2020 Teaching Awards Recipients - Part 3
June 10, 2020
Teaching Awards recipients invited to join Teaching Academy
2020 ɫ Teaching Awards recipients announced – Part 3
University-of-Calgary-Teaching-Awards
We are excited to announce the recipients of the 2020 ɫ Teaching Awards.This is the third of three stories honouring this year's recipients.
The ɫ Teaching Awards recognize outstanding contributions to teaching and learning by individuals and teams, in categories including educational leadership, curriculum development, teaching online, team teaching and graduate supervision. The 2020 awards program received 54 nominations and has 20 award recipients.
As an initiative supported by Provost and Vice-President (Academic) Dru Marshall, the awards are as rigorous as they are prestigious. The Teaching Awards are determined by 10 adjudication committees comprised of 60 volunteers. Adjudicators are selected to balance academic discipline and gender on the committees. Volunteer adjudicators are asked to attend an orientation session to identify and address risk factors for implicit bias.
With much consideration and to respect physical distancing requirements that are still in place, the 2020 Teaching Award recipients will be recognized through a social media celebration and a series of three articles published on June 8 to 10, 2020. Join the conversation on social media by tagging the Taylor Institute on Twitter () and using the hashtags and #UCalgary.
Please join us in congratulating all recipients of the 2020 ɫ Teaching Awards.
Award for Educational Leadership (Group)
The Engineering Attributes Project Team(Dr. Kim Johnston, PhD, Robyn Paul, DestinyDedemus, Dr. Melissa Boyce, PhD), Schulich School of Engineering/ Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts
The Engineering Attributes Project is an innovativeapproach for integrating educational supportwithin the first-yearundergraduateengineering program.One of the key elements of the project is the diversity of individuals involved, includinganengineering faculty member (KimJohnston),apsychology faculty member (MelissaBoyce),agraduate student (RobynPaul) and a staff member (DestinyDedemus). Together, they created an innovative approach that involved working with instructors to integrate the program intoclass time. Working across four different first-year engineering courses in fall 2019, they developed and led detailed modules that covered topics providing students with skills such as effective learning strategies, lifelong learning skills and mental wellness awareness. A key philosophy behind the project is the importance of creating a safe space in classrooms for students andto help normalize help-seeking behaviour so students canlook forthe academic and wellness supports they need early. The team strongly believes that a large part of developing the resilience needed to move through challenging moments in life is in developing a growth mindset.
Award forEducational Leadership (Individual, Formal)
Dr. Ebba Kurz, PhD, Cumming School of Medicine
Ebba Kurz believes that leadership, at its core, is an opportunity to serve. She is the associate dean (undergraduate health and science education) in the Cumming School of Medicine and the director of the O’Brien Centre for the Bachelor of Health Sciences(BHSc)program. With over 15 years of teaching experience,Kurztakes a student-centred approach and sees great value in her mentorship practices with students and colleagues. Her colleagues agree that she has reignited a sense of community among the undergraduate programs in the Cumming School of Medicine.She recently led theBHScthrough a realignment of the program’s core inquiry-based curriculum and worked collaboratively with her team to articulate clear and measurable program-level outcomes. Kurzis a champion for experiential learning in theclassroom and research domains. She played a pivotal role in enhancing the summerstudentship portal by consolidating application and review efforts to support as many students as possible.Kurzfeels her capacity to succeed in teaching and leadership roles depends heavily on the strong partnerships she has formed by creating and fostering effective teams.In her own words, “Only with a chorus of voices will we continue to raise the profile and excellence of our academy for the benefit of our students and faculty alike. Leadership is, at its core, anopportunity to serve.”
Award for Educational Leadership (Individual, Informal)
Dr. Dora Tam, PhD, Faculty of Social Work
Dora Tam’s educational leadership has made a significant and sustained impact on learning for students, faculty members and other stakeholders in the Faculty of Social Work. She describes herself as “a researcher with a focus on applying knowledge to our communities” and strives to nurture students to become “intellectual citizens with a global perspective.” Tam initiated and spearheaded the Canada-China Social Innovation Hub to capitalize on and expand the Faculty of Social Work’s capacities in international social work, education, practice and research in China. She has also been central in co-ordinatingseveralacademic exchanges and conferences,mostnotably facilitating the Social Policies and Services for Emerging Social Issues Symposium andthe second International Conference on Outreach Work in Hong Kong.Tam is a dedicated teacher, a statement best reflected in the words of a former student, “I consider Dr. Tam to be more than a professor; she has easily become an irreplaceable mentor to me through her passion to inspire a classroom to be practice-prepared social workers.”
