Transforming Reflection at Scale
How the University of Newcastle achieved 74–80% student engagement across 500+ student cohorts in Psychology, Nursing, and Law.
The University of Newcastle is a globally-engaged institution serving diverse communities across multiple campuses. With the forward-looking motto ‘I look ahead,’ developing life-ready graduates who are community-minded, resilient, and work-ready is a priority. The university’s focus on technology integration and best practices ensures students receive exceptional educational experiences that prepare them for rapidly changing environments.
Authentic Reflection at Scale
Like many universities, Newcastle faced the complex challenge of managing authentic reflection at scale across multiple professional disciplines. With Psychology, Nursing, and Law programs each supporting large student cohorts, the university needed an evidence collection solution that would encourage learners to engage while maintaining authentic reflective practice. With career readiness a primary objective, engaging students in authentic reflective practice was essential.
The university had tried repurposing Canvas discussion boards, manual submission through Canvas assignments, basic quiz questions, and Word document templates. None of these were designed for reflection. They were unmanageable at scale with 500+ students per discipline, fragmented the student experience across multiple system boundaries, offered no evidence visibility, and created administrative burden across multiple courses.
“We were looking for a solution to address three key challenges: managing reflection at scale across multiple disciplines, collecting evidence through bite-sized and frequent student engagement, and creating a seamless student experience within Canvas. We wanted reflections to feel genuine and easy for students, while also being meaningful and embedded in their learning journey.”
What they tried
Discussion Boards
Not designed for reflection
Canvas Assignments
Unmanageable at scale
Quiz Questions
No evidence visibility
Word Templates
Fragmented experience
Purpose-Built for Authentic Reflection
Authentic Reflection Design
Activities designed specifically for reflective practice, not repurposed from other tools
Canvas-Native Integration
Eliminates system boundaries so reflection happens where learning occurs
Evidence Collection Infrastructure
Scalable evidence architecture across disciplines and colleges
Purpose-Built for Authentic Reflection
Canvas-native infrastructure eliminates system boundaries that fragment learning. Scalable across large student cohorts in multiple disciplines and Colleges. Authentic reflection design maintains quality at institutional scale while reducing student reliance on generative AI. High student satisfaction and seamless digital experience increase return on investment.
Enterprise-Scale Evidence Architecture
Seamless deployment across 500+ student cohorts per discipline. In-context engagement and evidence collection reducing administrative workarounds. Consistent reflection quality standards across programs. Leverages existing Canvas infrastructure and authentication.
Collaborative Deployment Across Three Colleges
Stackle collaborated closely with the University of Newcastle’s Learning Design and Teaching Innovation team to ensure seamless deployment across three pilot courses in Psychology, Nursing, and Law programs while preserving existing faculty confidence and student experience.
“Working with Stackle has been a genuinely positive experience. Always responsive, available and willing to troubleshoot any issues that arise. The team engaged with us through communication channels familiar to our institution making collaboration efficient and straightforward. Responsive to feedback and constantly looking to improve their product. An Australian-based vendor, they have a deep understanding of our higher education environment.”
Intentional Pilot Selection
Courses with established reflective practices chosen to ensure academic confidence
LDTI Team Leadership
Learning Design and Teaching Innovation team driving engagement across three Colleges
Canvas Integration
Setup and configuration for consistent deployment across disciplines
Academic Support
LDTI support ensuring seamless adoption without additional training burden
Cross-College Strategy
Implementation demonstrating university-wide applicability and scalability
Measurable Transformation at Scale
The implementation delivered measurable transformation in reflection engagement and evidence collection across Psychology, Nursing, and Law programs, establishing a scalable model for authentic reflection at institutional scale.
74–80%
Student engagement across all disciplines
0+
Students per cohort successfully supported
3 Disciplines
Consistent reflection quality maintained
Zero
Additional systems for students to navigate
Active Learning
Within context of the course materials
University-Wide
Applicability demonstrated across three Colleges
“The platform is filling a gap that is fit for purpose. Reflective journals will continue to have an increasing focus with work integrated learning throughout all our programs.”
“As the platform makes it seamless for students to engage in context, that engagement throughout the term can contribute to assessment security by making students less reliant on other tools to complete high stakes assessment.”
“Students are finding the interface intuitive. There has been no additional teaching needed for how to use it for students.”
Feedback from Students and Educators
Students
“They have been great to help conceptualise information, to practice paraphrasing and for referencing back to.”
“This has been great particularly as an online student as it has allowed me to take notes and think about deeper questions than I normally would just going through the content at my own pace.”
“This has been such a great way to encourage thought and build understanding. It has helped to keep me on track with content and makes it easy to revisit the course materials.”
“These have been brilliant! It's hard to overstate how valuable they have been.”
“I love them, easy to use and impossible to lose. They have been incredibly helpful for me. Kinda wish all uni courses used the same thing.”
Educators
“In terms of my experience with Stackle, it's been a really great addition to the course. The student's final assessment has a question based on one of the reflections they completed throughout the semester, so Stackle's functionality and embedding within Canvas has been really useful for them to return to their classwork and have all the material in one place.”
“It's encouraged significantly more engagement with the reflection activities that I've set as pre-class work, and greater systematic attention to the questions. I would love to have the option to use Stackle again next year.”
See how Stackle transforms your Canvas pages
Sean Duffy
Co-founder & CEO
In 30 minutes, you’ll see exactly how Stackle works within your Canvas environment — no slides, no pre-recorded demos.