Kitchener, Waterloo, May 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE), in partnership with D2L, are proud to present five outstanding post-secondary educators with the 2019 D2L Innovation Award in Teaching and Learning. The award recognizes outstanding educators who were selected from an international pool of applicants — and who are redefining the learning experience of students through innovative practices:
- Anne Trepanier, Carleton University, Canada
- Diane Salter, St. George's University, Grenada
- Eva Peisachovich, York University, Canada
- Fun Man Fung, National University of Singapore, Singapore
- John Nychka, University of Alberta, Canada
“I am excited to welcome and congratulate our latest D2L Innovation Award in Teaching and Learning recipients. They each represent the diversity of teaching and have created unique learning environments for their students. Please join me in celebrating their accomplishments,” said STLHE President, Dr. Denise Stockley.
“In an age of rapid technological change, it is more important than ever to develop innovative and boundary-breaking pedagogy that helps students succeed. D2L is enormously proud to support the work of these five visionary educational leaders and their passion for education,” said John Baker, President and CEO of D2L.
This year’s award recipients are at the forefront of innovation both within their academic institutions and higher education more broadly. Congratulations to:
Anne Trépanier, School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies, Carleton University, Canada
Anne champions the cultivation of peer support for persistence to help her students better understand Québec Studies. She has intoduced innovative practices at Carleton University through the re-imagination and repurposing of existing tools in the learning management system. These practices include the development and sustainment of learning communities within a course and her department, increasing diversity and global learning in the online and classroom settings, and creating experiential capstone projects. These practices have fostered curriculum development in the fields of Critical Nationalism and Québec Studies, innovative assignments, creative learning activities, assessment methods, and community outreach.
Diane Salter, St. George’s University, Grenada
Diane is committed to creating learning environments that focus on active, task-based learning to expand the space for learning beyond the classroom and promote deep learning. Her evidence-based framework for faculty development has helped hundreds of faculty engage in a program that promotes a self-directed professional learning path. Unique aspects of her program include the use of a conceptual change, learning-centred framework, authentic oral assessment, and a flexible timeline for entry and completion of certificate programs in scholarship, research, and leadership in higher education.
Eva Peisachovich, School of Nursing, York University
Eva is a passionate nursing educator who developed the Simulated Person Methodology to humanize curricula in the Health Sciences. Her inexpensive approach gives undergraduates from different disciplines high-quality experiential learning opportunities that benefit those serving as simulated persons (SP) and those who train with SPs. While simulation training is not new to the Health disciplines, her pedagogical model helps many within and outside of health care to adopt the methodology, enabling students from different disciplines to create meaning from their experiences and to gain insights while serving their peers’ experiential training needs.
Fun Man Fung, Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, Singapore
As an instructor of chemistry, Fun Man is known for supercharging science education by applying a suite of technological tools that help students and the public better understand science. Examples of these tools include the use of the Google Glass wearable device, the GoPro camera to film instructor point of view lab videos, and adopting a 360 degree camera and drone to visualize environmental fieldwork and create virtual field-trips. Fun Man’s 133 units of flipped “Lightboard” lectures have reimagined science education and improved learning in chemistry. These and other pedagogical innovations are captured in Fun Man’s authored and co-authored peer-reviewed publications in SoTL and Chemical Education.
John Nychka, Faculty of Engineering, University of Alberta, Canada
Nychka’s pedagogical innovations are premised on design thinking and a desire to increase student engagement and self-directedness. Through various means (e.g., surveying, testing) he explores and determines obstacles to his students’ learning, creating new and authentic experiences that better support their learning needs. His student-focused approach has led to the creation of Room with A VUE – a pedagogical framework designed to make concepts more Accessible, Visual, Unexpected, and Engaging and a curricular overhaul of his courses and program to include hands-on active learning and transferable learning outcomes for graduate students. Through his various leadership roles, Nychka promotes the scholarship of teaching and the adoption of learner-centered best practices worldwide.
Please visit the STLHE website to learn more about the D2L Innovation Award in Teaching and Learning or contact the STLHE Awards Chair – Valerie Lopes.
ABOUT THE SOCIETY FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION (STLHE)
STLHE strives to be the pre-eminent national voice and a world leader for enhancing teaching and learning in higher education. STLHE supports research, its dissemination, increased awareness and application of research through scholarly teaching and learning. Visit the Society’s website for more information.
ABOUT D2L
D2L believes learning is the foundation upon which all progress and achievement rests. Working closely with organizations globally, D2L has transformed the way millions of people learn online and in the classroom. Learn more about D2L for schools, higher education and businesses at www.D2L.com.
D2L PRESS CONTACT
Christine D’Angela, Director of Awareness, D2L Corporation, pr@d2l.com
Twitter: @D2L
© 2019 D2L Corporation.
The D2L family of companies includes D2L Corporation, D2L Ltd, D2L Australia Pty Ltd, D2L Europe Ltd, D2L Asia Pte Ltd, and D2L Brasil Soluções de Tecnologia para Educação Ltda.
All D2L marks are trademarks of D2L Corporation. Please visit D2L.com/trademarks for a list of D2L marks. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.