Award for Teaching in Online Environments
Dr. Gregory Tweedie, PhD, WerklundSchool of Education
Gregory Tweediehas been creating rich multimedia learning environments for his students since 2016. He uses different technologies in his teaching practices to enhancehis students’sense of community in online learning. His teaching philosophy stems from his own experience as an online learner. He noticed an absence of interactivity in online learningin bothteacher-student and student-student interactions. Thisexperience latershaped his teaching philosophy, asynchronous technology-mediated communication(ATMC). Through ATMC,Tweedie strives “to be a present online instructor, fully maximizing the research-informed affordances of asynchronous video communication to enhance social, cognitive and teaching presence.” Tweedie hastaughtmanyonlinelearners studying from diverse off-campus locationsas far away asChina, JapanandSouth Korea.These learners can expect personal weekly check-invideos from Tweedie where he records from a different location such as the Olympic Oval or the Taylor Family Digital Library with some interesting facts about the particular location to enhance social presence and to provide a more meaningful way of communication.
Award for Team Teaching
SandraAbegglen, HalEagletail, Dr. Graham Livesey,PhD,Dr. Fabian Neuhaus, PhD, School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape
The School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape (SAPL)fall 2019 term studio team consists of instructors Graham Liveseyfrom the Master of Architecture program, Fabian Neuhausfrom the Master of Planning program, HalEagletail,aTsuut’inaNation Knowledge Keeper, and SandraAbegglen, an embedded researcher. The studio collaboration with theTsuut’inaNation focused on TAZA, a large-scale commercial development and one of the most significant First Nations developments on North American reserve land. The Design Studio allowed students to focus on the specific cross-cultural site with an emphasis on urban design. Students were immersed in assignments to develop new approaches and protocols in design practices with first-hand guidance fromEagletailand input from various Elders, enabling active engagement with First Nation culture. The cross-cultural,interdisciplinary teaching philosophyis a reflection oftraditional First Nations knowledge,relational and collaborative practice drawing on complementary strengthsand personal and team reflections.
Award for Sessional Instructors
Dr. Meredith Brockway, PhD, Faculty of Nursing
Meredith Brockway’steaching philosophy is centred around creating a safe and motivating environment for her students to learn. She learns her students’ names quickly, solicitstheirthoughts and feedback and strives to always maintain arespectful discoursein the classroom. Brockway uses gender-neutral language when addressing students toensureinclusion, andformally included guidelines in her course outlinetowelcomestudentparentswith nursing infantsinto the classroom. During her classes, she makes sure to include at least one learning activity around relatable and fun materials to engage students and to remove the stigma that statistics is hard. She fosters a sense of community in her classes and continues to mentor many of her students after they have completed her class.The depth of her dedication is best reflected in the comments ofher studentswho struggle mostwith course content. As one former student says, “I achieved a final grade that would not have been possible if it weren’t for Dr. Brockway’s approachable, compassionate and enthusiastic teaching style. Moreover,statistics no longer causes me anxiety or makes me feel inadequate, thanks to a caring professor.”
Award for Curriculum Development
Dr. Melissa Boyce, PhD, and Dr. Andrew Szeto, PhD, (Embedded Certificate in Mental Well-being and Resilience), Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts
Launched in September 2019, the embeddedCertificate in Mental Well-being and Resilience is the first of its kind among North American universities.When first developing the program, Melissa Boyce and Andrew Szeto embarked on an extensive consultation and data collection process from relevant stakeholders on campus to design the certificate curriculum. They engaged in a collaborative curriculum mapping exercise, developing program learning outcomes to align directly with the vision of the Campus Mental Health Strategy.Studentsenrolled in the programlearn how to address and promote mental health and well-being in themselves, others and in the community using evidence-based strategies by immersing themselves in collaborative/team-based, inquiry-based and community-engaged learning experiences.Their nominators applaud Boyce and Szeto’s efforts to create a program that has a meaningful,positive impact on the well-being and resilience of undergraduates on campussaying “The myriad of consultations and sources of data that Melissa and Andrew used to inform the development of this certificate have enabled them to build a curriculum that is authentic, individualized, promotes collaborative learning and inspires student curiosity.”
For a full list of current and past Teaching Awards recipients, please.
ɫ Teaching Academy
All award recipients are invited to join the ɫ Teaching Academy.The purpose of the Teaching Academy is to establish a network of colleagues who can collectively develop teaching and learning expertise at the ɫ. This purpose is driven by the following foundational beliefs about the scholarship and practice of teaching:
- knowledge and understanding of excellent teachingisinformed by research, but driven by practice
- teaching expertise is shared across disciplines and acrosscampus
- teaching is a developmental skill that can be deliberately strengthened
- opportunities for teaching feedback and development need to be offered in a low-risk and encouraging manner.
A message from Isabelle Barette-Ng (Co-chair of Teaching Academy)
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