Karen Savage
Dr Karen Savage is an integral part of the Chisholm Institute of TAFE Higher Education College and is a passionate advocate for academic integrity and accessible learning.
She has an established research career in psychology and psychopharmacology and enjoys teaching at Chisholm.
Having developed and introduced the Bachelor of Psychology program at Chisholm, she is grateful to be able to use her expertise and strengths to teach in a way that is both academically and industry relevant.
For this, she was selected as a finalist in the Educator of the Year category of the 2024 Chisholm Education Awards.
Using unique methods
Karen is an innovative educator, who recognises that every student has a different learning style and has been an early adopter of video recorded support for assessments.
She is compassionate, caring and excels in finding diverse ways to support her students.
Karen integrates different learning styles into her class-based and online communications.
‘I enjoy finding different perspectives or ways of understanding a concept, because it has helped to grow my own knowledge. I see teaching as a way of passing on these strategies and methods, and I think good teaching works with the ‘unique person’ in mind,’ explains Karen.
As part of her teaching process, Karen diligently reviews content and assessment expectations to meet student progression points and improve their overall satisfaction.
Innovation and academic integrity
She is an established researcher, published in more than 30 publications and is frequently cited within her field. Karen's publication history is available on google scholar.
Since starting at Chisholm, Karen has built supportive materials to aid her work on internal and external integrity projects.
She holds the Academic Integrity (AI) portfolio in the Community Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs team, collaborating with peers to enhance learning materials.
“Academic integrity to me is essentially the foundation for credibility and validity in education, as much as in research. We need to invest in ethical practice for the long term, and we can both demonstrate and support this in higher education,”’ says Karen.
Continuous learning
Karen is also proactive about her own learning and development. In 2021, Karen completed her Graduate Certificate of Teaching and Learning (Tertiary Education) and, in 2023, she returned to complete a Clinical Master of Psychology.
She regularly engages in ongoing research and volunteers at ARCVic to stay up to date in her field. Karen believes that psychology helps us develop our values and to be more conscious about how we live life.
Teaching
Karen is a lecturer and subject convenor in the following Chisholm courses Bachelor of Community Service Mental Health, Alcohol & Other Drugs CRS1201285 and Bachelor of Psychology CRS1401150. She is also a representative on the Chisholm Higher Education Research and Ethics Committee.