'Thriving in uncertain times - student wellbeing and AI' - an Australian/Malaysian panel discussion

Globally, the higher education landscape is currently experiencing unprecedented change. For students, there is a double-sided impact from the ubiquity of generative AI: on one side, genAI offers incredible efficiency and structure; yet on the other, it introduces a heightened level of anxiety regarding academic misconduct and the future of work.

In our recent 'Students First' Symposium: Thriving in Uncertain Times - student wellbeing and AI, experts from across Australia and Malaysia came together to discuss how AI is not just a technological challenge, but a profound wellbeing and trust issue for students.

The panel discussion was between:

• Prof Adeeba Kamarulzaman, President and Pro Vice-Chancellor (PVC) of Monash University Malaysia

• Megan Pozzi SFHEA, Director (Student Life), University of Southern Queensland

• Dr Georgina Maddox, teaching specialist in psychology at Flinders University

• Ivana Pedruco Aniceto, 3rd year law student from University of Newcastle
  

WATCH the full recording here (vimeo)

The hidden cost of "police and punish": how surveillance fuels student anxiety

The session began as Prof Sachs shared a sobering statistic from the latest 'Student Wellbeing Reports': over half of students rank "being accused of cheating when I did nothing wrong" as a top cause of study-related stress. Our student representative, Ivana, spoke clearly and passionately about how a purely punitive approach will do nothing but increase students' fear and distress.  

"I have completely given up the use of m-dashes and the Oxford comma just out of fear for [being accused of] AI use... it’s imperative that we have clear communication regarding the ethical use of AI."
- Ivana Pedruco Aniceto, student

This 'police or punish' discourse is detrimental to student wellbeing. Dr. Georgina Maddox argued that the narrative of "catching people out" must be replaced with one of quality and critique. She emphasised that academic integrity concerns should be learning opportunities for students, not punishments.

"One assessment, and doing the right thing or the wrong thing, does not a degree make... we don’t want a culture of trying to catch people out or assuming everyone’s cheating."
— Dr. Georgina Maddox   

Rather, panelists argued that we need to refocus on learning, and making sure that students are graduating with an outcome and understanding what they're learning. There is evidently some anxiety and stress around learning, too, according to the Wellbeing Reports. Globally, only 41% of students feel highly confident they are genuinely learning while using general AI tools. In Malaysia however, only three in ten said they were extremely or very confident in their own learning when using AI (27%).

"The police and punish assumes that our students want to take the easy way out... but [research] shows that they want to learn. The concern that they’re not learning was very high."
— Prof. Adeeba Kamarulzaman

Rethinking assessment for a post-AI world

If students are worried they aren’t learning, the fault may lie in how we assess. Prof. Adeeba Kamarulzaman shared how Monash University Malaysia is embarking on a "Programmatic Assessment and AI Review" (PAAIR) to move toward continuous feedback and process-based evaluation.  

The goal is to focus on how knowledge is acquired rather than just the final product. This shifts the focus away from a 'do-or-die' exam culture that invites AI misuse during times of high stress.

Megan Pozzi challenged the 'digital native' myth, noting that just because students have grown up with technology doesn't mean they know how to use it ethically or effectively. She spoke about a contextualised approach to digital literacy, where skills like prompt engineering and critical thinking are embedded within the specific disciplines.

When there's no trust, there's no learning

The pervasiveness of AI in higher education is a fundamental crisis of trust rather than just a technological hurdle. In an era where AI can generate a 500-word essay in seconds, the panel emphasised that it cannot replace the human elements of university life for students: the mentorship, the peer-to-peer bonding, and the community.  Ivana, a first-in-family law student, spoke movingly about the importance of finding and establishing a community of support. For Ivana, her scholarship and the Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) connections turned an otherwise "terrifying" experience into a home away from home.  

Prof Kamarulzaman talked a bit more about how learning involves relationships, emphasising that for students to truly thrive, learning must move away from a transactional model toward a deeply relational approach. She argued that the traditional 'big professor lecturing to a passive audience' is insufficient for fostering critical thinking in the age of AI. Instead, she suggests active, team-based, and problem-based learning models where students and educators engage in a joint enterprise of discovery. Learning is not merely the transfer of data, which AI can now do with ease, but a process of human connection and shared inquiry.

Navigating uncertainty, together

Perhaps the most radical suggestion of the session was the call to "sit in the discomfort". Rather than universities trying to control or put rigid restrictions around an uncontrollable technology, they should work in partnership with students to navigate the unknown, together.  

"When we talk about police and punish, that to me sounds like harm... we need to be OK with not feeling confident about these things. Maybe we need just to sit in uncertainty and discomfort together."
— Megan Pozzi   

Pozzi's point, that these 'police and punish' structures characterised by accusatory investigations and the constant fear of being flagged, actually inflict harm on students and damage the pedagogical relationship. Instead of prioritising compliance, she suggested "sitting in the discomfort" of the unknown alongside students. By acknowledging that neither staff nor students have all the answers, institutions can move toward a pedagogy-first approach that prioritises "doing no harm" and fosters a collaborative partnership to navigate this period of transition.

As Prof Sachs noted, the goal is to create a culture of thriving. This requires institutions to be as agile as the technology they are teaching. By focusing on trust, agency, and the "why" of ethics, we can ensure that students and learning remain at the heart of the higher education sector.  

Watch the full recording of the session here.

Listen to the podcast version here.

More 'Students First' Symposia here.