Dr Sasha Vassar

Dr. Sasha Vassar is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Computer Science and Engineering, combining expertise in Computer Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Education (PhD, UNSW). Following industry experience in engineering process optimisation, critical infrastructure software development and testing, she transitioned to academia, driven by her passion for education.

Sasha is interested in the intersections of AI and Education and the application of cognitive load theory concepts to improve pedagogy. Currently, her research focuses on an integration of large language models into an educational compiler to improve programming error message explanations, work which has won the 2024 Australian Financial Review Higher Education Award for Teaching and Learning Excellence. Sasha is a UNSW Nexus Fellow, an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and an Early Career Academic member of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education.