Michèle, Senior Lecturer in Occupational Therapy, BSc (Wits), BSc Occupational Therapy (Hons), PhD (University of Ireland), has a strong interest in using technology in teaching and as a research topic. Her research interests focus on using technologies in everyday life, including the use by people with disabilities, occupational therapists and students. Michele is on the board of management of the Australian Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology Association as the Communication Strategy Lead.
Michèle has been an integral member or the UniSC Occupational Therapy team since 2013. From 2020 to 2022, she served as the Occupational Therapy Discipline Lead. Michèle has worked as an occupational therapist at the National Rehabilitation Hospital (Dublin Ireland), at Natalspruit Hospital (Khatlehong, South Africa) and in private practice. She has a keen interest in spinal cord injury and neurological rehabilitation. Michele is a passionate educator having received a National Teaching Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning, 2017, for enabling occupational therapy students to do, to be, to become and to belong through innovative pedagogy and effective use of technology.
Michele’s research collaborators include the University of Manitoba (Canda), University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), University of Tehran (Iran), University of Limerick, (Ireland), University of Melbourne, Griffith University, University of Melbourne, James Cook University, University of South Australia, and University of Sydney.
Professional Memberships
- 2019- 2025: Board of Directors; ARATA Australian Rehabilitation & Assistive Technology Association
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2023—2026: Adjunct Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Manitoba, Canada.
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2017—2022: Research fellowship, Carnegie-WITS Alumni Diaspora Fellowship; Carnegie Corporation of New York and University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
- ARATA, Australian Rehabilitation & Assistive Technology Association
- Occupational Therapy Australia
Professional Awards
- 2024 UniSC Learning and Teaching Excellence Award: Innovation or Leadership in Learning and Teaching and/or Student Experience” (Team award led by Dr Verdonck)
- 2017, Department of Education and Training National Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning Australian Government
- 2017, Vice Chancellor and President Equity and Diversity Award, USC – for reverse integration in wheelchair basketball
- 2016, Advance Teaching Award Commendation: Able award – advancing the blended
- 2015, Advance Teaching Award: - AQT award for Advancing Quality Teaching, USC
- 2015, Advance Teaching Award: - ASE award for Advancing the student experience (team award)
- 2015, Learning and Teaching Week People’s Choice Award, USC
- 2014, Advance Teaching Award: Able Award – Advancing the Blended Learning Environment, USC, 2014
- Health Research Board, Ireland, Research Fellowship for the Clinical Therapies, CTFP-06-15 (2007-2012)
Professional Social Media
Supervision
- 6 PhD completions
- 1 Masters Completion
- Now Accepting Masters and Doctoral Students in the area of assistive technology
Research Grants
|
Grant/Project name |
Investigators |
Funding body & A$ value |
Year(s) |
|
Technology Enabled Homes for People with Spinal Cord and Traumatic Brain Injury |
Verdonck (Principal investigator), Ripat, Dermody, Kean, Merollini & Fowler, |
The National Injury Insurance Agency, Queensland, NIISQ. $156,240 |
2024-2026 |
|
Youth Engagement in Sustainability, YES: Cultivating occupational therapy students’ research competency. |
Verdonck (Co-chief investigator), Scheepers, Stafford, Davies, Von Deest, Chilman. |
Department of Environment and Science QLD. $20,000 |
2022
|
|
Mainstream Smart Technology-Use Among People with Disabilities, |
Verdonck (Primary investigator), Kean, Dermody. |
DVCRI Internal Funding Program UniSC CONNECT Scheme. $17,349 |
2023 |
|
Faculty development for sustained excellence in simulation education. |
Dodd, Bogossian, Tulloch, Verdonck (Associate investigator), & Swift. |
Collaborative Initiatives Scheme 2023—Learning & Teaching Grants, funded by School of Health. $10,000 |
2023 |
|
Empowering Healthy Ageing: Building a Web-based Gateway for Holistic Well-being |
Dermody, Askew, Nigel Barr, Davies, Russell, Schaumberg, Shibl, Tulloch, Verdonck (Associate investigator), Wadsworth, Ward, & Wright. |
DVCRI Internal Funding Program UniSC GROW $46,685 |
2023-2024 |
|
Evaluation of a community awareness and capacity building project. Funded by |
Oprescu, Verdonck, & Gray |
Suncoast Spinners Wheelchair Association $6,000 |
2018-2021
|
|
Establishment and progressive refinement of a high-performance Paralympic student-athlete program at an Australian University: A participatory action research project. |
Michele Verdonck and Florin Oprescu |
Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) Centre of Excellence for Applied Sport Science Research. $219,000 |
2016-2019 |
|
Increasing engagement opportunities for people with physical disabilities: The role of reverse integration in sport |
Michele Verdonck |
Faculty Research Collaboration Grant. $7000 |
2017-2018 |
|
Reverse Inclusion Spinners basketball workshop |
|
Diversity Week Activity Grant. $1000 |
2017 |
|
Learning, Teaching, Practice: A common understanding and integration of sustainability within Nutrition and Dietetics |
Michele Verdonck |
USC, Exploratory Learning and Teaching Grant. $40990 |
2016-2017 |
|
Supporting Innovative Blended Learning – Exploring the experience of learning and teaching in a technology‐enabled tiered lecture theatre |
Michele Verdonck |
USC, Exploratory Learning and Teaching Grant. $36091.53 |
2015 |
|
What meaning do individuals who use wheeled mobility devices (including wheelchairs and scooters) ascribe to these devices? |
Michele Verdonck (lead researcher) |
CHI collaborative Seed Grant. $1519.26 |
2015 |
|
Using Pebble+ to track learning and create stepping-stones to development of an ePortfolio for transition to practice in occupational therapy |
Lead: Anita Hamilton Co-researcher: Michele Verdonck |
Enhancement Learning and Teaching Grant. $133972.47 |
2015 |
|
Mapping and evaluating the flipped classroom at USC: Integrative teaching and learning |
Lead: Jane Taylor Co-researcher: Michele Verdonck |
Enhancement Learning and Teaching grant. $429600 |
2015 |
|
Ireland Research Fellowship for the Clinical Therapies |
Michele Verdonck |
Health Research Board CTFP-06-15 Funding awarded: €256,528.11/ Aus. $323 293.22 |
2007-2012 |
Research areas
- assistive technology
- mainstream technology
- smart technology
- occupational therapists use of technology
- environmental control systems
- spinal cord injury and neurological conditions
- parasport and adaptive/disabled sport and reverse integration
- dual pathways for parasports students
- scholarship of learning and teaching
Teaching areas
Michèle's specialist areas of expertise include: the use of technologies in meaningful occupation,supporting occupational therapists in the use of mainstream technologies in everyday clinical practice, spinal cord injury rehabilitation, teaching wheelchair skills; wheelchair transfers, the application of the Bobath approach in incomplete spinal cord injury rehabilitation and functional electrical stimulation.
In the news
Research to find ‘missing link’ in home tech for people with disabilities
16 DecAn innovative UniSC study aims to find the “missing link” in home-based smart technologies to enable people with spinal cord and brain injuries to live more independently.
Parents the key to tackling kids’ picky eating: research findings
29 AprFive years of UniSC-led research into the pesky problem of picky eating by children suggests that therapists should focus more on empowering parents to ease family angst at the dinner table