Learn more about the work carried out through the Partnered in Teaching and Learning grants program!
Textbook prices have increased significantly over the past few decades at a rate that has been well above the rate of inflation. Students often must make difficult decisions about whether to purchase course materials, and these decisions can have serious consequences for their learning and their grades. The issue of high textbook prices has been exacerbated by large increases in the cost of living (including rent and food) over the past few years, putting additional pressure on student finances.
At McMaster, we have implemented various initiatives and services to address the high costs of textbooks and other course materials, including the library’s eReserves service, and initiatives to support the creation and use of free, open educational resources (OER) as an alternative to expensive course materials, such as the OER Grants Program. At the provincial level, the Government of Ontario’s Virtual Learning Strategy provided millions of dollars to instructors in Ontario to create new OER. We hope that these initiatives are making course materials more affordable and accessible for students at McMaster.
In this project, we will survey undergraduate students from all Faculties at McMaster to determine how much money McMaster students are spending on course materials, whether they are forgoing purchasing required textbooks and other required course materials, what they are doing instead, and how they are affected by high course material costs. We will compare the results to findings from a course materials affordability survey which was conducted at McMaster in 2022, to see if any progress has been made in making course materials more affordable.
The findings of this survey will help us better understand student experiences and needs, and to plan future initiatives that aim to address course material affordability, including programs supporting the use of open educational resources.
This project aims to explore how undergraduate students in kinesiology courses use Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and how instructors and TAs can better support AI literacy while managing its use in academic settings. Through surveys and focus groups, we will assess students’ AI usage patterns, challenges, and perceptions to develop evidence-based strategies for responsible AI integration in learning. Additionally, we will gather instructor and TA perspectives on AI’s impact on teaching and assessment. Findings will inform the creation of AI literacy resources, guidelines, and teaching strategies that enhance student learning while ensuring academic integrity. By fostering digital literacy, interdisciplinary collaboration, and effective learning opportunities with AI, this project aligns with McMaster’s commitment to inclusive and scholarly teaching. The outcomes will help instructors navigate AI’s evolving role in education, ensuring that students develop critical skills for ethical and productive AI use in their academic and professional careers.
Generative AI tools are reshaping how students learn, study, and engage with their disciplines—yet the opportunities, challenges, and ethical dilemmas AI presents can vary dramatically across fields. This project will bring together an interdisciplinary group of students—each representing a different Faculty—into a series of facilitated dialogue sessions. Students will explore how AI impacts their learning, discipline-specific norms and expectations, and ethical considerations unique to their fields. By centering student perspectives, this project will uncover insights not always visible to instructors and contribute to a more nuanced understanding of AI in higher education.
Efforts will be made to ensure the group of students is diverse and representative. This will include inviting the Director of the Arts & Science program and Deans from each Faculty to nominate two students (one undergraduate and one graduate) who can speak to their disciplinary perspectives, as well as seeking nominations from the Black Student Success Centre, Maccess and the MSU’s Pride Community Centre, and Indigenous Student Services to ensure the inclusion of historically marginalized voices.
The nature of deliverables will be discussed and decided as a group but could include short student videos on “How I Use AI in My Discipline”, a briefing document to share with AI expert panel on teaching and learning and AI Advisory, and/or recommendations for discipline-specific AI literacy modules/resources. The use of AI in the creation of these deliverables will be encouraged if/when appropriate.
Learning is a social, collaborative process, yet students don’t always have access to a peer for brainstorming or working through complex problems. This is especially true for remote learners or those with communication barriers. This project seeks to use Generative AI tools as a “GenAI Learning Partner”—an on-demand learning partner akin to a bright classmate.
McMaster’s 2024 Undergraduate Student Perspectives on GenAI report shows students desire to use these tools as tutors but are concerned about their reliability and the rules for their use [1]. This project directly addresses this by developing a framework for effective student-AI partnership. Instead of passively receiving answers, students will learn to engage the AI as a bright, but fallible peer: debating its ideas, asking it to explain concepts from different angles, and co-creating solutions. This model fosters critical thinking, as even a bright partner can be confidently incorrect.
In alignment with McMaster’s institutional priorities and its Digital Learning Strategic Framework, this project will prototype a GenAI partner within a sanctioned, controlled environment. A student partner will be hired to ensure the project remains student-centered, helping to design and evaluate a framework that is effective, responsible, and prepares students for a future of human-AI collaboration.
This course would be prototyped in the PI’s course: ENGPHYS 3NM4 – Numerical Methods for Engineering which is already GenAI integrated [2] and set to run in Fall 2025 https://mwelland.github.io/ENGPHYS_3NM4/ .
This project aims to enhance teaching effectiveness and student learning in 2FA3 Introduction to Finance, a large-enrollment course with nearly 800 students, by integrating generative AI tools. It has two goals: (1) to strengthen students’ ability to use AI tools effectively and ethically through a course-specific guide, supported by hands-on assignments in which students design prompts, compare their work to AI-generated responses, and reflect on accuracy and communication; and (2) to develop an AI-powered course assistant (a “chatbot”) trained on course materials (e.g., syllabus, slides, and practice exercises) to provide instant, accurate answers to common course-related questions, improving accessibility and reducing repetitive workload for instructors and teaching assistants (TAs). Student feedback and usage data will be collected to inform future course design. Together, the project builds students’ AI literacy, promotes a more personalized and inclusive learning environment, and encourages broader integration of AI and digital teaching tools at McMaster.
In 2023, the School of Rehabilitation Science (SRS) received STEER/R funding to explore ways of improving the inclusion of students with disabilities in health professional programs (HPP). The team conducted a scoping review of the literature to compile strategies intended to improve HPP accessibility (Dhillon et al., 2025). Findings from this review indicate education, critical reflection and a culture change for educators are commonly cited strategies that occur either individually or in combination. Together, they comprise a continuum in the educator learning process such that knowledge is: 1. Acquired; 2. Critically reflected on for personal bias and assumptions, and 3. Acted on through initiatives that promote the inclusion of disabled students.
Since many educators in HPP are health professionals themselves, they have some knowledge of disability. However, this learning typically does not include the voices of disabled people. Thus, educators may benefit from learning about the experiences of students and practicing health professionals with disabilities by understanding their unique challenges and contributions. The project lead (S. Dhillon) has partnered with S. Mahipaul, a disabled occupational therapist and advocate, to record a two-part long form podcast episode about her experiences as a student and professional. Long-form podcasts are audio recordings of individuals discussing a topic over several episodes of 15+ minutes duration (Drew, 2017).
Prior to recording any additional episodes, the research team plans to evaluate the first episode. Thus, the purpose of this partnered in teaching and learning (PTL) project is:
This project brings together religious studies students from McMaster and Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria, to discuss material dimensions of religion, focusing on how objects, spaces, bodies, and sensory experiences mediate religious belief and practice.
The participants in the discussions are my graduate seminar students (seminar title: “Sacred Things: Interdisciplinary Perspectives to Materiality of Religion”) and students of Dr. Peter O. Ottuh, Professor of Religion and Philosophy at the Department of Religious Studies and Philosophy, Delta State University. I have already established a connection with Dr. Ottuh, who is an ideal collaborator for this project, as his areas of research include African religions and cultures and religion and society. These are key topics for analyzing the materiality of religion from cross-cultural and decolonial perspectives.
In practice, the project participants will meet twice for 2 hours during the Fall 2025 semester. The McMaster innovative classroom facilitates these hybrid meetings. Both Dr. Ottuh and I will propose study material for the meetings and guide the classroom discussions. The emphasis of the meetings will be on peer and participatory learning. Participants are encouraged to share their knowledge and experiences. Depending on the number of participants, they may be divided into smaller groups to foster getting to know each other.
By engaging with the assigned readings and guided conversations, participants will gain new insights into how people continue to rely on materiality in different religions. Materiality plays an important role also in those religions that are against images of god(s). Participants will discover how we perceive and treat our own objects and those of other cultures differently. McMaster students will deepen their understanding of objects during a visit to the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), which hosts various collections of religious objects. Both the classroom dialogue and the museum visit advance their understanding of decolonization.
This project aims to develop a 3-unit experiential course centering food security by connecting the OPIRG McMaster Community Garden with the Interdisciplinary Minor in Community Engagement.
In 2023, nearly 30% of post-secondary students in Canada experienced food insecurity, which is higher than the population-wide national average.[1] 59.1% of McMaster students surveyed as part of the 2021 Student Food Experience Survey Report by Meal Exchange were found to face food insecurity, with LGBTQ+ students, students with dependents, and students out of their home province most impacted.[2]
The OPIRG McMaster Community Garden is a student-led project dedicated to growing produce to improve campus food security. There are two garden sites which donate all produce to on-campus food security services. One location has been operated by various student groups since 2012, and the other was built as a fully accessible expansion site between 2023 and 2025. The garden is coordinated by two student leaders, with a student advisory committee and more than 80 student volunteers.
The gardens have always been closely tied to academic and extracurricular activities. Ongoing partnerships include programming with SUSTAIN 1S03, the McMaster Student Wellness Centre, and the McMaster Children’s Hospital. In May 2025, INSPIRE brought students into garden for an intersession course titled “Gardening for Growth.” This experience has sparked a desire for more thoughtful and strategic connections between the Community Garden and academic programming.
This project will lead to a detailed course proposal, a curriculum plan, and a set of campus-community relationships for a new course to be offered through the Interdisciplinary Minor in Community Engagement (CMTYENGA 3xx3). Grant funds will support two student research assistants who will work with the Educational Developer at the Office of Community Engagement to develop the materials listed above in consultation with campus and community partners.
The project Queering Culture and Classroom (QCC) explores the design and impact of CMST 2XX3: Queer Popular Culture, an interdisciplinary course launching in Winter 2026. Open to students from across the university, CMST 2XX3 is one of only a few McMaster courses focused on 2SLGBTQIA+ topics. QCC centres student consultation and partnership to address three aims:
1) to enhance the design of CMST 2XX3,
2) to investigate its impact on students who take it, and
3) to communicate insights into queer pedagogy grounded in student perspectives and reciprocal student partnerships.
Funded by two Student Partner Project (SPP) grants (Winter and Summer 2025), our team—an undergraduate student, PhD student, and faculty member—has co-designed CMST 2XX3 through a deeply collaborative process. Drawing on queer and critical communications pedagogy, our approach moves beyond inclusion to amplify marginalized voices, challenge oppressive power structures, and transform educational spaces (Atay and Pensoneau-Conway 2019). These values strongly align with the SPP’s principles of “reciprocity, respect, and transparency” (MacPherson Institute 2024).
While our collaboration has been meaningful and generative, we aim to engage more student voices as community partners through three phases:
1) Before the course: consult with McMaster’s 2SLGBTQIA+ student community about course content, relevance, accessibility, and representation;
2) After the course: Conducting 2-3 focus groups with course alumni to explore student learning, sense of belonging, and the course’s overall impact;
3) Dissemination: Share findings with the McMaster community and in a peer-reviewed publication, contributing new insights about queer pedagogy by centering student insights.
Through QCC, we aim to strengthen CMST 2XX3, extend our student-faculty partnership, and offer a model for student-partnered course development, queer pedagogy, and interdisciplinary learning.
Concept mapping is a pedagogical strategy used in undergraduate courses (Veiga, Gil-Del-Val, Iriondo, & Eslava, 2025) and professional schools (Dosani, Lind, & Loewen, 2019; Fonseca et al., 2024). It can be used both as an in-class activity and as a summative assessment tool (Burrows & Reid Mooring, 2014). According to Davies (2011), the process of developing a concept map involves several sequential processes: creating a focus question, brainstorming, organizing ideas into a hierarchical order, identifying links and cross-links between concepts, and integration of contextual examples. These tasks offer the potential to improve student’s metacognitive awareness, promote social skills through peer learning, and facilitate innovation and creativity through divergent thinking. Concept mapping can help students critically evaluate and organize their ideas and may enhance motivation and engagement. Pragmatically, concept mapping can be used in both analog and digital learning spaces, and does come with challenges in terms of implementation and grading (Machado & and Carvalho, 2020).
The goal of this project is to experiment with concept mapping as an in-class strategy with undergraduates in a selection of upper-year electives. The learning outcomes for these courses include problem-solving and critical thinking skills tied to authentic, professionally oriented tasks often performed in teams. The students in this program have previously taken two core courses involving group learning activities in active learning classrooms, and we are looking to use concept mapping to expand from this foundation into activities that are higher-level on the Bloom’s taxonomy. Having never led a concept mapping activity in a classroom the graduate TAs and I will have the challenge of developing clear instructions and appropriately scaffolded progressions for the first time. We plan to take what we learn from this experience and create a workshop to help other instructors develop their own concept map activities.
