The accolade was awarded at the conference, which took place from 3–4 September. Connor's presentation was selected from over 95 papers and presentations, standing out amongst international academics, educators, and practitioners. The conference theme focused on 'Exploring Diversity in Engineering and Product Design Education'.
Gallagher presented his paper, titled 'Set up to fail: Reflective Practice and Cultural Adaptation in Teaching Design at a Transnational Institution in China'. The research, co-authored with AUB supervisor Dr Jon Burgess and fellow AUB PGR student Charlotte Blacker, stems from Connor’s experience teaching design in a UK–China transnational higher education setting. It addresses the challenge of adapting Western design pedagogy, which often emphasises experimentation and learning through failure, to students in China who may be influenced by Confucian values and the importance of maintaining 'face'.
Connor developed an AI-assisted teaching model, grounded in Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindset and David Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle. This model uses AI tools to help students reinterpret initial design concepts. When AI produces unexpected or unsuccessful results, these outputs serve as neutral ground for critique, reflection, and iteration, creating a safer environment for discussing failure and iterative design development.
“"An important aspect of the approach was that AI created a degree of distance between the student and the perceived ‘failure’. Instead of the student personally being wrong, an AI-generated outcome could be questioned, criticised and even laughed at. This helped create a safer route into discussing failure, experimentation, and iterative design development while remaining sensitive to the cultural context."
Gallagher expressed his pleasure at receiving the Best Presentation award, stating it was a 'brilliant opportunity to share how we can make design education more culturally adaptive.' He added, 'As educators working in transnational education or across university settings generally, we need to adapt our pedagogy to the student. If we don't, we risk setting our students up to fail.' He noted that recognition from international peers is 'hugely encouraging' for their ongoing work at AUB towards inclusive design and the integration of AI systems in the creative design process.
Valerie Lodge, Research Manager at AUB, commented, “We are absolutely delighted for Connor. To win Best Presentation out of nearly 100 papers at a major international conference like E&PDE is a fantastic achievement, and it highlights the high calibre and global relevance of postgraduate research taking place here at AUB.”
