Teaching

Teaching as invitation

I have been teaching criminology and criminal justice since 2014. My practice is rooted in active learning, constructive alignment, and an evidence-based approach to course design — and in the conviction that the best learning happens in a warm, respectful classroom where disagreement is safe and curiosity is rewarded.

Teaching philosophy

Criminology sits at the meeting point of several disciplines, and I try to bring that breadth into every class I teach. My pedagogy draws on the Constructive Alignment Approach (Biggs & Tang, 2011) — making explicit connections between learning outcomes, activities, and assessment — and on the Community of Inquiry framework for the digital environment. Tutorial work is often grounded in Constructivist Learning Theory (Piaget, 1964): students are actively involved in doing things and thinking about what they are doing, extending their mental models rather than passively receiving them.

I teach in a blended, "flipped classroom" mode — short pre-class videos and readings prepare students to do the work in class, so tutorials become a space for discussion, group work, and the harder thinking that gives ideas staying power. I work to design materials that are genuinely accessible: captions and transcripts for video, audio-only tracks, high-contrast text, and image descriptions throughout.

Units at Monash

ATS1422

Crime Control and Crime Prevention

1st year · Bachelor of Criminology major · ~200 students

Developed from the ground up. Covers foundational theories of crime prevention and control, and introduces students to situational and environmental approaches through a final authentic assessment — a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) audit of a public space in Victoria.

ATS2469

Victims, Justice and the Law

2nd year · Bachelor of Arts major · ~300 students

Developed from the ground up. Explores the place of victims in criminal justice, drawing on empirical research, practitioner interviews, and the lived experiences of victim-survivors.

Some things I do

CPTED audits using Google Earth

For the final assessment in ATS1422, students conduct a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design audit of a public space in Victoria — identifying criminal opportunities within a specific environmental context, formulating theoretically-informed situational crime-prevention recommendations, and writing up the findings as a report. The audit can be done in person or virtually through Google Earth, which made it unusually robust during the 2020–21 lockdowns. The assessment was subsequently featured on Monash's Teach HQ as a model of authentic assessment.

Conceptual-diagram tutorials

Inspired by the work I did on my HEA portfolio, I developed a tutorial activity in which students build visual diagrams of the theoretical concepts and relationships in each week's reading. This addresses two persistent problems in large classes — low engagement with readings and low tutorial attendance — and gives students an artefact of their own reasoning they can refer back to while preparing assessments.

Interviews with international experts

Because my research is highly collaborative, I use that network to enrich my teaching. I've recorded in-class interviews with Professor Ken Pease (OBE) on repeat victimisation, Professor Rob Mawby on comparative policing, Professor Sandra Walklate on victim services, Professor Jan van Dijk on the International Crime Victimisation Survey, and Dr Julianne Webster on evidence-based policing — among others. Students consistently report these guest interviews as a highlight of the unit.

Live feedback and small-stakes assessment

I use PollEverywhere to take the temperature of the room in real time and surface misunderstandings early. Mid-semester testing is broken into short weekly quizzes tied to readings, which tends to produce better learning and much less anxiety than a single high-stakes exam.

In the room

This class has some amazing energy. Friday morning, week 10, ten a.m. — and 17 students are in the classroom, lively, participating, and eager to learn. The lecturer has a very good rapport with the students… she provides a warm, safe space for learning and meeting learning objectives. Peer review of teaching, ATS1422

The final assignment on a CPTED analysis is exactly the skill needed. Thanks for a great unit completely aligned to that work. I was so fortunate to work at the very time I did this unit. ATS1422 student, after a Victoria Police internship

Zarina's lectures were very engaging and informative. I could listen and actually take in the information I was being taught, whereas usually with lectures from other units, I find it difficult to feel like I'm learning anything. ATS2469 student

Credentials & recognition

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, United Kingdom (2021). Awarded following a comprehensive portfolio demonstrating pedagogical content knowledge and expertise in effective teaching and learning, benchmarked against the UK Professional Standards Framework.

Teaching Fellow Award, Monash University.

Fundamentals of Effective Teaching program, Monash University.

Teaching is evaluated through consistently high SETU scores across units, and through peer review of teaching.

Guest lectures & workshops

I regularly give guest lectures and workshops on cyber abuse, ransomware, policing research, and Bayesian methods in criminology — for academic audiences as well as law enforcement and industry. If you'd like to invite me, please get in touch. Recent invited talks are listed on the Media page and in my CV.