Clinical education is central to speech-language pathology (SLP) training. To meet graduation requirements and qualify for registration with the College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists of Ontario, students must demonstrate competence across key clinical skills and complete at least 350 hours of clinical work. While in-class coursework builds foundational knowledge and simulates clinical practice, most competencies and clinical hours are gained through community-based placements under the supervision of a registered SLP.
Learners in the McMaster SLP program alternate between academic coursework and full-time clinical placements. Students have historically completed a two-week observational placement at the end of their first term, as part of their first Clinical Skills course (SLP712). While this experience provided early exposure to real-world clinical settings, it offered limited opportunity to build skills or accrue clinical hours. In recent years, community clinicians have also reported increased workload pressures and reduced capacity to supervise learners. This prompted us to explore a more sustainable, skills-focused alternative that can better support both learners and clinical partners.
For this pilot, we have selected clinical screening as the focus. Clinical screening is recognized as a foundational skill for entry-level SLP practice and can be performed with minimal supervision once students are trained. This makes it well suited for early service-learning opportunities without placing significant demands on clinical partners. Early, focused skill development may also enhance learners’ competence and confidence – contributing to self-efficacy and helping prepare learners for future clinical placements and success throughout the remainder of the program.
In this pilot, we will co-design a series of experience-based learning activities focused on clinical screening, with students, faculty, and community clinicians. Students will engage in structured skill development aligned with curriculum standards. Outcome measures will be feasibility and learners’ achievement of learning outcomes. We will also identify opportunities for future refinement.
The increased use of technology for teaching and learning activities and the rise of technologies such as ChatGPT has led to an ever-growing need to develop digital literacy and proficiency skills. Ontario Extend (OE), a micro-credentialed learning program developed by eCampusOntario, was created to address this need. In 2023, as a Digital Literacy Fellow for eCampusOntario, I facilitated two 3-week Ontario Extend Sprint sessions for post-secondary staff and faculty from institutions across Ontario.
The OE program, an open education resource (OER), is under a creative commons license that enables the material to be copied, transformed and used in any medium or format. There is opportunity to customize and enhance the existing OE program and offer it to members of the McMaster Community. The aim of this project is to evaluate a self-paced vs facilitated version of the OE program for developing digital literacy and proficiency in students, faculty and staff.
With the launch of artificial intelligence-generated image applications (e.g., Midjourney, Copilot), there has been a flurry of generative AI images proliferating the mediascape, bringing with it a storm of controversy and anxiety. This project will explore the possibility of creating interactive educational offerings that provide learners the opportunity to gain critical media literacy skills rooted in historical thinking, visual theory, and case analysis. The Seed Grant will support partnership building and knowledge gathering from different campus faculties and from teaching and learning stakeholders at McMaster, including students, with three main goals: 1) identifying curriculum gaps or interests related to this topic, 2) assessing the feasibility of format options related to content and expected audiences, and 3) ensuring rich student learning experiences. At a time when visual evidence/truth, dis/misinformation and academic integrity are at stake, there is no time like the present to gain a solid foundation on visual literacy.
The project proposes to design, with the support of a Research Assistant, a level II course in Media Arts for Humanities students across Humanities, that aims to build an interdisciplinary capacity for students to critically understand and apply digital concepts. The course will engage digital theory research from diverse offers and a theory-praxis approach plus EDI and accessibility principles. It supports diverse forms of learning via lively lectures including interactive components, in-class small group work and individual work. It offers diverse forms of assessment to support accessibility and enable a single instructor to teach and grade a large class; these include: quizzes, small group work graded by team members, ungrading (where students assess and offer a grade for their own work), group critiques and process reports. The course takes advantage of the interactive capabilities of large interactive classrooms at McMaster and aims to share Media Arts curriculum with HUMN students.
Previously, we offered HTHSCI 3E03: Bioinformatics to introduce machine learning and statistical methods to students from non-computational backgrounds. Following encouraging feedback, we sought to improve the course by implementing more hands-on components focused on developing computational skills and applying machine learning methods. To do so, we partnered with Dr. Stacey Ritz to expand HTHSCI 3E03 into two courses, for an estimated cohort of 30 students, in the fall and winter semesters. Our project will focus on course design and implementation. In the fall, we aim to develop tutorials for students to learn 1) statistical programming language R and 2) common statistical and machine learning methods. In the winter, this project will equip students with publicly available large scale biological datasets to facilitate a research practicum. Overall, our project aims to foster a hands-on experience and empower students to apply computational skills to investigate research questions in biology and healthcare.
This project will support the development of CMST 2XX3 Queer Popular Culture (QPC). As the first large, undergraduate course to focus on queer and trans cultures, QPC has the potential to provide recognition to 2STLGBQIA+ students and a locus for community building. It also requires careful attention to safety, inclusion, and embodied learning.
This project aims to
It will involve a literature review and environmental scan, consultation with stakeholders (e.g., McMaster’s Pride Community Centre, Gender and Social Justice), and focus groups with 2STLGBQIA+students. This research will inform learning outcomes and course structure and initiate conversations that will continue with a Garden Grant application, which will involve undergraduate student partners and address course topics, assessment design, guest speakers, and community engagement.
With the digital transformation of education and the increasing demand for accessibility services among diverse student bodies, SAS has identified that many of its processes require revision and update to serve the McMaster community better. This project responds to the need to optimize SAS processes by accommodation implementation at the SAS office. By mapping SAS processes, we will identify sources of inefficiency or ineffectiveness. We will also interview faculty, students, and staff about their SAS experiences to deepen our knowledge of SAS processes and their implications. We will leverage findings from the mapping exercise, interviews, and a literature review on best practices in the field of student accessibility to provide recommendations for improvement. This project can enhance students’ learning experience by prompting greater efficiency and effectiveness in the SAS office. Furthermore, this project will strengthen knowledge preservation and retention, knowledge transfer, and employee training in the SAS and Faculty offices.
Human Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) is a foundational course for students in several health sciences and health professional programs (e.g., Bachelor of Health Sciences, Nursing, Midwifery) at McMaster University. This large enrollment course (>400 students) is offered in a traditional format (e.g., lectures, labs and tutorials). Recently, an inquiry-based A&P course has been piloted and is being positioned to students as an alternative option to the traditional A&P foundational course. In the inquiry-based A&P course, students will receive mini-lectures throughout the first half of the course. Throughout the second half, students will engage with the material through questions, investigations, and problem-solving activities, with minimal direction from the instructor. The objective of the proposed project is to investigate the following question: “Which instructional methods, inquiry-based or traditional, do second-year undergraduate students perceive to be more effective in achieving learning outcomes in an introductory anatomy and physiology course?”
The student-partnered project involves the creation of a student-centered, free, accessible capstone (SOC PSY 4ZZ6) specific ‘how-to’ resource guide, created for students & by students, filled with tips, hints, relatable stories, shared experiences, and lessons learned from former students who completed their own capstone thesis projects. This project involves working with students as partners, as research assistants/collaborators/co-editors, and as contributors. Organized in sequential order in relation to tasks associated with the capstone thesis project, the guide will include sections on developing a project idea, completing an ethics application, writing a proposal, managing revisions, recruitment and data collection, data analysis, preparing and presenting an academic poster, and writing a final thesis paper. Contributors have creative liberty in how they share their experiences, whether through written words, graphic art, audio/video clips, or other mediums. This guide will further the growth and development of novice student researchers and provide student-partnership-based opportunities.
Post-COVID, there has been a noticeable decline in professionalism among new workers. Reports indicate Generation Z workers exhibit behaviors such as dishonesty, lack of work ethic, difficulties getting along with coworkers, and issues with punctuality. Employers also highlight significant deficiencies in soft skills, including collaborative working, communication, and critical thinking.
The goal is to better prepare students for a successful transition to the workforce. Focus will be on key professionalism topics for Level 3 and 4 students from all faculties. We will leverage existing resources like LinkedIn Learning and engage industry professionals from diverse communities through online professionalism training. Students will gain skills that will help them navigate the complexities of the modern workplace, show a high level of professionalism and be more confident to contribute positively to their future employer.
“Critical thinking requires us to use our imagination, seeing things from perspectives other than our own and envisioning the likely consequences of our position.” -bell hooks.
Critical thinking encourages self-reflection, experimentation, and growth. With society becoming increasingly information and technology-driven, such skills are assets for undergraduate learners, ensuring success in the ever-changing job market. While many undergraduate degree programs list critical thinking skills as an outcome, such competencies are not always directly assessed in courses. We have identified two distinct approaches to foster critical thinking in the classroom: problem-based learning (PBL) and case-based learning (CBL). We will adopt these approaches in two existing course offerings within our department, assessing their impact through a rubric. Funding from this Seed Grant will allow us to:
Our goal for this Seed Grant is to further develop “The Last Microbe Standing©: The Board Game”, originally created by Dr. Doyle during her postdoctoral research position (Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois). The objectives to achieve this goal are two-fold: 1) translating the materials associated with the game into a French version, which will then be brought to local high schools with a French program; and 2) adapting the game for an in-class activity to be used in the course MOLBIOL 4CT3 taught by Dr. Doyle in the Fall term. The game includes a cast of microbial characters and mobile DNA cards, each with their own superpowers and kryptonite. Through game play, students learn how interactions among microbes and mobile DNA determine the outcome of the game, namely whether microbes survive to the last round.
The INSPIRE Office of Flexible Learning was formed to push the boundaries of teaching and learning by encouraging teachers to experiment with pedagogical practices that provide flexible learning opportunities for students to learn: a) at their own pace (when they learn); b) in different places (where they learn); c) with/from different people (who they learn with/from); d) on new pathways (what they learn); e) via innovative pedagogies (how they learn); and f) in ways that foster reflection on their sense of self and sense of purpose in the world (why they learn). This project will design a research framework and methodology to evaluate the impacts of INSPIRE programming as an incubator of innovative teaching and learning practices. As INSPIRE becomes an interdisciplinary hub of activity, relationship-building, and experimentation in the years to come, a research agenda will empower and support scholarship that informs flexible learning practices at McMaster and beyond.
This project will see the organization of a professional development day for McMaster University Library employees working in teaching & learning throughout the university, to not only improve but innovate their accessibility in instruction. This will be done by inviting both internal and external accessibility experts to speak to techniques that can be harnessed by library staff so that accessibility is not only an aspect of their instructional practices but rather a cornerstone of their pedagogical approach.
This day long professional development opportunity will build on the work we completed in 2023-2024 as Accessible Education Fellows focused on improving our in-person, online and hybrid instruction with a focus on integrated description and alt. text. This event will also coincide with the launch of a new openly licensed educational resource to support accessible library teaching, created as part of the Accessible Library Teaching Strategic Initiative for the 2024-2025 academic year.
The project aims to implement a comprehensive series of open-access modules that improve undergraduate McMaster students’ critical thinking and informational literacy skills. The initiative is a response to growing evidence that suggests first-year McMaster Health Science students are entering university with little to no formal education in critically engaging with information (Smith & Sanger, 2023). The program will support students in effectively navigating, appraising, and applying information in the digital age.
Modules will be co-created with McMaster students/alumni from both the Health Sciences and Humanities disciplines. This collaboration will merge the interactive, community-focused Health Sciences teaching style and the theoretical underpinnings of critical thinking in Humanities disciplines. Current McMaster students will be given a ‘draft’ of the modules and will offer their feedback. This collaborative approach will produce engaging, student-centred, multidisciplinary modules that compliment students’ preferences. Grant funding will compensate co-creation partners and McMaster students for their contributions.
A “lay summary” is a brief description of a scientific study intended for a non-expert audience. Lay summaries recognize that open access to science is a human right (UNESCO, 2021) and increase the visibility, impact and transparency of scientific research (Kuehne & Olden, 2015). A growing number of journals and granting agencies now require lay summaries (Salita, 2015). For these reasons, students learn how to write an effective lay summary in our foundational science communication course, SCICOMM 2A03.
