Wendy DeLuca

Teaching and Research Staff

Dr Wendy De Luca

PhD (CSturt), BEdSec (CSturt), GradDipEdStud (NE), GradDipEdMMedia (SCross), MEd (CSturt), MMngt (ACU)

Senior Lecturer in Adult and Vocational Education
Wagga Wagga
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Dr Wendy De Luca has worked in the areas of adult and vocational education and training for over 20 years, within the public and private sectors. She is well-versed in national training initiatives and with adult and vocational education issues and has worked extensively as an 'upfront' trainer and training developer. Wendy has developed an extensive skill-set in current training and staff development issues as well as possessing broader human resource management expertise. She has experience in project management and production management, including working as a leader of multidisciplinary teams developing educational multimedia for the Department of Defence. As an adult educator, she has endeavoured to develop a flexible and responsive teaching style to promote quality teaching and learning. Her achievements to date include developing effective distance-based teaching strategies that model best practice in adult and vocational education, enhancing competence as an academic who operates effectively as a member of staff and who has value-added to the Faculty's commercial capability.

Wendy's current research focus is on how adult learners develop expertise and on current Australian and international vocational education trends. Her PhD thesis, which won the NSW Institute for Educational Research Beth Southwell Thesis Award (2022), was on the training of ethics within the Australian Defence Force, particularly in the area of Soldier Recruit training, and this built on her extensive professional and industry experience with an educational leadership focus. She is Co-Chair of the Grounded Theory Research Group and has a particular interest in Constructivist Grounded Theory and Situational Analysis.

Wendy’s areas of teaching span the adult and vocational education programs. Currently she is teaching across the adult learning theories, training systems, assessment, advanced facilitation, and global education subject areas. Wendy also leads the Adult and Vocational Education International Cultural Experience placement to Nepal, for which she was awarded the Charles Sturt Executive Dean’s Awards for Teaching (2022).

Wendy has strong links to the Australian Defence Force and serves as an Army Reservist in the Royal Australian Army Educational Corps, and is a member of the European Chapter of the International Society of Military Ethics. She is an invited Academic Member of the Victoria Police Registered Training Organisation and People Development Command Academic Advisory Board. Wendy also consults to, and delivers train-the-trainer and other programs on behalf of, the national Biosecurity Training Centre.