Education Renewal—strategy 11 of UBC's strategic plan—seeks to facilitate sustained program renewal and improvements in teaching effectiveness, with particular emphasis on expanding opportunities for graduate students to learn about teaching and broadening their learning as they prepare for their careers.
In support of strategy 11 of our strategic plan: Shaping UBC's Next Century, and with funding from UBC Vancouver’s Academic Excellence Funds, a total of $1.5-million over two years was earmarked for UBCV to support projects that advance one of the following three identified focus areas:
- Improvements in teaching effectiveness;
- Program redesign: Developing program-level outcomes; and
- Reimagining and strengthening graduate programs.
Call for Proposals
An open call for proposals was launched in late 2019, inviting submissions from faculty members, staff, postdocs and students. Applications were reviewed by an adjudication committee, who provided funding recommendations to the Provost and VP Academic, UBC Vancouver, guided by the following overarching principles:
- Stewardship of Academic Excellence Funds: Each proposal will provide a reasonable and justifiable budget as well as timely and transparent reporting to ensure prudent use of the Academic Excellence Funds.
- Transformative learning: Proposals recommended for funding will significantly contribute to the enhancement of teaching and/or learning, particularly in education renewal.
- Sustainability: Projects will result in sustainable benefits to programs, departments or units.
- Equity, diversity and inclusion: Call activities and proposals will support UBC’s commitments to equity, diversity and inclusion.
- Outcomes-based approach: Proposals will identify concrete objectives, and expected outcomes will be measured and monitored over time to help projects meet their objectives and communicate impact.
- Comparative assessment: An adjudication committee will review and assess proposals in order of merit using these principles, as well as evaluation criteria for each focus area.
Funded Projects
A total of 32 proposals were submitted, of which 21 were funded – a success rate of 66% – with representation from the Faculties of Applied Science, Arts, Medicine, Science, Dentistry and Education, as well as UBC Library.
| Focus Area | Project Title | PI | Facuty/Central | Approved Funding |
| Focus area 1: Improvements in teaching effectiveness | Inter-Year Concept Review Resources and Learning Analytics in Alchemy to Catalyze Meaningful Learning and Support Data-Driven Teaching and Flexible Learning at Scale | Russ Algar | Science | $50,000 |
| Focus area 1: Improvements in teaching effectiveness | Improving Teaching Effectiveness of Faculty Delivering UBC 23 24 Indigenous Cultural Safety Curriculum | Dr. Nadine Caron | Medicine | $50,000 |
| Focus area 1: Improvements in teaching effectiveness | SPARK (Supporting Pedagogic Advancement, Research, and Knowledge) @ SCARP — Igniting Actions and Partnerships through Impactful Teaching and Transformative Learning | Su-Jan Yeo | Applied Science | $49,994 |
| Focus area 1: Improvements in teaching effectiveness | Exploring the Research Process with a UBC Scientist in a First Year Biology Course | Blaire Steinwand | Science | $50,000 |
| Focus area 1: Improvements in teaching effectiveness | Formulating evidence-based supports to minimize faculty barriers to experiential education in large first-year Arts courses | Siobhán McPhee | Arts | $49,900 |
| Focus area 2: Program redesign: developing program-level outcomes | Renewal of German Undergraduate Programs | Ervin Malakaj Kyle Frackman | Arts | $31,597 |
| Focus area 2: Program redesign: developing program-level outcomes | Undergraduate Curriculum Renewal and Integration, Creative Writing Program | Alix Ohlin | Arts | $82,825 |
| Focus area 2: Program redesign: developing program-level outcomes | QUEST - Quantitative Earth Sciences Transformation | Philippe Tortell | Science | $99,652 |
| Focus area 2: Program redesign: developing program-level outcomes | Rethinking Graduate Music Training (Performance Stream) | T. Patrick Carrabré | Arts | $76,638 |
| Focus area 2: Program redesign: developing program-level outcomes | Preparing Graduates for 2030 and Beyond: A Dental Hygiene Degree Program Redesign | Zul Kanji | Dentistry | $78,172 |
| Focus area 2: Program redesign: developing program-level outcomes | School of Audiology and Speech Sciences M.Sc. Program Redesign to Enhance Learning Outcomes and Competencies | Jeff Small | Medicine | $84,710 |
| Focus area 3: Reimagine and strengthen graduate programs | Teaching as Research: Future Faculty Enhancing Teaching & Learning in Undergrad Classrooms | Lacey Samuels | Science | $50,000 |
| Focus area 3: Reimagine and strengthen graduate programs | Collaborative PhD Models to support a transdisciplinary research ecosystem at UBC | Naoko Ellis | Applied Science | $50,000 |
| Focus area 3: Reimagine and strengthen graduate programs | Re-imagining graduate curriculum in the Faculty of Medicine: Towards a truly interdisciplinary learning environment | Michael A. Hunt | Medicine | $50,000 |
| Focus area 3: Reimagine and strengthen graduate programs | The Impactful PhD - Strategic Design for Complex Problem-Solving | Moura Quayle | Arts | $49,120 |
| Focus area 3: Reimagine and strengthen graduate programs | Writing in the STEM Disciplines: Advancing Graduate Academic Literacies | Patty Kelly | UBC Library | $49,736 |
| Focus area 3: Reimagine and strengthen graduate programs | Transforming the M.A.Sc. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering: Introducing Professional Competencies and a Competency Framework | Dr. Hsi-Yung (Steve) Feng | Applied Science | $50,000 |
| Focus area 3: Reimagine and strengthen graduate programs | Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Algorithms, Computation, and Information | Michael Friedlander | Science | $49,992 |
| Focus area 3: Reimagine and strengthen graduate programs | Supporting Non-academic Career Pathways for Educational Studies Graduate Students | Mary Kostandy | Education | $50,000 |
| Focus area 3: Reimagine and strengthen graduate programs | Re-envisioning the First Nations Curriculum Concentration | Lisa Nathan; Luanne (Freund) Sinnamon | Arts | $47,858 |
| Focus area 3: Reimagine and strengthen graduate programs | Knowledge Translation and Mobilization: Reimagining Graduate Student Education to Create the Next Generation of Health Professionals, Advocates and Communicators | Scott Tebbutt | Medicine | $50,000 |