When developing the rubric for this undergraduate assignment, it became clear that the requirements for published lay summaries are not well defined. Guidelines for authors vary from journal to journal, if they exist at all. This observation formed the basis for the McMaster Accessible Abstract Project (MAAP), which is now a core assessment in our level 2 and 3 science communication courses. In level 2, students perform an observational study, in which they assess the accuracy and accessibility of 200 published lay summaries. In level 3, students run a randomized controlled trial exploring the impact of a high- vs. low-quality lay summary on audience comprehension and perceptions about science. Students in both courses have a knowledge translation project aimed at translating their findings into positive change. Students who opt to take our level 4 science communication course build further on this research, proposing their own research question and methodology and working in groups to answer the question across the semester.
This scaffolded project promotes critical reflection on the rationale and rubric for our lay summary assignment and engages students with increasingly sophisticated quantitative and qualitative research methods. Importantly, students contribute to both the theory and the practice of science communication. We recently described this project in a special issue of JAEPL on science communication training (Adeel et al., 2023). We now want to assess the impact of this scaffolded project on student competency, confidence and perceptions around the importance of inclusive science communication.
In 2024, “going global” is no longer the purview of the privileged. Indeed, the cultivation of global citizenship and intercultural competence is both a necessity and a possibility for all. Considering the above and given the fact that today’s students are navigating unprecedented levels of loneliness, social disconnection and well-being challenges, the inaugural McMaster University Global Citizen Award will encourage students to learn about, reflect on, and celebrate their membership in the global family to which we all belong.
After inspiring students to participate in a competitive application process, the Award will be bestowed on a single student, honouring him/her/them with a financial prize, a paid internship with the Global Experience Coordinator at the SSC, as well as McMaster-wide recognition as a distinguished ambassador of Global Citizenship.
This project was inspired by the Adrienne Clarkson Prize for Global Citizenship (Institute for Canadian Citizenship) and the Youth Global Citizen Prize (UNA-Canada).
Brain imaging is an informative research tool used in several disciplines including linguistics and psycholinguistics, communication studies, marketing research, social science, cultural neuroscience, and anthropology, among others. EEG (electroencephalography) techniques allow researchers to capture brain activity in real time as participants interact with various stimuli, which could include an advertisement, a song, a passage from a piece of literature, the act of praying, or real-time communication (to name but a few examples). Given the breadth of stimuli that can be used to study brain activity using EEG technology, it is a particularly suitable skillset for interdisciplinary research.
This workshop will be open to all students in advance stages of their research training (e.g., upper year undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows). They will learn how to use EEG technology and work in teams on a common interdisciplinary research project. The workshop will open research opportunities up to an interdisciplinary network of scholars across McMaster’s campus and could serve as a catalyst for novel interdisciplinary research.
The McMaster Master of Science, Physiotherapy [MSc(PT)] Program has an established admission stream for Indigenous applicants – known as the Facilitated Indigenous Application Process (FIAP). The goal of FIAP is to matriculate students who are representative of the populations they will serve – as it has been demonstrated that healthcare needs are better addressed when the diversity of the healthcare provider aligns with that of their patients.1 Historically, the percentage of applications through our FIAP stream, offers of admission, and those who ultimately enter our Program is significantly lower than the percentage of Canadians who identify as Indigenous (5%2). This project will create resources to support applicants to the MSc(PT) Program who are pursuing admissions through FIAP, with the goal of increasing offers of admission to Indigenous candidates. Additionally, the project will create admissions resources that will be inviting and supportive of Indigenous persons seeking to become physiotherapists in Canada.
Katherine Davies, Hon Yiu So
This project’s goal is to increase interactivity in undergraduate stats courses using a custom Shiny app. These apps are increasingly being used in stats courses, but this project will expand their use cases by developing and implementing multiple choice questions which provide feedback and better prepare students for exams.
Jasdeep Dhir, Shannon Kitchings, Rochelle Reid, Michelle Phoenix, Sandra VanderKaay, Sarah Glazewski, Nick Morrison, Charmaine Neu, Leslie Gilles, Katie Porter
Entry-level healthcare programs encourage the integration of the tenets of equity, diversity, inclusion and justice (EDIJ) through all aspects of education. This must be considered in both in-class and clinical placement learning.This project seeks to promote inclusive clinical education environments through engagement in learning activities that incorporate the concepts of EDIJ in graduate rehabilitation science professional programs. It will evaluate perspectives of clinical instructors (CI)/ Preceptors following in learning activities focussed on EDIJ. It will also evaluate the perspectives of Students on an inclusive learning environment when supervised by a CI/ Preceptor that has engaged in these learning activities.
Andrew Mitchell
Previously, the project PI (Andrew Mitchell) created a co-curricular “Music Performance Workshop” in which Music students from the School of the Arts could bring musical performances under development before their peers for testing, experimentation, and practice. Music students currently study in the genres of classical music and jazz. Dr. Mitchell’s goal is to expand this opportunity to students from across campus with interests in music creation (including both performance and composition), any musical genre, from any tradition, and begin to build a diverse cross-campus community of musicians.
Tina Robinson, Anna Magnotta
This project seeks to implement a Digital Skills program to respond to employers’ needs and address the financial and academic barriers that hinder access to formal training and experiential opportunities geared toward cultivating digital skills. Accessible to students from all faculties, will leverage available resources like LinkedIn Learning.
Stephanie Sanger, Abeer Siddiqui
The project team seeks to assess the perceived value students place on narrative and storytelling in Health Sciences and Life Sciences undergraduate programs. They will host an interdisciplinary storytelling exhibition where students from two FHS and one Life science courses will share their stories with McMaster and beyond.
Swintak, Linah Hegazi, Shaden Ahmed
This project seeks to establish connections between students at the School of the Arts and STEM based research sites across campus. The project involves conducting student-led outreach that explores McMaster’s core research platforms to evaluate possible synchronicities with expressive creative production. Information collected will be directly integrated with the curriculum of iArts 1PB3 – Perspectives B: Arts in Society: Technology and the Environment, the new Integrated Arts Program’s mandatory entry-level survey course. The aim of project is to open the door of cross-disciplinary conversation and explore sites of knowledge that have potential to influence the work of emerging artists.
Maryam Zamani, Ryan Belowitz, Ross Ryan, Abeer Siddiqui
The overall goal of this project is to collaborate with an interdisciplinary team of instructors and students from across the University to learn how to best incorporate language models into a select number of assignments in the Faculties of Science and Humanities. Data collected from students and instructors through surveys and focus groups will be provided to the Task Force to assist with updating policies.
Eugenia Zuroski, Chase Thompson
The project team will develop and implement a suite of asynchronous course content for a hybrid first-year English course. The content will be designed to enhance the overall quality of online materials and ensure they meet the highest accessibility standards.
Alpha Abebe, Sheena Jary
The investigators will enhance the Humanities Leadership curriculum by deepening its focus on equity, leveraging decolonial methodologies, and inviting current and former students to share ideas about, and co-create, curriculum design and course content, informed by their unique perspectives and lived experience.
Anita Acai, Cezara Ene, Etri Kocaqi
Recognizing that medicine exists in a sociocultural environment that views illness as a burden, medical professional norms may reflect and reproduce ableist values and diminish physicians’ own illness stories. This Seed Grant will fund Part II of a two-part study, which aims to understand how medical learners process their preceptors’ lived experiences as patients, the impact on their learning and development, and the potential of these narratives in medical education.
Ilana Bayer, Peter Helli, Irena Rebalka, Evan Varlese, Kevin Shao, Zahra Abdallah
The investigators will utilize the VR equipment and 3-D anatomical assets to pilot test VR anatomy experiences in the Anatomy and Physiology tutorials, focusing on user experience and feasibility of implementing VR in a tutorial setting. They will also measure the impact of VR anatomy experiences on learner outcomes and investigate whether using VR anatomy assets facilitates learner comprehension of anatomical structures and processes.
Ryan Belowitz, Ana Tomljenovic-Berube, Sanari Wickramaratne
The investigators will explore the optimal way for students to engage with digital lab guides, assessing which hardware is preferred and optimal for students to view the digital lab outline during the lab itself; which elements within the digital lab outline students have found most helpful. The project team will alsoprovide a qualitative assessment of other lab course instructors/coordinators’ experiences regarding the most effective way to run labs with students (digital or print).
Alison Biggs, Tienna Nagel, Jacob Rice
This project aims to increase flexibility and accessibility in Linguist 2SY3, through the development of two specialized asynchronous digital resources for a course that otherwise relies on significant in-person engagement.
Lydia Chen, Cosmina Filip, Vanessa Bautista
This project proposes to create a modified course design which responds compassionately to student needs, thereby promoting student wellness and better support student mental health while make a positive impact on their learning experience.
Kristina Durham, Sarah Wojkowski, Krista Howarth, Simran Lohit, Adam Arca
This project will ascertain the depth and breadth of resources that exist in relation to clinical skin-based assessments across diverse skin tones, develop a curated catalogue of inclusive resources called AnatoME, and identify gaps in resources to promote future work on resource development that is descriptive of or illustrating of given assessments across diverse skin tones.
Arij Elmi, Eva Marie-Stern, Kusum Bhatta
This project explores how creative genograms (graphical representations of family trees) can support Social Work students as they develop and become comfortable with the “not-knowing-stance” and reflective capacities.
Qiyin Fang, Jacob Saunders, Jan Phillips
This project will develop a flexible micro-credentialled learning pathway for McMaster students and industry professionals seeking to improve their knowledge of optical imaging.
Dave Heidebrecht, Randy Kay, Karen Balcom, Maleka El Naghi, Amandeep Saini
The CityLAB Semester in Residence (SIR) program brings together McMaster students, academics, as well as partners from community organizations and the City of Hamilton, to work on local change-making projects. In Fall 2022, CityLAB SIR is implementing a new equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) framework. This framework aims to promote the knowledge, awareness, skills, and willingness to act needed by students, instructors and partners to successfully incorporate EDI considerations into their own community-based projects, as well as in the classroom. This grant will support hiring a student partner to assist with the implementation and evaluation of the EDI framework.
Andrea Hemmerich, Robert Fleisig, Sean Park, Negar Deilami
The project will explore ways in which Design Thinking (DT) — as taught in the Masters of Engineering Design (MED) program — can provide students a more inclusive environment in the Faculty of Engineering by supporting them in learning equity-driven approaches to design.
Kim Jones, Pariza Katila, Abhilasha Kaur, Yue Tan
In collaboration with undergraduate students in engineering, the project lead will explore experiences of different groups within women in engineering.
Caroline Junkins, Amanda Kelly Ferguson, Sharonna Greenberg, Pratheepa Jeganathan, Rasmi Panse
This project proposes to build a machine learning (ML)-supported thematic analysis system to provide semi-automated analysis of qualitative SET data. This pilot project will shape our future strategy on SET in alignment with the overarching 2021 Partnered in Teaching and Learning Strategy and the 2019 MUFA report.
Ridha Khedri, Holly Koponen, Lindsay White
This project team will develop a project-based collaborative co-curricular for Software Security, designing an escape room development program in which students can test their knowledge of software and hardware design in a low-risk environment. The co-curricular will also include opportunities for mentorship.
Kimberly Lewis, Xinxin Tang, Emir Ali
This project aims to expand the use of point of care ultrasound (POCUS) technology within Internal Medicine, demonstrate that providing an ultrasound machine facilitates achievement of competency with POCUS and improves patient care. With these expected findings, they hope to subsequently advocate for the purchase of a handheld system at all hospital sites that Internal Medicine residents rotate through.
Krista Madsen, Daanish Mulla
The project team aims to improve Biomechanics, a level II core course in the Kinesiology undergraduate program, by adding more authentic learning opportunities and specifications-based grading. Through these two course changes, they hope to positively influence science undergraduate students’ performance and wellness.
Anna Magnotta, Gisela Oliveira, Dave Heidebrecht, Maleka El Naghi, Kashish Sikka
This project aims to promote experiential and interdisciplinary (ExCELINT) opportunities, which often struggle in promotion due to their ‘unique’ form of learning or content, and their place outside of established programming, through an ExCELINT Ambassador program.
Michael Wong, Paul Leegsma, Emma Marsden
The project team aims to evaluate the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) virtual exchange project and develop a handbook which will detail an inclusive and equitable COIL approach that values (a) intercultural and interdisciplinary skills and (b) student partnerships through the incorporation of student coordinators and student-centered pedagogy.
