2022 University of Calgary Teaching and Learning Grants recipients announced

Year after year, researchers at the University of Calgary come up with extraordinary teaching and learning research projects that focus on improving and enhancing student learning experiences. Each project presents an opportunity to start something new, to explore existing ideas and to inspire bold discoveries.

The University of Calgary Teaching and Learning Grants have awarded approximately $6 million in funding to 272 projects since 2014 to support scholarly teaching practices and approaches to student learning.

“This year’s competition resulted in an exciting array of projects that showcase the commitment of our campus community to research and scholarship in teaching and learning,” says Dr. Heather Jamniczky, PhD, academic lead in teaching and learning research at the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning.

Approximately $455,000 was provided to a total of 21 projects. These projects explore a wide variety of topics, from artificial intelligence and chatbots, to video-based simulation case studies, online teaching and learning resources, experiential learning rotations and undergraduate research opportunities.

Expanding opportunities for undergraduate research

One such project, focused on providing meaningful research opportunities for undergraduate students, comes from a team of scholars at the Cumming School of Medicine. Dr. John McLennan, MD, PhD, is a clinical associate professor and clinician investigator in the Departments of Psychiatry, and Community Health Sciences.

McLennan, along with his collaborator, Dr. Fabiola Aparicio-Ting, PhD, a senior instructor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, have received a 2022 University of Calgary Teaching and Learning Grant for their project, “An Undergraduate Online Research Course in Secondary Data Analysis: Investigating Global Health While Staying Home.”

The project hopes to provide a meaningful course-based undergraduate research experience to students through a formal course offering in global health research.

Global health research focuses on the health of people living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and on understanding the inherently global systematic factors that shape health. By offering a new online course, students will have the opportunity to gain skills and experience working on research using a specific set of national health survey data.

The survey datasets come from UNICEF and the Demographic and Health Surveys program, and provide high-quality health data from large, nationally representative household surveys from many of the world’s LMICs. In addition to the research skill experience, the students will focus on health issues important in LMICs, particularly ones aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals such as access to safe drinking water.

“This offering will hopefully provide an opportunity that could overcome the resource barrier to only obtaining such experiences with expensive travel, and removes the risk of cancellation due to pandemics or other health and security phenomenon,” explains McLennan.

McLennan has provided research supervision to undergraduate students at UCalgary for several years, including global health field experiences. Not all students interested in global health research are able to take advantage of field experiences, especially early in their training.

“Increasing access to global health research opportunities early in students’ training may encourage students to further pursue this important field,” says McLennan.

“This project takes an accessible and innovative approach to undergraduate research experiences in global health, by leveraging existing international datasets to create robust learning opportunities for students focused on impactful global health questions,” says Jamniczky.

2022 Teaching and Learning Grants recipients

The following is a complete list of recipients with projects across two streams: development and innovation, and scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL).

An Anti-Oppressive Teaching and Learning Toolbox
Dr. Dave Anderson, PhD, Dr. Kiara Mikita, PhD, and Kenna Kelly-Turner

An Undergraduate Online Research Course in Secondary Data Analysis: Investigating Global Health While Staying Home
Dr. John McLennan, MD, PhD, and Dr. Fabiola Aparicio-Ting, PhD

Animal Kinship Project
Dr. Craig Ginn, PhD

Books to Build On: Indigenous Literatures for Learning 
Dr. Erin Spring, PhD, and Dr. Aubrey Jean Hanson, PhD

Child & Youth Community Project Hub 
Dr. Kathleen Hughes, PhD, Dr. Emma Climie, PhD, and Maya Caracamo Arakawa

Cultivating Structural Competence and Diffusing Critical Pedagogy into Medical Education Through a Novel Faculty Development Program
Dr. Allison Brown, PhD, Dr. Lea Harper, MD, Dr. Tito Daodu, MD, Dr. Rahim Kachra, MD, Kenna Kelly-Turner, and Dr. Melinda Davis, MD

Developing Asynchronous Arabic Learning Materials: A Sustainable Resource for Beginners' Arabic
Dr. Rachel Friedman, PhD

Developing Clinical Performance Exemplars to Facilitate the Evaluation of Nursing Students at the University of Calgary in Qatar
Lida Larson, Nicole Boulais-McBain, and Dr. Carol Ewashen, PhD

Development of Video-Based Simulation Case Studies for Anatomy and Physiology
Dr. Carol A. Gibbons Kroeker, PhD

Introduction to Second (and Third and Fourth) Language Learning: Developing Effective Materials for Three Languages
Dr. Mary O'Brien, PhD

Urban Innovation Labs Meet Design Thinking Online
Dr. Sasha Tsenkova, PhD, Joshua Taron, Kristel Derkowski, and Carol-Ann Beswick

Using Reflection and Feedback for Improving the Student Writing Experience in Science
Dr. Nicole Sandblom, PhD

Applied Communication in Experiential Learning Rotations at the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (UCVM)
Dr. Alyssa Butters, DVM, Dr. Cindy Adams, PhD, Mandy Dale, and Dr. Darlene Donszelmann, DVM

Artificial Intelligence and Academic Integrity: The Ethics of Teaching and Learning with Algorithmic Writing Technologies
Dr. Sarah Elaine Eaton, PhD, Dr. Robert Brennan, PhD, Dr. Jason Wiens, PhD, and Dr. Brenda McDermott, PhD

Creating and Exploring the Impact of Case Studies Using Augmented Reality on Student Learning in Undergraduate Nursing Courses              
Dr. Kara Sealock, EdD, and Dr. Cydnee Seneviratne, PhD

Designing Self-Disclosing Chatbots to Foster Common Humanity in Introductory Computer Science Classes
Dr. Helen Ai He, PhD, Dr. Jonathan Hudson, PhD, Dr. Lora Oehlberg, PhD, Nathaly Verwaal, and Dr. Leanne Wu, PhD

Flip the Script: Experiences of Well-being from Teacher Training to Early Career
Dr. Maxine Myre, PhD, Dr. Shelly Russell-Mayhew, PhD, and Kerri Murray

Integrated Rotational Field Education for Bachelor-level Students in Social Work in Health Care
Dr. David Nicholas, PhD, Leeann Hilsen, Dr. Patricia Samson, PhD, Janet McFarlane, Kent Mielke, and Debra Samek

Integrating Research Training via the Development of a Social Work Journal Transforming Social Work – Developing a New Social Work Journal: Fostering Student Training and Mentorship in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning through Academic Journal Publishing
Dr. Julie Drolet, PhD, Hilary Nelson, Dr. Christine Walsh, PhD, Julie Mann-Johnson, Dr. Jaki Shankar, PhD, and Dr. Jeannette Waegemakers Schiff, PhD

Spiritual Pedagogy: Best Practices for Social Work and Informing the Helping Professions
Dr. Heather Boynton, PhD, Dr. Christine Walsh, PhD, Dr. Julie Drolet, PhD, Julie Mann-Johnson, Mohammed Nurdueen Musah, Fiona Edwards, and Saleema Salim

Supporting Innovative Sustainable Practice Models for Student-Centric Learning: Embracing a New Reality of Work Integrated Learning and Interprofessional Education
Dr. Patricia L Samson, PhD, Amanda O'Rae, Dr. David Nicholas, PhD, Dr. Zahra Shajani, EdD, and Stephanie Grant