Steven Pace

About Me

Steven Pace is an Associate Professor in Creative Media and the Head of the College of the Arts at CQUniversity. Some highlights of Steven's academic career include:

winning a national Award for Teaching Excellence from the Australian Awards for University Teaching (AAUT) in 2022;
being recognised as a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) in 2020;
being appointed as an Advance Queensland Community Digital Champion in 2016;
winning the award for National ICT Educator of the Year in 2011;
receiving a Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) in 2011;
winning the CQUniversity Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Learning and Teaching in 2010;
serving as a member of the Register of Experts of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) since 2012;
serving as an international expert for the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ) since 2015;
serving as a member of the Panel of Experts for the Papua New Guinea Department of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (PNG-DHERST) since 2021;
participating in an international research project in South America funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2010;
completing a PhD in the field of human-computer interaction at the Australian National University in 2003; and
serving as the Head of Course for Digital Media at CQUniversity for the periods 2000-2004 and 2012-2025.

General

Awards

2022. National Award for Teaching Excellence - Australian Awards for University Teaching (AAUT)

2017. Special Commendation Business Partnership Award - Creative Futures Recognition Awards

2016. Advance Queensland Community Digital Champion - Queensland Government

2011. National ICT Educator of the Year - iAwards

2011. National Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning - Australian Learning & Teaching Council (ALTC)

2010. Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Learning and Teaching - CQUniversity

2010. Faculty Award for Excellence in Learning and Teaching - CQUniversity

2010. Dean's Award for Excellence in Learning and Teaching - CQUniversity

2010. Students' Choice Award - CQUniversity

2004. Dean's Award for Progress in Research - CQUniversity

2002. Dean's Award for Quality Teaching - CQUniversity

Professional Experience

2025-Present. Associate Professor in Digital Media (Level D) and Head of College of the Arts, School of Education and the Arts, Central Queensland University

2013-Present. Associate Professor in Digital Media (Level D) and Head of Course – Digital Media, School of Education and the Arts, Central Queensland University

2002-2012. Senior Lecturer in Multimedia (Level C), School of Creative & Performing Arts / School of Arts & Creative Enterprise / School of Contemporary Communication / School of Computing & Information Systems, Central Queensland University

1998-2001. Lecturer in Multimedia (Level B), School of Computing & Information Systems, Central Queensland University

1992-1997. Associate Lecturer in Information Technology (Level A), Department of Mathematics and Computing, Central Queensland University

1988-1991. Programmer/Analyst, Sugar Research Institute, Mackay, Queensland

Professional Memberships

2020-Present. Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)

2016-Present. Member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Special Interest Group on Computer Human Interaction (SIGCHI)

2016-Present. Member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (SIGGRAPH)

1992-2013. Member / Senior Member of the Australian Computer Society (ACS)

1993-1996. Member of the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA)

Responsibilities

2025-Present. Member of the Teaching and Learning Committee, Australian Institute of Business (AIB)

2025-2026. Received $231,000 from the Micro-credentialing Program of the Queensland Department of Trade, Employment and Training to develop 6 micro-credentials for the screen industry in partnership with Screen Queensland

2024-2026. Researcher, the Atollo Project. This initiative, funded by the European Union, empowered learners with disabilities through the creation of accessible and inclusive digital educational materials.

2012-Present. Member of the Register of Experts, Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA)

2015-Present. International Specialist, Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ)

2021-Present. Member of the Panel of Experts, Papua New Guinea Department of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (PNG-DHERST)

2016-2017. Member of the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) Critical Friends Group

2015-2018. Member of the Digital Economy Reference Group, Greater Whitsunday Alliance (GW3)

2010-2011. Assessment Panel Member, Office of Higher Education, Queensland Department of Education and Training

2010. Researcher, Amy Mahan Research Fellowship Program. Mentored a team of researchers at Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago Chile on a project entitled "Women and new technologies in Chile". Mentored a team of researchers from Universidad de San Andrés and Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina on a project entitled "The impact of public access to ICT on Argentine low-income urban youth".

2003-2023. Member of the Mackay Information Technology Network (MITN)

Professional Interests

My research interests include experience design, user experience design, interaction design, human-computer interaction, web design, mobile application design, game design, flow experiences, the psychology of optimal experiences, curriculum and pedagogy, and many facets of digital media and the creative industries. I employ primarily qualitative research methods such as the grounded theory method, case studies, ethnography, autoethnography and semi-structured in-depth interviews.

Editor

Lead editor, Studies in Learning, Evaluation, Innovation and Development, vol. 8, no. 2, December 2011, http://sleid.cqu.edu.au/viewissue.php?id=26

Research Supervision

Accreditation

I am currently accredited for supervision in the following:

3901 Curriculum and Pedagogy
3605 Screen and digital media
4607 Graphics, augmented reality and games
4608 Human-centred computing

Current Capacity

I am currently available to supervise more research candidates

Current Supervision

Doctor of Philosophy

A balancing act: The role, purpose and sustainability of tertiary art galleries in Aotearoa, New Zealand

Associate Supervisor

Doctor of Philosophy

A grounded theory on social media users' cognitive absorption experiences

Principal Supervisor

Doctor of Philosophy

Equivalence in the student experience: A study of student perceptions in a digital media course

Principal Supervisor

Master of Research

The Retrospective Music Teacher-Parent Experience: A Grounded Theory Study

Associate Supervisor

Complete Supervision

Doctor of Philosophy

Developing Jazz Communities in Regional Australia: A Multi-Site Qualitative Study on Cairns and Mackay, North Queensland.

Principal Supervisor

Master of Communication

Influential factors in the flow experiences of mobile game players.

Principal Supervisor

Doctor of Education

"Flow in collaborative music performance: An autoethnographic study of the phenomenon of flow for a piano accompanist"

Associate Supervisor

Research Interests

Creative Arts And Writing

Screen and digital media - Screen and digital media not elsewhere classified

Creative Arts And Writing

Screen and digital media - Screen media

Education

Curriculum and Pedagogy - Creative Arts, Media and Communication Curriculum and Pedagogy