Lana Wylie, Beyza Hatun Kiziltepe, Dana Shugom
This project will develop an innovative new course, Pathways: Approaching Life with a Political Science Degree, which will enable students to see how their undergraduate education in Political Science translate to graduate or professional schools, first jobs, and career opportunities. It will underscore the value of a liberal arts education while preparing students for life after graduation.
Tara Zabella, Bhagwati Gupta, Alice O’Carroll
Science Career and Cooperative Education is partnering with the Faculty of Science Department of Graduate Studies to deliver career programming that is uniquely tailored to the specific needs of Science students at the graduate level. As such, this project will conduct a comprehensive needs analysis in Fall 2022 to inform the first iteration of career programming in Winter and Spring 2023.
BACKGROUND: Imagine having the insight of an entire career as an anatomy & physiology educator – who has photographic memory able to recall their words from a transcribed live lecture, who has analyzed thousands of student exams, knows exactly where every anatomy student struggles, and can instantly provide the perfect explanation to unlock understanding—that’s the revolutionary potential of our specialized small language model approach. While massive artificial intelligence (AI) large-language models (LLM) like ChatGPT are impressive generalists, they’re like bringing a Swiss Army knife to perform surgery; our targeted small language model (SLM) is the precision scalpel designed specifically for anatomy education.
By training exclusively on undergraduate anatomy and physiology lecture content delivered at McMaster University, as well as assessment data analyzed by the PI (Nederveen) and collaborators (Rebalka, Howarth, Kamal) —every confused answer about the difference between arteries and veins, every mixed-up bone identification, every misconception about muscle function—our proposed SLM AI would help diagnose learning gaps and deliver exactly the right intervention at exactly the right moment.
While students often struggle to articulate specific conceptual difficulties during class discussions or office hours, their assessment performance reveals systematic patterns of misunderstanding. By applying AI and machine learning algorithms to analyze response patterns, test question difficulty indices, and error frequencies across multiple cohorts, we aim to identify consistently challenging anatomical concepts and common misconceptions. The project will integrate four key data sources: (i) instructor-based content (i.e., transcripts), (ii) historical test statistics from anatomy & physiology courses, (iii) qualitative teaching observations from PIs, and (iv) AI-driven pattern recognition to synthesize these inputs.
OBJECTIVE: The primary deliverable will be a bespoke, AI-curated SLM-formative assessment tool that complements other formative assessment tools being developed as a supplementary resource that can be accessed by students in any Faculty who study anatomy & physiology. Our team has made significant strides to develop this tool, with previous support from the Macpherson Institute (see section 22 for details).
This will be a McMaster-trained, student-facing tool. Here, we propose to utilize the SLM as a self-diagnostic tool – using personalized student scores to facilitate the AI into the creation of low-stakes practice questions, scenarios and case studies based on in-course content to allow students to re-test concepts that they struggle with.
This is not, at this stage, designed to be an independent tutor. Critically – this use of AI is fundamentally based on the required expertise of the teaching staff, which has developed the content, questions and transcripts on which the SLM is trained.
Instructors are losing ground on generative AI use in the classroom
AI tools, most notably generative AI, are dramatically changing the work environment our graduates are entering. To be successful, graduates will need to develop proficiency with these tools to stay productive in the workforce. These tools are also changing the academic environment in which students are studying. Professors and students find themselves in tension with one another as there is a very real risk that students can use these tools to circumvent critical course learning.
Given these challenges and risks, the predominant approach in academia has been to avoid these tools and mandate that students do the same. Recent reports indicate that students are increasingly using AI tools in their studies. As instructors, we find ourselves on the backfoot, lacking both the knowledge/tools to prevent misuse and the ability to design learning opportunities that meaningfully incorporate AI.
Designing an AI-enhanced chat solution to study student-AI interactions
To address this gap, we will design and build a custom private and locally hosted AI-enhanced chat solution. Students will engage with this chat solution to strengthen their solutions to course assignments. Throughout the assignment, instructors will have access to understand how students use the AI solution to complete their work. We will analyze this usage data to improve assignment design with an eye to improving learning outcomes for students. The goal is to enhance the quality of student output while retaining critical learning outcomes.
The project team will work to deploy this enhanced AI solution in up to three classroom environments: a term-long live case study, a 24-hour case assignment, and an analytical spreadsheet assignment. Each project can have distinct access points that enable the AI solution to have project-specific knowledge and insight.
This project builds on a successful pilot project (Phase I), funded by the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), which introduced a collaborative model of Rapid Evidence Synthesis (RES) focused on midwifery care. RES is a streamlined systematic review process, designed to deliver timely, high quality research summaries for busy clinicians. (1)
In Phase I, we:
Feedback from participants highlighted the pilot’s value in building research skills and confidence among both students and clinicians.
We are now seeking funding for Phase II, which will scale this initiative by developing a formal educational curriculum toolkit. Guided by the Knowledge-to-Action Framework and an Integrated Knowledge Translation approach (2-3), this phase will expand access to RES training across McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS).
This is aligned with the strategic goals of the McMaster Midwifery Education Program and Midwifery Research Centre to build research capacity within the profession. However, the need for accessible research training, and the ability to synthesize evidence quickly to drive practice, spans all health disciplines—especially for clinicians not embedded in academic environments. (4-6).
With this funding, we will:
This project represents a potentially scalable, interdisciplinary solution to a widespread challenge in healthcare education and practice.
This project expands the 2021/2022 PALAT-funded Social Psychology faculty-peer-student partnership which created a pre-conference workshop, conference, and feedback exit survey to now include fourth-year and recently graduated students from the Department of Health, Aging & Society (HAS). The conference and research team will expand by hiring 4 students (2 from Social Psychology and 2 from HAS) with 5 former conference developers returning as collaborators/facilitators/partners and mentors. As a true illustration of a faculty-peer-student-partnership, all team members are grant co-applicants. No such conference exists in HAS; this expansion will positively impact the learning experience of approximately 100 students participating in the conference as either presenters and/or attendees.[i] Like the PALAT-funded project, the proposed project involves (1) organization & hosting of a student-partner run hybrid pre-conference workshop and research conference, and (2) an assessment of the expanded initiative via a feedback exit survey. As a continuation of the PALAT-funded project, this project revisits the original research questions to evaluate & compare conference experiences, assessing project growth and expansion (Clancy, McDonald, Jadavji, & Meneguzzi, 2025, p. 9): (1) In what ways can a student-run undergraduate conference facilitate student engagement (i.e., opportunities for current and recently graduated students to communicate, share knowledge and engage with others in an academic environment) and success (i.e., students reaching their own defined level of academic achievement and accomplishments)?; (2) How can a student-run undergraduate conference act as an outlet for undergraduate research and inquiry?; and, (3) How can future student-run conferences be revised to meet the needs of current and recently graduated undergraduate students? A lesson learned from past offerings of the conference is the indelible impact of the hands-on research and learning experiences on students as partners/collaborators, presenters, and attendees, extending far beyond the walls of teaching and learning in the ‘traditional’ classroom (Clancy et al., 2025).
Our preliminary data indicate that many students in the Faculty of Science experience significant stress related to career planning and often are not able to access appropriate resources. Students have shared that this stress can interfere with their academic engagement and performance. Integrating career planning into course curricula across different levels and departments may help alleviate this stress, improve student engagement, and foster greater confidence in career planning.
This project aims to provide meaningful career development opportunities to a broad range of students by embedding career education into large biology and kinesiology courses and by organizing a faculty-wide career workshop series. Over the next two years, we will pursue this goal through three interconnected approaches:
The Garden Grant will enable us to implement this three-faceted approach, supporting student success and fostering a culture of career readiness across the Faculty of Science.
NOTE: Portions of this proposal were developed in collaboration with Generative AI (ChatGPT) to support clarity, structure, and polish various components of the proposal. All content was generated based on detailed, original input, ideas, and data provided by the applicants. Generative AI was used only as a tool to refine and articulate information.
Students with disabilities face barriers in accessing lab-based learning in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Wet labs remain among the least accessible teaching environments due to factors like fixed physical structures (e.g., benches), sensory challenges (e.g., lighting), equipment design, and inaccessible instructional modes. While some accessibility efforts are underway, a better understanding of the needs of disabled individuals using wet labs is needed. To create meaningful change, the gaps among current STEM environments, institutional and government accessibility mandates, and the lived experiences of disabled students, educators and staff, must be bridged.
Our project aims to develop a scalable lab accessibility audit framework that blends institutional design standards with users’ lived experiences. Building from previous work sourcing accessible lab equipment for the Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences (BBS) undergraduate teaching lab (HSC 1H1-8) in the Faculty of Health Sciences (TER Fund, 2025), this site will undergo a comprehensive accessibility audit. The lab supports multiple courses across undergraduate BBS programs.
The project includes three phases:
Phase I: A built environment, code-based accessibility audit will be conducted in partnership with campus stakeholders (e.g., Facility Services, SAS, Safety Office) and aligned with McMaster’s emerging Facility Accessibility Design Standards (MACFADS).
Phase II: Students, educators and staff who self-identify as disabled will complete walkthroughs of the lab, performing typical tasks (e.g., pipetting, handwashing) while narrating their experiences. A research team member will take field notes to document barriers not captured in code-based assessments.
Phase III: Semi-structured interviews will explore how users’ experiences shape their interaction with lab environments. Interviews will be recorded and transcribed for analysis along with observations from Phase II.
The project will generate a user-informed audit framework that identifies gaps between formal standards and actual needs, supporting inclusive lab design, strengthening institutional planning, and promoting accessibility across STEM programs.
This is nearly doubling the previous number of students who have participated in the Social Psychology Undergraduate Conference over the years, with an average of 10 presentations each year with approximately 40-50 attendees. Many of the presentations were group-based, with approximately 5 group members per group, with a smaller number of individual presentations (usually 1-2 per year). The inclusion of HAS students will not only increase the number of presentations but also provide HAS undergraduate students with an opportunity to attend the conference to learn from and support their peers’ research endeavors.
In 2023, Dr. Dina Brooks from the School of Rehabilitation Science (SRS) received STEER/R funding to increase the inclusion of students with disabilities in health professional programs (HPP). The team conducted a scoping review of strategies intended to improve HPP accessibility (manuscript in process). Findings from this review indicate education, critical reflection and a culture change for educators are strategies cited in the literature. In this Grow project, the SRS is partnering with colleagues from the STEER/R funded Roadmap Project and MacPherson Institute to act on this work by developing a long-form podcast. Long-form podcasts are audio recordings of individuals discussing a topic over several episodes of 15+ minutes duration.1 Three episodes will be co-constructed between the lead applicant and three disabled healthcare professionals (one per episode) about their challenges and contributions to their respective fields. The research component will involve health professional educators listening to and evaluating the podcast.
We have created the Chemistry Formative Assessment Study Tool (Chem-FAST). This tool helps students practice course material in Introductory Chemistry II (CHEM 1AA3), improve their long-term knowledge retention, and think critically about their problem-solving skills. Chem-FAST incorporates three components: (1) cognitive psychology principles (practice testing and spaced practice); (2) formative assessment in a low-stakes environment; (3) computerized adaptive testing, which delivers an individualized experience for each student to master the material. Try our prototype at chemfast.ca (linked here)!
We will shortly begin phase 1 of our research study (MREB revisions pending) to determine our students’ preferred study habits and whether Chem-FAST is an effective learning tool. Through this PTL grant, we have two goals: (1) complete phase 2 of our research study and (2) extend Chem-FAST to cover Introductory Chemistry I, CHEM 1A03.
The project aims to offer Biology Department students opportunities to engage with aspects of the Designing Your Science Career (DYSC) program that has been created and piloted by the SCCE. We hope to provide students with access to tools they can use for career exploration using three distinct approaches:
DYSC integrated into courses: We would like to integrate the DYSC program into course schedules, specifically, MOLBIOL3B03 and BIO2A03 The Project Team piloted this integration in Winter 2024 in BIO2A03 and preliminary feedback from 170 students indicated that 86% of them benefited from DYSC sessions within class time.
DYSC as a course with prototype experiences: Biology students will be eligible to take the SCI 3EP3 (Designing Your Science Career) course. Within this course, students will learn about prototyping different careers through conversations, networking or job-shadowing and undertake these experiences. If funded, this project will help to reduce cost barriers for students to undertake these experiential prototyping opportunities.
DYSC Workshops: Through two career panel workshops accessible to all students in the Biology Department, there will be an opportunity to experience the DYSC programming and meet McMaster Alumni with diverse career backgrounds.
