Jessica Landstra
Highly Commended, Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Tutoring or Demonstrating
College of Systems and Society
Synopsis
Jessica Landstra is a final year Environmental Engineering and International Security Studies student who has been tutoring and demonstrating at the ANU for over five years. Throughout this time, Jessica has striven to bring this role to life with an intentionally relational teaching style that focuses on the power of mentoring, role modelling, and capacity building in the classroom. In her words, her approach aims to inspire confidence, curiosity, and competence.
Across her five years at ANU, Jessica has taught in six core engineering courses, holding leadership positions such as Head Tutor for ENGN1217. In this role she contributed to course design, mentored new tutors, and implemented systemic improvements to teaching organisation, assessment, and student engagement. She sees her role as extending beyond individual classrooms to shaping a culture of teaching excellence across the College. This drive for growth and excellence is underpinned by an understanding of education best practice, informed by research, professional development, and collaboration.
Her students routinely highlight her passion, creativity, and effective teaching style. As one student reflected, Jessica is “so much more than a tutor, she is a source of inspiration to many women and students in engineering.” For Jessica, visibility matters, particularly for women in STEM, and she is proud to model inclusive, passionate teaching that empowers both students and colleagues.
(Photo by Tangyao Zhang)