This year's Awards for Excellence in Teaching winners share their go-to teaching approaches

Looking to add a new teaching activity or strategy to an upcoming course?

We asked the 2024 Awards for Excellence in Teaching winners to share some of their go-to approaches. From video games to end-of-semester feedback sessions, their tips show that there’s no single path to creating exceptional learning experiences for students.

Megan Barker, Senior Lecturer, Biology, Faculty of Science, 2024 Excellence in Teaching Award

For Megan Barker, building an inclusive learning environment is about creating opportunities to connect with students as individuals.

“Getting to know students is really important but challenging in a large class. What I have found is that even if students have had one interaction with their instructor, they will be much more likely to reach out to them for support when they need it. One strategy I have started using to ensure those interactions happen is to invite my students via survey to share something about themselves at the beginning of the course. I ask them two questions: what are three adjectives you would use to describe yourself, and what are three nouns you would use to describe your interests. I include these words next to their names on the attendance sheet and then when I’m walking around the class checking them in, I talk about them. I’ll say ‘Wow, you’re into anime and pasta? Tell me about that.’ This simple interaction can go a long way toward helping turn even the largest class into a trusted and vibrant learning community.”

Henny Yeung, Associate Professor and Graduate Chair, Linguistics, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, 2024 Excellence in Teaching Award

For Henny Yeung, building experiential learning opportunities into his courses in ways that are inclusive of all students is a core part of his practice.

“Experiential learning has been a powerful approach in my teaching. I find these experiences help students understand the limits and constraints of theory, they spark new ideas and motivate students to understand why course material matters. This has meant having assignments where students create and deliver language games with children at community venues like Science World. However, what I have learned is the importance of ensuring these activities are inclusive of our diverse student body. For example, many of our students have full time jobs, family obligations or are commuting in from other cities. They do not all have the same ability to participate in activities that take place off campus or outside of class hours. And so what I do now is offer multiple participation options—including one they can do at home. Creating flexible pathways is a key part of ensuring this approach works for all.”

Rosemary-Claire Collard, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Faculty of Environment, 2024 Excellence in Teaching Award

For Rosemary Claire-Collard, cultivating two-way communication with her students about course design helps create a better learning experience for them.

“I strive to actively engage students by being transparent and open to their feedback. I often hold end-of-term debrief sessions where I ask students to reflect on the course. I pose the question: 'What’s one reading or topic you would keep, cut, or add?' This prompts a collaborative discussion which is helpful because students see what worked well for some, may not have worked for others. I also find it helpful to be transparent with them about why I design my classes the way I do. When I explain my choices—like why one concept comes before another—students seem genuinely interested, and that transparency fosters greater engagement and makes for a more enjoyable learning experience.”

Travis Salway, Associate Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, 2024 Early Career Award for Excellence in Teaching

For Travis Salway, building an inclusive learning environment is about creating diverse opportunities for students to engage with the course and instructional team.

“As a white, cisgender man, I recognize that not all students feel comfortable to come up to me and share what they’re thinking. One way I try to reach students who would normally sit in the back of the lecture hall is by having my TAs come to class. I have found that when students can see the TAs in person, they are more likely to reach out to them for support. Another technique I use to engage a broader range of students is by integrating activities into class like Theatre of the Oppressed, an approach where dramatic scenes are used to represent course material that students are invited to respond to and shape. The reality is the lecture format does not work for many students—answering questions in this environment can be very intimidating. The Theatre of the Oppressed format flips the classroom from a hierarchical space to a space of shared meaning-making where more students feel safe and invited to share their voices.”

Scott MacEachern, Lecturer, Accounting, Beedie School of Business, 2024 Early Career Award for Excellence in Teaching

For Scott MacEachern, helping students overcome barriers to learning means adding some fun to his teaching and courses.

“Seventy percent of my students show a high degree of concern about learning accounting—for good reason. Many of them report having trauma associated with money or mathematics that makes it extremely difficult for them to engage with the material. Students with these backgrounds can face a lot of blocks when it comes to learning accounting so one strategy that I use is to make short, light-hearted videos to explain key concepts. I also find that gamification can be a powerful way to provide students with a fun and less intimidating entry point into the material. This is why I’m in the process of developing an app, Accounting Apocalypse, that I describe as Duolingo for accounting. So far, students are engaging well with this method in my MBA, data analytics and Indigenous EMBA classes. Not all instructors will have the background or interest to create a technical tool, but what I do encourage them to do is consider how their personal interests outside of their course can be merged with the content—which in my experience can lead to exciting, new ways for students to access and explore subject material. 

Rylan Simpson, Assistant Professor, School of Criminology, 2024 Early Career Award for Excellence in Teaching

For Rylan Simpson, engaging students is about creating opportunities for his students to interact with practitioners of his discipline: policing.

“I want my students to get excited about my courses because they find the material useful and relevant to their lives. That is why a big focus of my teaching has been bringing police officers into my classes as guest speakers. The reception from my students has been incredible—they not only rarely miss a class, but they are inviting friends and family members to attend the guest speaker events with them. Incorporating this experiential element requires a fair amount of logistical planning. One of the biggest insights I’ve gained from the process is how important it is to ensure my guests feel comfortable. Policing is a highly charged topic and so one thing I do to reduce any discomfort for my guests is to provide them with a question list in advance of the event. This helps to ensure I create the conditions for these dialogues to happen so that I can continue to bring this experience to my students.”

Learn more about the recipients here.