With the DYSC program set up and the pilot integration already underway, the Grow Grant would appropriately support this three-faceted approach.
Research is exciting, crucial, life-changing – it’s how we create knowledge about important issues, how we contribute to social change. So why are research courses often perceived as the academic side-eye to more ‘relevant’ offerings? This project serves to engage student researchers by supporting digital knowledge mobilization (DKMb) in the undergraduate communication studies program. Building on previous collaborations, the project will:
Grow capacity in digital learning – Develop/deliver a series of digital literacy workshops, using tools to create visually and aurally textured research deliverables (e.g., podcasts – Audacity, etc; ArcGis Storymaps, and others);
Ensure sustainability – Improve upon a previous model to build new workshops that leverage existing university resources to ignite student engagement in research dissemination using digital tools, without over-taxing Lyons and Sherman;
Assess transferability of skills – Develop and deliver assessment tools that evaluate student perceptions and learning around research, knowledge mobilization, public-facing strategies.
The Digital Skills Program was created in 2023 with the intention of bridging the digital skills gap reflected in the current labour market. This program provides students with access to formal training and the opportunity to participate in experiential opportunities to develop their digital skills. The program’s content was designed to ensure that participants do not experience the financial and academic barriers that often hinder access to these skill development programs. The program will continue to leverage resources available to all McMaster students as well as provide access to short-term opportunities across campus to ensure that skill development is enhanced through co-curricular, work-integrated learning opportunities.
McMaster University has continued to expand and solidify its reputation as an institution that prioritizes innovation and interdisciplinary learning. The Student Success Centre continues to follow the same priorities through their program offerings and new program development.
To improve accessibility for students with vision disabilities or learning disabilities, we have generated a large amount of alternative text (alt text) to describe technical figures, charts, and graphics in Engineering and Chemistry. We are now seeking to ensure its effectiveness and accessibility for our students and to create materials for other STEM instructors. We propose to: (1) create a user testing methodology for alt text; (2) engage with a diverse group of users with accessibility needs and experience in STEM; (3) implement user feedback; (4) develop guidelines to create alt text in other STEM disciplines.
Our results from user testing will help train the AI system, tailored to the specific needs of STEM content.
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Justice (EDIJ)in Healthcare
A growing body of evidence clearly identifies accessibility and health outcome disparities among equity-deserving communities. These findings support the immediate need for intentional justice-driven work in health professions. To make transformative change in healthcare, critical exploration and investigation across the continuum of education and practice is required.
EDIJ in Healthcare Education
Clinical education (CE) is a mandatory component across all Canadian graduate level rehabilitation science programs; Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Speech Language Pathology. CE constitutes approximately one third of the time a learner is engaged in education and offers opportunities to integrate skills into clinical settings. It is a means for individuals to become acculturated into healthcare systems, learning professional behaviors modelled by clinical instructors (CI) and contributing to the formation of professional identity.
Healthcare programs and accrediting bodies are encouraging the integration and promotion of the tenets of EDIJ within education. This call to action must be considered in both in class and CE learning. Clinical environments play a pivotal role and are intended to offer safe learning spaces while training the next generation of health care providers
While EDIJ concepts may be foregrounded in academic programs and spaces, problems can arise during interactions within CE environments. Research exploring CE experiences of individuals belonging to equity-deserving groups report findings of learners feeling vulnerable to racism and injustice. Both positive and negative experiences in CE can influence a learner’s sense of belonging. These perspectives must be considered to create inclusive and personalized learning.
Given the time dedicated to CE it is imperative that value and emphasis is placed on promotion of EDIJ to support CIs in developing skills to create inclusive learning environments. The goal of this project will be to evaluate the experiences of CIs who have completed reflective and learning activities related to EDIJ.
The pedagogic portfolio is an established practice of supporting, discussing, and evaluating teaching qualification in parts of Europe, especially Sweden. At McMaster we practice the use of teaching portfolios. This portfolio practice for teaching awards and career milestones is centred on communicating teaching achievements whereas the pedagogic portfolio is a vehicle for practising and assessing teaching competency, professional growth, and scholarly teaching.
The project team hopes that by integrating pedagogic portfolios into McMaster’s teaching culture and practice would cultivate a more professional and scholarly community of educators. This approach necessitates familiarity with pedagogic literature, active engagement with students and colleagues, reflective practices, and the development of genuine scholarly portfolios. Such integration would enhance faculty teaching competencies, ultimately improving student learning outcomes.
The goal of the work outlined in this proposal is to continue an ongoing project on pedagogic portfolios to:
How do Black engineering students experience inclusion and social experiences within their community and within engineering spaces? Moreover, what strategies can be used to enhance their academic and professional development? What role does their experience within the Faculty play in constructing or re-constructing their sense of self? This research will examine the role of fit to environment, social and cultural capital as well as support systems (family, community, etc.) that promote academic resilience in these students.
We plan to hold focus groups with Black students and administer surveys across the Faculty regarding psychological fit in different settings. These settings include classrooms, academic support spaces, friendships, extracurricular activities, and work. Using asset-based framing, we will learn about effective resilience strategies and build support for equity-deserving students.
Growing polarization of opinion necessitates that our classrooms are safe and productive spaces to engage in conversations on challenging topics. Through constructive and reflective dialogue, our graduates can bridge divides and generate creative solutions to complex world issues.
However, many faculty lack experience and knowledge of pedagogical approaches suitable for structuring these discussions to better facilitate learning and perspective-taking, without causing unnecessary stress and distress. When improperly managed, such conversations carry risks of causing student distress, deteriorating mental health, and disengagement which can interfere with learning and harm student connection to the University community (Werman et al., 2019). Faculty can also become negatively impacted which can cause additional stress. We will build a repeatable, experiential workshop and an online, interactive toolkit for instructors to explain and demonstrate key pedagogical approaches to help faculty build skills and professional knowledge in facilitating effective and safe conversations on challenging topics.
First-year students in the Undergraduate Medical Education (UGME) program at the Michael DeGroote School of Medicine face rigorous challenges of mastering anatomy, often presented through traditional, didactic teaching methods. These methods, while informative, lack the interactive and collaborative engagement necessary for effective learning. To address this, this project will employ a team of undergraduate thesis students to use the Design-Based Research (DBR) framework to gamify anatomy lab content. This innovative, student-led approach aims to develop relevant and engaging educational games tailored to UGME students. Additionally, the project will assess the impact of these gamified methods on learning perceptions and performance using Q-methodology and anatomy quizzes. Moreover, it will explore the benefits of involving BHSc/BSc students in the design process and the value of student-led pedagogy in creating creative learning tools. Through this initiative, we aim to transform anatomy labs into dynamic, interactive learning environments that enhance student engagement and success.
This proposal is to expand the McMaster Music Workshop, which ran last year, funded by a PTL Seed grant. The Workshop gives any interested McMaster student an opportunity share their music with their peers. The regular Workshop sessions are not “performances” in the usual sense of the word. Students can bring music of any genre in any stage of development, and only participants can attend (to lessen the emotional stakes for those anxious about performing or sharing their music). The Workshop provides a forum for students 1) to develop skills in performance/sharing music with others, 2) to meet others across campus with serious interest in music, and 3) to encourage interaction among musicians of different genres or traditions. Performance skills (including anxiety management) tend to improve with repeated opportunity. The Workshop aims to help students gain confidence. In terms of community building among students with an individual musical practice, the workshop fills a void, since current musical communities are organized around specific ensembles (concert band, choir etc.) or campus clubs focused on a specific theme, such as musical theatre.
Ilana Bayer, Emma Plater
At McMaster, the Education Program in Anatomy has begun to explore implementing extended reality (VR and AR) into education. VR has been proposed to be beneficial in an educational context by increasing learner engagement, providing accessible and active learning environments, and facilitating spatial memory by allowing learners to interact with content from multiple angles. However, there is limited research on using VR or AR dynamically to help teach human movement. The objective of the proposed project is to investigate whether the use of extended reality technologies facilitate learner comprehension of functional motion and implementation into clinical scenarios.
Mirna E. Carranza
The project seeks to create a video that will prompt students to think through the interplay of historic, socio-economic, political, and geographic factors which produce relations of power. The project team has previously developed the concept of the “colonial grid” which identifies how people’s everyday realities are organized by colonial power and privilege.
Kristina Durham, Danielle Brewer-Deluce, Adam Arca, Simran Lohit, Marfy Abousifein, Maha Siddique
This project builds on the team’s previous PTL Seed Grant, which assessed the lack of diversity in skin tone in anatomy teaching resources and curated a collection of resources to rectify this inequity. This project seeks to identify ways to deconstruct notions of sex, gender, and sex- and gender-related factors embedded within anatomy laboratory procedures and teaching practices. As a leader in evidence-based anatomy education research, the McMaster Education Program in Anatomy and the AnatoME team aim to evaluate and improve guidelines, policies, and content surrounding sex and gender inclusivity within body donation and anatomical science education.
Andrea Hemmerich, Robert Fleisig, Negar Deilami, Kim Jones, Sarah Dickson-Anderson, Devon Mordell, Aasiya Satia, Areeb Khawaja, Jon Pusic
This project will build on the outcomes of a 2022 Seed Grant and 2023 Okanagan Special Project grant. These grants enabled the co-design and delivery of an interactive workshop and related resources for incoming Engineering graduate students on the benefits of diversity in design. The Grow Grant funding will enable the extension of these initiatives to a larger group of students, and to offer follow-up workshops after the completion of their design courses. These follow-up workshops will engage participants in identifying both successes and further challenges in integrating EDI principles into their courses with opportunities to design improved learning experiences.
Katie Moisse, Miriam Goldstein, Kate Brown, Lee De Bie Das, Luca Bernardini
The project team previously demonstrated that giving students the flexibility to join class in person or virtually does not harm the learning experience. They wish to build on this work with a focus on flexible learning spaces and assessment structures, and how they may reduce the need for accommodations through Student Accessibility Services (SAS) and the McMaster Student Absence Form (MSAF). They will also interview instructors to understand the perceived pros and cons of a HyFlex learning environment, to prompt a dialogue about how flexible course design may improve the teaching and learning experience for instructors and students alike.
Joseph Resendes, Rosa da Silva, Jeal-Paul Amore
With CEWIL Canada funding, the project team has brought together Game Design and Science, Technology Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) students towards the development of game-based learning tools. Over the last 2 years, over 150 McMaster, University of Wollongong, University of Toronto STEAM faculty and students and George Brown game design faculty and students have developed and piloted an open access, STEAM-based video game universe called “Undead Orchestra: Slaying Scale Challenge.” This project will incorporate two more McMaster courses, allowing students to compose music for the video game.
Current debates about the use of Generative AI in the postsecondary context intersect with the popular, neoliberal devaluation of the Humanities. Laurent Dubreuil argues the Humanities are needed more than ever: “We cannot doubt that many decisionmakers will use the technical advances of AI as a pretext to try to downsize free inquiry, fundamental research, transformative expression and intellectual speculation” (Nutt). Critical thinking, sustained analysis, creative and cultural interventions, and ethical and historical contextualizations, for example, are antithetical to techno-capitalism, but they are still fundamental to the liberal arts—and key to equipping our students with strategies for future success. How do we reconcile the societal impact of an aggressive AI-driven economy with the teaching and learning of traditional Humanities skills? This Faculty-wide project arises from work of the recent Humanities Working Group on Generative AI in Teaching and Learning. Our goals are to enhance our current strengths, build capacities, and explore multiple approaches to the challenges.
There is lively debate among our faculty about how and why we might engage with Generative AI in the classroom and the academy. We hope to encourage diverse, innovative pedagogical approaches that align with our disciplinary values and that encourage a thoughtful engagement with new AI echnologies.
This project aims to better understand the image description needs of students in the social sciences and humanities and develop optimized AI prompting strategies to generate high-quality alternative text (alt-text) for complex images commonly used in their disciplines. Current alt-text guidelines were developed for web design and commercial publishing, with recommended descriptions of 100 characters or less. While this may suffice for decorative images, it is inadequate for conveying the rich, educational content of diagrams, historical photographs, maps, and data visualizations used in university-level instruction and assessment within these departments.
Accurate image descriptions are critical for creating inclusive learning environments, particularly for students who are blind, have low vision, or experience cognitive disabilities that make complex visuals difficult to interpret. However, producing high-quality alt-text at scale would require subject matter expertise for thousands of images, which is an impractical and financially unsustainable expectation given the volume of content used across most courses.
