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Dr Sasha Vassar

Dr Sasha Vassar

Senior Lecturer
Engineering
Computer Science and Engineering

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.
E-mail
a.vassar@unsw.edu.au
Location
Level 5, School of Computer Science and Engineering
  • Journal articles | 2024
    Kee S; Valerie IC; Kennedy G; Findlay M; Churches T; Vassar A, 2024, 'Current Challenges in Digital Representation of Variation in Cancer Care', Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 318, pp. 60 - 65, http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/SHTI240892
  • Conference Papers | 2024
    Lee Solano L; Renzella J; Vassar A, 2024, 'DCC Sidekick: Helping Novices Solve Programming Errors Through a Conversational Explanation Interface', in SIGCSE 2024 - Proceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, pp. 1714 - 1715, http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3626253.3635483
    Conference Papers | 2024
    Taylor A; Vassar A; Renzella J; Pearce H, 2024, 'dcc - Help: Transforming the Role of the Compiler by Generating Context-Aware Error Explanations with Large Language Models', in SIGCSE 2024 - Proceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, pp. 1314 - 1320, http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3626252.3630822
    Conference Papers | 2024
    Vassar A; Renzella J; Ross E; Taylor A, 2024, 'Fine-Tuning Large Language Models for Better Programming Error Explanations', in Proceedings of the 24th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research, ACM, pp. 1 - 2, presented at Koli Calling '24: 24th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research, http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3699538.3699581
    Conference Papers | 2023
    Taylor A; Renzella J; Vassar A, 2023, 'Foundations First: Improving C's Viability in Introductory Programming Courses with the Debugging C Compiler', in SIGCSE 2023 - Proceedings of the 54th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, pp. 346 - 352, http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3545945.3569768
    Conference Papers | 2015
    Vassar A; Prusty G; Marcus N, 2015, 'The Adaptive Virtual Workshop: improving engineering education with the use of online adaptive tutorials', in Research in Engineering Education Symposium (REES2015), Dublin, presented at Research in Engineering Education Symposium (REES2015), Dublin, 13 July 2015 - 15 July 2015, http://dx.doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/25765
    Conference Papers | 2014
    Vassar A; Prusty G; Burton L; Doh J-H; Ford R; James M; Marcus N; Mashiri F; Meyer J; Ojeda R; Uddin M; White T, 2014, 'The Adaptive Virtual Workshop: Maintaining student engagement through an on-line adaptive resource for engineering design education', in Proceedings of the AAEE2014 Conference Wellington, New Zealand, Wellington, presented at Australasian Association for Engineering Education, Wellington, 08 December 2014 - 10 December 2014
    Conference Papers | 2014
    Vassar A; Prusty G; Ford R; Marcus N, 2014, 'The Virtual Design Workshop: AN ONLINE ADAPTIVE RESOURCE FOR TEACHING DESIGN IN ENGINEERING', in Helfert M; Zvacek S; Restivo M; Uhomoibhi J (eds.), Copyright © 2014 SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Barcelona, pp. 452 - 458, presented at 6th International Conference on Computer Supported Education, Barcelona, 01 April 2014 - 03 April 2014

2024 Australian Financial Review Higher Education Award (Teaching and Learning Excellence): DCC and AI Enhancements Project

2022 UNSW Teaching Excellence Award (Outstanding contribution to Student Wellbeing)