The University of Adelaide has announced that from 2026 they will no longer hold face-to-face lectures.
It declared in a statement that the new policy would make the campus “stackable, modular and digitally rich,” and will involve the replacement of conventional in-person lectures with several other online and in person classes
Administrators announced that the driving philosophy behind this reshuffle was that course structures ought to be defined by “stackable qualifications, modular courses, and a digitally rich learning environment.”
Chief amongst this potpourri of online study is the vaguely worded “rich digital learning activities.” These will be “self-paced” and “self-directed,” and the University claims this will deliver an “equivalent” amount of information as lectures currently provide.
The University stated that other classes, such as tutorials, workshops or practical lab classes “may” still be delivered on campus, though this would depend on what provided the “best outcomes.”
Dr Andrew Miller, secretary of the Adelaide Branch of the NTEU spoke of the “enormous concerns” felt by staff about the move.
Dr Miller argued that the changes were made without the proper involvement of “staff, students, and community stakeholders.” He also said that in announcing its decision, the University sidestepped its’ commitment to the “agency and empowerment” of other parties to the decision-making process.
NTEU National President Dr Alison Barnes called the move “outrageous” and argued that it prevented staff from providing crucial in person support to students and shift teaching to respond to day to day student needs.
The abolition of lectures is part of the University’s new “Adelaide Attainment Model,” which will see trimesters introduced by 2028 as part of a “three module” system that ties into the “modular” nature of Adelaide’s changed course structure.
This whole suite of course changes ties into the University’s 2026 merger with the University of South Australia, to create a new “Adelaide University.” This merger has not been without controversy, with some academics warning of “extreme psychosocial pressure” amongst academic staff.
Adelaide is the first of Australia’s Universities to announce they are removing physical lectures, though, in 2021, Curtin University in Perth attempted to remove them in a move that ultimately failed under the weight of student pressure.
A spokesperson for Adelaide University said: “Universities have been increasingly responding to student needs for flexible delivery over the years, and the shift away from face-to-face lectures is not new.
“Lectures are passive learning activities that can be delivered online to maximise flexibility for students without impacting learning quality,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