There has been little research into what blind and low-vision students need from image descriptions in the humanities and social sciences. While colleagues in the Science and Engineering Department are working on STEM-focused generative AI studies, through the STEM Alt Text User Testing Project, under the direction of Jing Sui, images and their pedagogical uses in these fields differ markedly. STEM visuals often contain quantifiable or technical content, while social sciences and humanities images frequently include cultural, historical, or interpretive elements. As such, a one-size-fits-all approach to alt-text is insufficient. We are also aware that blind and low-vision students are more likely to complete a degree in Social Sciences and Humanities due to systemic barriers, making this research fundamentally valuable (McDonnall et al., 2024). Research by Stang et al. (2021) has shown that students’ descriptive needs are often highly individual and contextual. We are also mindful of critiques from Greco (2019) and Helm et al. (2024), who warn that AI-generated text can perpetuate ableist or cultural biases if not critically guided.
The project will unfold in six key stages:
We have created the Chemistry Formative Assessment Study Tool (Chem-FAST) to help CHEM 1AA3 students practice course material, improve their long-term knowledge retention, and think critically about their problem-solving skills. Chem-FAST incorporates three components: (1) cognitive psychology principles (practice testing and spaced practice); (2) formative assessment in a low-stakes environment; (3) computerized adaptive testing, which delivers an individualized experience for each student to master the material. Try our tool at chemfast.ca (linked here)! Chem-FAST is an effective learning tool: our research study has concluded that practice testing provides gains of ~6-7% per student on the final exam grade, while use of Chem-FAST provides further gains of ~2-3% per student. Chem-FAST also improves students’ studying strategies, encouraging them to use active learning strategies rather than passively watching lectures or videos. Students reported that Chem-FAST was as easy to use as practice tests on Avenue2Learn, and that it helped them identify weaknesses in their understanding of the course material and focus their efforts strategically on the challenging material.
Given that Chem-FAST is an effective learning tool, we now propose to partner with students and faculty across different departments (Chemistry and Kinesiology) to expand the tool. We will create Kin-FAST (for students in KIN 1A03/2Y03/1Y03 – Human Anatomy & Physiology I as well as for KIN 1AA3/2YY3/1YY3 for Human Anatomy & Physiology II) and expand Chem-FAST (for students in CHEM 1A03 and CHEM 1E03; the tool currently only covers course content in CHEM 1AA3). This expansion will serve the needs of over 7,000 students each year in diverse programs including Life Sciences gateway, Chemical and Physical Sciences gateway, Kinesiology, and Medical Radiation Sciences. Our hope is to grow this tool across the university for any course that values practice testing and uses multiple choice assessments; we will call it the McMaster Formative Assessment Study Tool, Mac-FAST!
We also propose to investigate building our own platform to replace the Concerto platform (linked here) that we currently use to implement Chem-FAST and Kin-FAST. The most pressing issue is the imminent sunsetting of this iteration of Concerto software, as indicated to us by maintainers at the University of Cambridge. Although the code is open source, the technologies used are rapidly becoming obsolete. Some design decisions made by the Concerto team also make it more difficult to design a consistent and effective deployment strategy, both for initial installations and for updates to our app. Building a replacement would allow us to support features that are prohibitively complex in Concerto, such as better database scaling, proper handling of user sessions, and greater flexibility of our user experience. It would also allow us to simplify development and future-proof Mac-FAST projects by using more modern and better documented software tools.
This proposal builds on an earlier project (2021-2022) between an Instructor in the Honours Health Sciences Program (HHSP) and the Office of International Affairs (OIA) at McMaster University in which we offered a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) opportunity (from hereon referred to as Virtual remotely with culturally diverse peers worldwide and is largely free of the barriers (e.g., finance, comfort with travel) typically associated with study abroad programs. Our Virtual Exchange paired students at McMaster with students at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) in Ecuador. Students in our neuroscience courses took a global approach to develop and pitch an intervention to a neuroscience-related problem to international judges. Since this initial collaboration, we have offered a Virtual Exchange annually to our students. Our Virtual Exchange’s success was featured on McMaster’s Daily News as part of the launch of the Digital Learning Strategy.
Despite encouraging students each year to reflect on how their culture, assumptions, and biases might impact their intercultural groups, we noticed student groups and ideas continue to be dominated by Western perspectives and assumptions. This suggests a lack of understanding of cultural nuances and the influence of unconscious bias which can hinder truly inclusive and equitable collaboration. Therefore, in our upcoming 2025-2026 Virtual Exchange, our goal is to reduce this Western dominance by developing and integrating a module for students to enhance their cultural intelligence – the ability “to function and manage effectively in culturally diverse settings.”1
This module is inspired by a cultural intelligence workshop previously offered by the OIA at McMaster and facilitated by Guido de Wilde, an expert in cross-cultural interactions, from the University of Amsterdam. In collaboration with Guido, we will develop a module based on established cultural dimensions frameworks (e.g., Erin Meyer’s Culture Map dimensions) to:
(1) Introduce students to the core components of cultural intelligence: Drive, Knowledge, Strategy, and Action;
(2) Foster understanding of how culture shapes communication and group dynamics; and
(3) Offer practical strategies for fostering collaboration and inclusion in multicultural settings.
We will develop this module to be flexible and adaptable for use beyond Virtual Exchanges, both within and outside the university. For example, we will embed this module in the mandatory Praxis Pathways Curriculum within HHSP, which focuses on topics such as self-knowledge, culture, and belonging. With our module, and in alignment with Goal 1 of McMaster’s Global Engagement Strategy to “build a values-based, globally engaged community that promotes intercultural and cross-cultural competence,” we also hope to work towards the development of a Global Citizenship micro-credential offered to all students at McMaster.
To achieve this level of flexibility, we will use the free software, H5P, to develop an online, interactive self-paced module. We will co-develop this module with student partners and seek feedback from various stakeholders, including students and faculty from different disciplines / faculties and Equity and Inclusion Offices across our three institutions.
INSPIRE 1PL3 is a popular in-person open elective course with growing enrollment. Beginning with 150 students in Winter 2022, the Winter 2024 cohort increased to 250. Developing an online iteration of 1PL3 will allow this course to run multiple times each year, in-person in Winter and again during the Intersession and/or Summer term. Focused on supporting students’ transition to university, an online version will support student success and a flexible approach to learning by giving students the option to take a credit course at three unique first year moments: 1) Pre-arrival experience for those feeling anxious about how to navigate university before they arrive; 2) Mid-year experience for those who might realize after their first few months that they would like further supports during first year; and 3) Post-year experience to reflect on the first year experience and regroup after first year. Contributing to a more balanced school-year, this approach will provide students with increased space to manage their education, personal responsibilities, extracurriculars or work while also equipping them with the knowledge and skills to succeed throughout their university journey.
An online offering of 1PL3 would leverage existing relationships with campus and community experts who have been guest lecturers in the course previously to build a collection of engaging recorded lectures, which would be supplemented by synchronous workshops delivered online. The online offering combined with our existing in-person winter offering could allow this foundational university transition course to scale up and meet students where they are at.
The Faculty of Social Sciences is working to enhance classroom standards across our teaching spaces to improve room technology, accessibility, and revitalize physical space across the Faculty. A part of our ongoing commitment to enhancing teaching, the Faculty seeks to deploy an accessible furniture standard (tables), providing power, flexible design features, and high colour contrast finishes across all meeting and teaching spaces. Enhancing the capability of our physical spaces will improve access to contemporary teaching tools, provide individualized power to user devices and assistive technology, reduce accommodation request and disability disclosure, enhance health and safety, and improve the overall student and instructor experience. Standardizing all aspects of our meeting and teaching spaces makes it easier to provide consistent and reliable support, plan, and budget the renewal of aging equipment, provide centralized training, and align with other campus technology standards. This renewal will also enhance the health and safety of our teaching spaces by actively reducing laptop cable trip hazards, bring our table sizes to accessibility building code standards, and maintain a clear path of circulation around groupings of furniture complying with the upcoming McMaster Facility Accessibility Design Standards (MACFADS).
The Sherman Centre for Digital Scholarship would like to partner with the Lyons New Media Centre to enhance Lyons’ recording capacity by purchasing mobile and field recording equipment and building toolkits to support their use in teaching, research, and scholarship. The Lyons New Media Centre has three sound recording booths, including a state-of-the-art Podcast Studio. Podcasting has proven to be incredibly popular among instructors, students, staff, and researchers, and the Lyons New Media Centre recording spaces and equipment are often heavily booked.
In our consultations with instructors, students, and researchers, we have found that the studio booths, while perfect for in-person recording sessions, are not ideal for all types of recordings. The Garden Grant would support the acquisition of recording technology to create three types of Audio Toolkits – external USB mics, lavalier mics, and field recorders – each geared towards different use cases. These kits would give patrons (McMaster students, staff and faculty) the ability to record high-quality, professional sound in a variety of environments outside the studio. Lyons has an existing system for booking media technology and spaces, and these Audio Toolkits would be incorporated into and built upon this existing infrastructure. The acquisition of audio technology would be supported by training and networking events and the creation of a scholarly podcasting resource base, with a focus on podcasting as pedagogy.
The Sherman Centre has an established relationship with the Lyons New Media Centre, having partnered to host a podcasting workshop series and speaker event with journalist-in-residence Jeff Goodes in Fall 2023. The development of Audio Toolkits would also correspond with and complement the planned launch for the MacPod website, an online platform for hosting and promoting podcast series developed at McMaster University.
To make available two individual workstations, complete with high end, digital art tablets and appropriate furniture for use by the McMaster community.
The existing space is currently an open study area for students within Lyons. It is filled with group tables and chairs.
We plan on reducing the footprint of this area by adding 2 of these art tablet stations, which is in keeping with Lyons’ core mission of offering different media resources that facilitate teaching and learning.
The project’s steps are straightforward. Remove some of the existing tables and chairs. Purchase new furniture and this new technology. Install and test it. Once ready, create a marketing campaign to spread the word of this new service and then make it available to the campus community.
Our existing Podcast Studio opened in September 2023 and was an immediate success. Programs as diverse as French, Gender Studies, Science, History, Kinesiology, Social Work, Health Science, Life Science, Political Science and Commerce have all added podcasts as assignment options in some of their courses. This, in addition to various students, staff and faculty using the space for projects both professional and personal.
This proposed project will follow the trajectory of our original Podcast Studio.
We will commission Facilities Services to look at the proposed area for the second studio. They will return with an estimated cost for construction/renovation. Once a start date has been agreed upon, we will then begin acquiring the necessary equipment including audio/video equipment, furniture, lighting and soundproofing.
When the construction has been completed, we will then move in to commence the set up and testing phase.
The Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact (HEI) is home to two public health programs: the Master of Public Health (MPH, launched in 2016) and the online Graduate Diploma in Community and Public Health (GDCPH, launched in 2023). Through this Garden Grant, we will develop a digital, partnered experiential learning opportunity across both programs, allowing students to network and learn essential, timely, real-world skills from community and public health organizations.
During an initial launch event, Garden Grant funding will be used to build relationships and develop partnerships with local, provincial, and national public health organizations. These partner organizations (estimated 4-6 in Y1, 5-8 in Y2) will then be connected with groups of 2-3 students in each program for an experiential learning opportunity. GDCPH students taking PUBHLTH 720 (Planning & Evaluation for Population and Community Health) in the fall semester will work with partners to understand a current challenge within their organization, conduct a needs assessment to thoroughly understand the challenge and context of their organizational setting, and co-develop evaluation questions and a preliminary evaluation framework. With input from the partners, MPH students taking PUBHLTH 711 (Program Evaluation in Public Health) in the winter term will continue collaborating with community partners to co-develop a full program evaluation plan. This continued engagement offers a stronger learning experience for students while providing more value to community partners.
Campus restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic forced instructors to deliver their curriculum online. This largely resulted in shifting from the classroom to a Zoom call. However, knowing that the shift to online learning was temporary offered limited incentives to instructors to develop high quality online learning materials. Our project explores the development of high-quality asynchronous learning materials—specifically, professionally edited video modules—for programs that are permanently offered online. Our aim is to provide students with a suite of passive learning tools that complement the active learning format provided in the context of synchronous online sessions. This will ideally improve learning outcomes by offering a more flexible and accessible learning format for students as well as by combatting so-called Zoom fatigue.
