity Officer and Teaching Squares Facilitator in UniSA STEM. Darzanos completed a Professional Certificate in University Teaching at UniSA. She has designed, developed, coordinated, and taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses across two academic units in various modes at local and international institutions. With significant experience teaching large first-year courses, she has managed teams and provided leadership for consistent, quality, engaging, and transformative learning. Passionate about supportive and inclusive learning environments, particularly for first-year and transitioning students, she created a positive student learning culture and was the inaugural course coordinator for the Peer Assisted Study Program (PASS) in first-year IT courses, now extended across multiple STEM programs.

Her research specializations include Systems Analysis, IT Project Management, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Academic Integrity, Inclusive Learning Environments, First-Year Student Support, Peer Assisted Study Programs, Ethical Professionalism, Data Literacy, Values Sensitive Design, and Interdisciplinary Reflection. Key publications are 'A complexity-informed, feedback loop approach for systems analysis IT education at undergraduate and postgraduate levels' (Darzanos & Fernando, 2025, Learning Letters); 'Development of an agent-based model representing the behaviour of a systems engineering driven organisation' (Darzanos, Campbell, & Scott, 2010, SETE proceedings); 'Building common ground for communication between patients and community pharmacists with an internet medicine cabinet' (Calabretto et al., 2002, HICSS); and 'Teaching squares: interdisciplinary reflection to enhance academic practice for student learning' (Harmon et al., 2025, UniSA). Darzanos is co-investigator in the UniSA Unstoppable Teaching and Learning Development Grant (2025-2026) for 'Ethical Professionalism: A Values Focus' to develop a value-sensitive design-based learning tool for ethical professionalism and data literacy. She engages in creating new courses at Adelaide University and is a member of the AU IT Service Management Stakeholder Working Group, AU Academic Integrity Working Group, and Curriculum Quality Panel for IT Programs. Professional affiliations include HERDSA, ASCILITE, ACS, HERGA, and she co-sponsors UniSA Higher Education Research Network in STEM.