Meet the Minds: Sarah Wojkowski is Bridging Curriculum, Community and Care
Meet the Minds is a new monthly series designed to profile McMaster University’s scholars and their work in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). This month, we are pleased to showcase Dr. Sarah Wojkowski, Vice Dean and Executive Director, School of Rehabilitation Sciences.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am a Professor (Teaching Stream) in the School of Rehabilitation Sciences and began my role as Executive Director, SRS, and Vice Dean, FHS on September 1, 2024. I contribute to the Milestone Experience and teach in the Master of Science (Physiotherapy) Program. Early in my appointment, collaborations with colleagues across McMaster and beyond sparked my interest in, and deepened my appreciation for, the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL).
Can you describe your SoTL research focus?
As my academic responsibilities have expanded, the focus of my SoTL interests has similarly evolved. As Director of Clinical Education (Physiotherapy), I collaborated nationally to enhance assessment tools used to evaluate clinical performance and student feedback, work which I continue to support. As Assistant Dean (Physiotherapy), I gained a comprehensive understanding of the curriculum and led a MacPherson LTL Fellowship project examining the integration of Indigenous Health and Health Justice concepts. This work informed significant curriculum developments, including a required Milestone Learning Experience within the School of Rehabilitation Science. Additionally, my commitment to interprofessional education has fostered meaningful international collaborations in SoTL.
What are some key insights or outcomes from your research?
SoTL has enabled me to critically consider how I can enhance student learning experiences across programs and diverse disciplines. It fostered systematic approaches for my colleagues and I to evaluate readiness for interprofessional learning, develop resources to support feedback and assessment, and examine how curricular structures influence student experiences. Through my LTL Fellowship, I contributed to a shift toward more explicit integration of health justice and Indigenous health concepts within the Physiotherapy Program curriculum and the broader School of Rehabilitation Science. My contributions to evolving clinical placement evaluation for physiotherapy students have been adopted by multiple Canadian programs. Broadly, these initiatives worked to strengthened curriculum relevance and established a model for future SoTL projects grounded in meaningful student and community engagement.
What advice do you have for others interested in SoTL?
I have benefited greatly from the mentorship of colleagues experienced in SoTL, which also helped expand my professional network. For those seeking to deepen their knowledge in this area, engaging with others who have like interests, learning from their experiences, and discussing your own ideas is invaluable. Opportunities within the University—such as through MacPherson or MERIT—and external groups, including the U21, provide supportive environments to explore SoTL and collaborate with established communities of practice.
Anything else you’d like to share?
SoTL offers substantial opportunities for inquiry and meaningful educational impact, effectively aligning instructional innovation with scholarly practice. Instructors implementing new approaches should be encouraged to consider how to systematically evaluate these initiatives and disseminate findings, not only to advance scholarly engagement in this area but also to develop networks with like-minded peers and students.
If you are interested to speaking further with Sarah Wojkowski about their SoTL research, please contact them at wojkows@mcmaster.ca
Links to selected published SoTL articles by Sarah:
- Development and delivery of justice, equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-oppression concepts in entry level health professional education: A scoping review: BEME Guide No.88 – https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/0142159X.2024.2387147?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed
- Strategies to increase accessibility for students with disabilities in health professional education programs: a scoping review: BEME Review No. 94 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/0142159X.2025.2499093?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed
- Readiness for interprofessional learning among health science students: a cross sectional Q-methodology and likert based study – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10439564/
- Editorial – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10262822/ – The search for justice: developing a collaborative understanding of health justice in physiotherapy
- The development of the Canadian Physiotherapy Assessment of Clinical Performance (ACP) 2.0 – alignment with the 2017 competency profile – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10919373/
- Physiotherapy students’ performance in clinical education: an analysis of 1 year of Canadian cross sectional data – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8614596/
- Students’ perspectives on their experience in clinical placements: using a delphi methodology to engage physiotherapy stakeholders in revising the national form. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6855357/
- Professionalism lapses in health professions training: navigating the ‘yellow card’ moments for transformative learning https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11906273/