Ultimately, this project seeks to create a sustainable model for online curriculum delivery that can be adopted across various programs at McMaster University, thereby enhancing the overall quality and accessibility of online education for all students.
Our world is currently confronting unprecedented challenges. As we navigate the Anthropocene—an era characterized by substantial human impacts on the planet—digital transformation, particularly artificial intelligence (DT/AI), has intensified the exploitation of Earth’s resources, accelerated inequality, and eroded human agency. The detrimental effects of the Anthropocene and DT/AI have profoundly impacted mental health, especially among young people, who are expected to face and handle these challenges. It is now more critical than ever to reassess the roles of education and DT/AI in shaping our socioecological reality, transform them into sustainability and justice engines, and empower students with the knowledge, resources, and vision this transformation requires.
Building on our past experiences, we propose a partnered project to initiate the development of a unique pedagogical approach that draws inspiration from the community partners’ (See Appendix) work on socio-emotional and land-based learning. Deeply rooted in Indigenous practices, land-based learning strongly emphasizes connecting education to nature and sustainability through experience-based learning. We hope it helps us achieve our specific aim: empowering students to navigate the Anthropocene and enhance their mental health and well-being.
The aim is guided by the theory of Salutogenesis, which explains how people avoid stress by improving their Sense of Coherence:
Learners will delve into the role of DT/AI and education in creating and expanding the Anthropocene, collaborate to envision sustainable futures, and identify the necessary and feasible transformations in education and DT/AI to realize them.
Currently, graduate students with disabilities do not have access to specialized transition and onboarding supports geared toward navigating graduate school, and this gap has been identified by McMaster student partners and leaders with lived experience of disability as a significant obstacle in student satisfaction and wellbeing. While McMaster’s graduate student teaching and learning community has coordinated several teaching and learning initiatives aimed at helping to bridge this gap, resourcing and coordination for initiatives has been difficult to sustain. It should be noted that limited institutional support for, and understanding of, accessibility and accommodation needs of graduate level learners is also a known gap across the postsecondary education sector.
We propose to design and deliver a series of co-curricular workshops and learning resources that will enhance student self-efficacy, co-curricular learning, and navigation in the transition into and through Graduate Studies for students with disabilities and neurodiverse students. Workshop topics will align with the recommendations of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) Postsecondary Education Standards. For example:
Once created, these resources can be translated into teaching and learning resources for graduate educators as a method of increasing accessible and inclusive graduate learning environments and pedagogical considerations.
Leadership textbooks appear to be surprisingly neutral about Hitler. One would expect leadership textbooks to denounce Hitler unequivocally because of his obvious role in the Holocaust, or perhaps ignore him altogether in favor of more contemporary or business-focused figures. However, a brief survey of available leadership textbooks suggests that many leadership textbooks (a) ask students to debate whether Hitler was a good or bad leader, (b) present as fact that Hitler had positive attributes (e.g., charisma), and (c) do so without providing relevant context about the Holocaust or the second world war.
Whether or not this approach is motivated by antisemitism or another reason, the consequences are serious. Antisemitism and antisemitic hate crimes are rising in Canada, and leadership textbooks that present Hitler in a positive, neutral, or ambivalent way contribute to this phenomenon.
The goal of the proposed project is to conduct a systematic review of leadership textbooks, and to examine how Hitler is mentioned in each. This review will be used to raise awareness among leadership scholars about why many portrayals of Hitler are problematic. For the project to be successful, as large as possible a sample of leadership textbooks is necessary. While some textbooks are available from the McMaster library or inter-library loan, a large number, including older and less popular editions, are not. The requested funds will serve to purchase some 200 textbooks to ensure the validity of our analysis.
Student evaluations of teaching (SET) is central to teaching and learning. The recent McMaster University Faculty Association (MUFA) report found that current SET methods are biased, with low participation rates and poor validity. Moreover, students and instructors doubt whether feedback is used. The report therefore recommends formative and qualitative student feedback along with accountability.
Collecting and analyzing mid-semester qualitative feedback from students can address these recommendations: instructors would gain insights and students would feel their voices are heard. However, equity-deserving instructors may be reluctant to read student feedback due to inherent bias. Further, this is a labour-intensive process for which many instructors have minimal training and capacity.
Our team has built a toolkit to analyze qualitative SET data in a scalable, efficient manner, using techniques in data science including natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML). The next step is extending the toolkit across the university. Funding from this PTL grant will achieve two goals: (1) designing a user interface for instructors; (2) running and refining our toolkit. These two goals would benefit from student expertise in software engineering or computer science (goal 1), and in mathematics and computer science (goal 2). Note that through separate funding, we are also hiring a postdoctoral fellow (PDF) to carry out a research study on how instructors interact with student feedback. The goals of this PTL grant are separate but complementary to the PDF’s study.
Ultimately, this project will convert student insights into actions and shape our future strategies on SET.
Ontario Archaeology is an authoritarian and one-sided Colonialist enterprise overseen by the Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism (MCM). Developer-driven archaeology makes up 99% of archaeology in Ontario. The province affords Indigenous people only narrow windows in which they are entitled to consultation in the development (destruction) of their Traditional Territories. Fewer than 1% of licensed archaeologists in Ontario are Indigenous, despite 60-80% of archaeological sites being the products of Indigenous Ancestors. Indigenous practitioners do work for their First Nations as ambassadors in the face of Settler-dominated, sometimes hostile archaeological field teams. Despite Indigenous representation on sites, field strategy decisions, analyses and reporting are conducted by non-Indigenous people. This produces an overwhelmingly Settler-voiced Indigenous Ontario Archaeology.
If McMaster is to positively impact development sector archaeological practice, foreground inclusivity and respect Free, Prior and Informed Consent, we must put Indigenous knowledge on an (at least) equal footing with Western ways of knowing. McMaster was once the epicentre of Attawandaron (Neutral) archaeology – all Settler-voiced. We are proposing a Collaborative Archaeological Field School (ANTHROP 3CC6) at Sealey (AgHa-4), a 17th century Attawandaron village. Impacted by looting and early 20th century archaeology, Sealey is a tether to the past to draw us, from many backgrounds, together and tell truths and discover new ones. This work will be one part of a larger Rewriting Attawandaron (with Indigenous voices) research project. True collaboration, however, requires working together and compensating knowledge holders. Funding supports to welcome knowledge-keepers into the field and lab to co-learn and co-teach are requested.
The Professor Hippo-on-Campus Mental Health Education Program, has reached over 1 000 faculty and staff at McMaster, and is feasible and effective in increasing knowledge and confidence in responding to students in distress and difficulty, using online asynchronous modules and in-person synchronous workshops. A gap has been identified by educators and navigators supervising health professional students (i.e., nursing, physician assistant, midwifery, rehabilitation sciences, medicine) who work and teach primarily in clinical healthcare environments, for specific, enhanced training to better meet their unique needs and the demands of these settings and situations. In these complex, 24-hour hospital and clinic settings, there are many part-time faculty, with limited knowledge of campus resources. Students are learning ‘on the job’ and ‘at the bedside’, are frequently exposed to high levels of stress and adverse events, are at elevated risk for mental health and substance use concerns and have responsibility for patients and themselves.
This grant brings together faculty, staff and students educating, supervising, and training in FHS professional programs, to begin a co-design process to develop curricula and pedagogical approaches to increase mental health literacy among clinical faculty and staff to:
Increase knowledge of strategies and resources available to simultaneously support and protect clinical FHS faculty and staff wellbeing, given their own elevated burnout and mental health risks
This project seeks funding to operationalize an innovative and partnered approach to teaching and learning within the DeGroote MBA first-year curriculum. We aim to develop a multidisciplinary, week-long, live case delivered in partnership with a local business to an audience of 180+ first-year MBA students. The partnering organizations will be selected while adhering to McMaster University’s principles of community engagement by valuing relationships, reciprocity, equity, continuity, openness to learning, and commitment to act. This live case will address a real-world problem faced by the partnering organization, and it will be structured to allow analysis and solutions from various disciplinary perspectives drawing insights from all first-year MBA subjects. This will be a milestone experience associated with the student experience in the MBA program at McMaster University. This is an unconventional approach that is not necessarily without precedent, as the University of Michigan (UM) has a “Crisis Challenge”, which is a well-known live case study competition. However, UM’s offering is voluntary and not featured as a core part of the curriculum. As such, this approach provides the DeGroote School of Business with a competitive advantage as this program creates an opportunity for students to engage in a dynamic live case supported by their entire first year faculty team. This is a competitive advantage because while case competitions are commonplace, the level of dynamism combined with direct community involvement is not available through competing Canadian MBA programs.
According to Brainstorm Strategy, 2021, 59% of McMaster (non-business) said they came to university to “prepare for a job/career’. 38% said ‘planning for a career after graduation (57% in 2019) was their second highest source of stress and 88% of our students believe we should ‘invest more in helping students find the right job’. The Faculty of Science Career Needs Assessment found 88% of students wanted interview preparation, 81% wanted resume support and 71% were nervous/terrified of conducting a job search.
A radical change in our approach to preparing students for careers in science is needed!
We are building intentional career programming that leads students through the career development building blocks and drives their career readiness systematically and incrementally in tandem with their education.
Through this PTL project we will hire an Educational Developer to take the career building blocks we have outlined and build a career development model that fits our context, student needs, and sector. The Educational Developer will analyse the key data, available modules, consult with stakeholders and will create a suitable model for our needs which includes these components:
Findings from our recent comprehensive career needs assessment (undergrads, grads) and alumni career survey results will inform the model development.
Engaging the City is a set of course offerings (HTHSCI 3DD6, HTHSCI 4WW3 and the related HTHSCI 4D03/06/09/12/15 capstone courses) through the BHSc program. The courses focus on community engagement (CE) and community-engaged research (CER) for students from all faculties. Together, these courses lead to principled and reciprocal research partnerships with community members. The Engaging the City courses were amongst the first CE courses at McMaster and have long been at the forefront of community engaged teaching and learning.
The objectives of this program evaluation are to:
In this project, we explore how community partnerships, research ethics review processes, and complimentary CEL opportunities at McMaster impact student learning. Methods include a comprehensive scan of CEL opportunities at McMaster (including courses and student capstone research projects), interviews with educators from these courses, and interviews with past and present Engaging the City students and community partners. This important program was last reviewed 2013, under a Forward with Integrity grant. Our new review will document 16 years of impact and chart a path to the future to the benefit of the BHSc program, the Office of Community Engagement (OCE), and students and faculty at McMaster and other institutions.
the blueprint is a collaborative, student-led arts-based project that seeks to radically offer a unique perspective into the personal experience of queer and trans students at McMaster. The aim of the project is to produce a collaboratively made hand-printed publication that will serve as a blueprint of pedagogical intervention, centering practices to best support queer and trans post-secondary students. Two undergraduate students in the School of the Arts (SOTA), will lead the project. They will hold a series of workshops that will build the foundation of the blueprint project, with a focus on community care, open sharing, and centering queer and trans student voices. The workshops will be open to queer, trans and allied undergraduate students. Dr. Springgay and A. Crossman will act as mentors on the project. The workshops will include opportunities for students to share experiences and ideas related to queer and trans students at McMaster. The publication will be hand-printed in the SOTA print studio by students. The project is influenced by the Handbook Supporting Queer and Trans Students in Art and Design Education that was produced by OCADU students and faculty. The blueprint seeks to center current issues and experiences of queer and trans students while also making the publication relevant to the McMaster campus. Once printed the publication will be made available to McMaster faculty and students, with workshops, curriculum materials, and a website developed to assist faculty and students in using the blueprint in courses.
This project will result in the revitalization and relaunching of a Masters Program in Engineering Entrepreneurship and Innovation (MEEI) at the W Booth School. The program will deliver a modern curriculum via a set of progressive and forward-looking pedagogy, following two non-negotiable guidelines: 1. The W Booth Ethos which believes that any student with a suitable background and aspiration should have the right to university education, and 2. Equity Diversity and Inclusivity. An efficacious deployment of such a curriculum should result in capable graduates who will excel in leading human-centric enterprise initiatives in the society that are based on the principles of ethics, sustainability and social responsibility. This project will also undertake an efficacy analysis of this outcome and will result in a scholarly body of work that presents a framework to launch a new program that deliver authentically complex and relevant skills and competencies in McMaster’s priority fields. McMaster and many global institutions can adopt such a progressive framework to revitalize existing programs or launch new programs.
Karen Bird, Adrienne Davidson, Selina Mudavanhu, Christina Baade, Andrea Lawlor, Joanna Massie, Nicolas Hinspberger, Paul Emiljanowicz, Brent McKnight, Adrianne Lickers Xavier, Bruce Newbold, Cliff van der Linden, Emad Mohammad, Geoffrey Cameron, Greg Flynn, John McAndrews, Juanita Debarros, Maria Gintova, Peter Graefe, Todd Alway, Mark Busser, Ruthanne Talbot, Anne Lech
The CIVDEM@Mac Interdisciplinary Minor, beginning in Fall 2024, will provide students the opportunity to gain theoretical and hands-on understanding of how to strengthen civic vitality, democratic resiliency, and electoral integrity, as well as empowering underrepresented communities to participate in the political and electoral process. Students earning the CIVDEM Interdisciplinary Minor will take courses from three thematic lists, with experiential and problem-based learning informed by community partners embedded in core course requirements. The project brings together 12 partner organizations plus more than 20 instructors and staff across three Faculties (Social Sciences, Humanities, Business).
Peter Cockett, Syrus Marcus Ware, Adrien Crossman, Swintak
This project will create a series of short instructional videos developed in collaboration with iArts’ students and faculty. The videos will teach foundational EDI principles and key aspects of critical theory (Indigenous resurgence, gender, race, class, disability, neurodiversity). The videos will be created through an iterative process facilitated by Cockett, and co-applicants Adrien Crossman, Syrus Marcus Ware, and Christine Swintak, employing student artists with lived experience as co-creators. Student participants will learn research-creation processes targeted on core social justice objectives, collaborate with faculty on the conceptualization and realization of the project, and have their work published online.
Stacy Creech de Castro, Rodrigo Narro Pérez, Alpha Abebe, Rebecca Misiak, Kojo Damptey
This project will design, create, and implement an interdisciplinary online course focusing on transnational communities and identities, diasporic thought, migration, cultural expression, and racial and social justice movements, among other topics framed through anticolonial decolonial approaches. The main objective of this course will be to introduce students to these topics which are becoming more essential to create a just society and learning spaces. This course is envisioned to be an asynchronous online course, providing flexibility to students who are interested in these topics but may not be able to fit this course into their academic plan.
Robert Fleisig, Andrea Hemmerich, Gail Krantzberg, Seyedeh Marjan Alavi, Cynthia Lokker, Nicole Wagner, Jon Pusic, Areeb Khawaja
Co-Designing Interdisciplinary Program Streams in Health and Sustainability with Students. The proposal focusses on program improvement initiatives for enhanced collaboration and integration of experiential learning opportunities with students, faculty, and staff from SEPT and aligned programs outside of the Faculty of Engineering, such as MSc eHealth, as well as community partners. They propose developing interdisciplinary areas of specialization within the SEPT master’s program curricula (i.e., streams) in partnership with students, including: 1) Virtual Care and 2) Sustainability. Additional potential program streams will be considered in the second year of the project (e.g., Social Systems, Global Development).
Sheena Jary, Lalai Abbas, Stacy Creech de Castro, Ritika Khetarpal, Rachel Shadid, Habiba Noor
Undergraduate teaching assistants (UTAs) play a critical role in the success of undergraduate students at McMaster and, while they complete mandatory online training, UTAs lack opportunities for professionalization and academic recognition for their hard work—and their learning. The team aspires to develop a new Concurrent Certificate in Educational Theory and Reflective Practice, providing UTAs with skills that will differentiate them as they move onto teacher’s college, graduate school, or the workforce. The goal of the Concurrent Certificate is not to replace current departmental or faculty-specific training, but rather to supplement the UTA experience with transferable skills and professional training.
Scott Martin, Carrie McMullin
Possibly connected to archaeology’s uncomfortable history as an agent of colonization, Ontario archaeology content in McMaster courses has declined in recent years. This lack of discussion may imply that Indigenous histories are less worthy of study or less interesting than those of people(s) elsewhere. To rectify this gap and strive for an equitable and decolonised Ontario Archaeology at McMaster University, the proposed initiative has two main components: a) develop a revived Ontario Archaeology course that interrogates archaeology’s roles in Colonialist hegemony over Indigenous heritage; and b) plan an Advisory Circle to advise on repatriation/rematriation of Ancestors and their belongings.
Sarah Whitwell, Amanda Montague, Cristina Foley, Vanessa Hayward, Catherine Grise, Brent McKnight, Nikol Piskuric, Mark Busser, Shahad Al-Saqqar
Experiential learning opportunities often involve guest speakers, collaborative research, placements, and practicums which require contributions from community partners. Yet there is no consensus regarding how best to compensate community partners, recognizing that a one-size fits-all solution is also not appropriate depending on socioeconomic and cultural factors. There are growing concerns that inadequately recognizing the work of community partners will lead to a breakdown of valuable partnerships. This project will address ongoing confusion by creating guidelines and resources on the complex matters of recognition, incentives, gifts, compensation, and honoraria.
Karen Balcom, Katie Moisse, Cynthia Lokker, Brent McKnight, Kate Whalen, Rodrigo Narro Perez, Dave Heidebrecht, Jay Carter
As community-engaged learning expands on our campus, there is increasing need for quality instructional materials in support of this learning, and for tools to measure the outcomes and impact of community-engaged learning. This project addresses the first need through the development, deployment and testing of an instructor guide to promote student reflection that can be adapted for use across CEL classes.
Karen Bird, Greg Flynn, Todd Alway, Katherine Boothe, Adrienne Davidson, Peter Graefe, James Ingram, Inder Marwah, Cliff van der Linden, Joanna Massie, Mark Busser, Bruce Newbold, Christina Baade, Sara Binnie, Joanna Massie, Paul Emiljanowicz
This Garden grant will create a partnered learning pathway for understanding contemporary challenges of electoral integrity, democratic participation and civic engagement. The project team will map existing course content and design complementary curriculum to strengthen students’ theoretical understanding and technical expertise in the field, culminating in a proposed interdisciplinary Undergraduate Certificate in Elections and Democratic Vitality. The project will also build experiential learning opportunities through a partnered approach where students work with leaders in electoral management and democratic advocacy.
Kristina Durham, Yasmeen Mezil, Joshua Mitchell, Jason Bernard, Lana Amoudi, Varun Coelho, David Klitovchenko, Layla Rahimpour, Sriya Rajyam, Gerald Segovia, Meghna Varambally, Pariya Vejdani, Tracy Wang, Philip Yu
Though the objective structured practical exam (OSPE) is an evaluation that is commonly used in both undergraduate and professional graduate anatomy education to assess learner knowledge, comprehension and clinical application using cadaveric specimens, student preparedness is impeded by logistical barriers to the provision of adequate OSPE practice. The project team therefore proposes to develop an OSPE tool to provide students with a personalized, unique, and interactive study opportunity that uses artificial intelligence to provide feedback specific to their written responses.
Robert Fleisig, Monica De Paoli, Andrea Hemmerich
The goal of this project is to continue the previous work to transfer and adapt existing practices of scholarly teaching, both from experts and the literature, into the practice of teachers at McMaster University. This goal will be accomplished through partnership with international experts, workshops on topics including competency-based interviewing for assessors of teaching, writing critical reflections on teaching, constructing authentic teaching portfolios, and engaging with peers in conversations supported by a teaching portfolio.
Cynthia Lokker, Nicole Wagner, Neil Barr, Vincent Maccio, Marg Leyland, Elizabeth Warnick, Jasmine Foley, Stephanie Zahorka, Vritti Patel, Neethu Pavithran, Sheila Richardson
The 2020 IQAP review of the eHealth MSc program at McMaster recommended considering a design focused capstone project as an alternative, complement, or replacement for the scholarly paper as a culminating milestone. The goals of this Garden proposal are to assess the desirability and feasibility of an interdisciplinary capstone project course for course-based students and, if feasible, to co-develop the course and plan for evaluating this potential major curriculum enhancement.
Katie Moisse, Shaiya Robinson, Rodrigo Narro Perez, Ana Campos, Ana Tomljenovic-Berube, Sarah Symons, Kevin Diamond, Karen Balcom, Tahmina Shamsheri, Anjana Sudharshan, Vidhi Bhatt, Darren Sajeevan, Zoya Adeel
This project aims to embed critical learning about how underrepresentation and discrimination can negate the presumed hope for neutrality of the scientific process at key curricular touch points across the School of Interdisciplinary Science’s three undergraduate programs. SIS instructors will partner with undergraduate students and community partners to develop learning opportunities that centre equity and inclusion, assessment strategies that cater to diverse student bodies, and flexible learning environments that maximize the success of all students. They will also create a level 3 course with a focus on health disparities that is open to all students in the Faculty of Science and develop a “science and society” pathway in the Life Sciences Program.
Catharine Munn, Lynn Armstrong, Emma Bruce, Loa Gordon, Mojan Naisani Samani, Valentina Antonapillai, Jillian Halladay, Emma Apatu, Catherine Connelly, Martin Gibala, Susan Jack, Anna Moro, Gillian Mulvale, Tracy Prowse, Michael Thompson, Andrea Cole, Kate Whalen
GrowGrads proposes to bring together a diverse range of leaders, faculty, staff, students and post-doctoral fellows to identified strategic priorities to strengthen graduate student: faculty supervisory relationships and outline an educational curricula and training opportunities for graduate students and faculty. Co-design will inform GrowGrads; it is a method and philosophy of engaging stakeholders, ideally suited to this work, which embraces partnerships with users/stakeholders, applies a user-centred lens to solve challenges, and focuses on the human experience.
Rodrigo Narro Perez, Kalaichelvi Saravanamuttu, Shymega Arasaratnam, Brooke Fearns, Koubra Haggar, Iñaki Gomez Alvarez
The Anti-Racism, Inclusion and Equity in the Science Undergraduate Curriculum (ARIE) project is an ambitious, unprecedented initiative that aims to introduce and build anti-racist, inclusive and equitable pedagogies in the Faculty of Science through a suite of interdisciplinary undergraduate courses. The project team will use the Garden Grant funding to fully develop, test, advertise and launch the ARIE suite of courses, including students as equal partners in the development of curricular materials.
Anne Pottier, Nick Marquis, Gerald Bierling, Kevin Andrews, Joey Ricottone, Tiago De Sousa, Melissa Elliot, Kyle Fletcher, Otto Geiss, Brad Leenstra, Roger Periard, Ted Shaw, Jon Kruithof, Chris Lombardo, John Bator, Neil Kotch, Michael Curwin, John Bell, Jessica Blackwood, Angela Harrison, Bryan Czerneda, Carmalita Larkin, Christa Morrison, Kate Brown, Paul Leegsma, Saray Syzmanski, Vix Moyo, Steve Tadros, Sophia Holness, Michael Wong, Max Overdijk, Harshal Patel, Stephanie Verkoeyen, Jingchuan Sui
The McMaster Hybrid Classroom Standard project team seeks to secure funding to engage with an audio / visual integrator to consult, design, and program a standardized hybrid meeting solution that can be scaled for different classroom / meeting spaces across McMaster campus teaching and meeting spaces. An intentional, collaborative, and iterative approach to designing classroom standards with representation from several key experts across campus will enable McMaster to begin to develop a robust, accessible, and scalable standard for hybrid experiences.
Stephanie Springgay, Peter Cockett, Syrus Ware, Adrien Crossman, Swintak
The iArts action research-creation project will support large-scale curriculum and pedagogical innovation in the new iArts program in the School of the Arts, which launches Fall 2022. The two main objectives of the Garden Grant are to: 1) Implement and evaluate equity, diversity and inclusion in iArts teaching and learning and; 2) Develop and assess arts-based pedagogical models for active and flexible learning spaces.
Michael Wong, Stacey Ritz, Jean Wilson, Sarah Symons, Dina Brooks, Brenda Vrkljan, Margaret Secord, Kristina Trim, Meredith Vanstone, Ilana Bayer, Michelle Fattori, Ali Al-Humuzi
Since the 1980s, McMaster has emphasized the use of inquiry-based approaches within a variety of Programs and Faculties. This project seeks to understand, enhance, and expand McMaster’s commitment to inquiry-based education by: investigating the uses of inquiry in different undergraduate contexts at McMaster; establishing a community of practice for instructors already using inquiry approaches and those who wish to start; and creating an open access resource (OER) to explain the benefits of inquiry in post-secondary settings and how to implement inquiry in different contexts.