Welcome
Welcome to the MacPherson Institute.
We collaborate to explore, enhance, support, and recognize teaching and learning experiences at McMaster.
We offer a wide variety of programs, workshops, services and supports to all members of the McMaster community to cultivate an environment where learning deeply matters, and teaching is valued and recognized. Through these activities, educators have the opportunity to build teaching skills, develop and redesign courses, gain knowledge of educational technology tools and much more.
Since 2013, the MacPherson Institute has experienced considerable growth and change. We have expanded the quality and quantity of our supports and services; developed partnerships with educators across the McMaster community; and advanced the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at McMaster and beyond.
In 2018-19 we embarked on a journey to re-discover what the teaching and learning communities wanted from us. The self-study process helped us create a roadmap for our strategy moving forward that resulted in our 2019-2022 Strategic Plan. Following the completion of our Strategic Plan in 2022, the MacPherson Institute produced a Final Performance Report and invited the Review Team to return for a follow-up exploration of our progress. The Progress Review validated the work completed so far and provided helpful insight into important next steps for the MacPherson Institute. We continue to work closely with our teaching and learning community to understand and respond to evolving needs and continue to use the vision, mission and mandate outlined in our Strategic Plan to provide guidance and direction moving forward.
Vision
To cultivate an environment where learning deeply matters and teaching is valued and recognized by the collective McMaster community.
Mission
We collaborate to explore, enhance, support, and recognize teaching and learning experiences at McMaster.
Mandate
We partner with, support, and connect diverse groups of educators* by:
- Creating and delivering professional development that engages educators* throughout their careers in teaching and learning in order to enhance the student learning experience.
- Facilitating curriculum development and revision that fosters continuous enhancement and engagement in learning.
- Supporting, conducting, and recognizing teaching and learning scholarship** that has the capacity to develop, inform, and enhance educational initiatives and student learning.
- Encouraging and elevating the pedagogical use of educational technologies and creative solutions to enhance teaching and learning.
Teaching and learning are the heart of what we do. Together with you, we look forward to building on past successes and developing new initiatives to address the teaching and learning priorities that have been identified by our community. We will continue to ask, listen and respond to feedback as we continue to grow, adapt and change.
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Tribute to Paul R. MacPherson
Paul R. MacPherson leaves behind a legacy of incredible impact. His support and generosity reached many students, instructors and staff at McMaster University and beyond. Over the years, he contributed to the teaching and learning community in many ways, including in 2016, when he generously donated $5 million to invest in the development of great teachers at McMaster. In recognition of this substantial gift, the “McMaster Institute for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching and Learning” was renamed the “Paul R. MacPherson Institute for Leadership, Innovation and Excellence in Teaching.”
The Susan Vajoczki Legacy Fund
The Susan Vajoczki Legacy Fund has been established at McMaster to honour Sue’s memory and distinguished academic career. The fund will be used to create an ongoing undergraduate scholarship to help talented students pursue research in Geography and Earth Sciences, pedagogical research, and evidence-based teaching and learning projects. For those wishing to do so, donations may be made to the Susan Vajoczki Legacy Fund, c/o Advancement Office, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4L8 or may be made online.
Celebrating 50 Years
2022 is an important year for us—it marks 50 years of teaching and learning at McMaster University. The MacPherson Institute was established in 1972 as the Shell Canada Centre for Science Teachers, but has been known by many names over the years including: the Instructional Development Centre (IDC), the Learning Technologies Resource Centre (LTRC), the Centre for Leadership in Learning (CLL), and the McMaster Institute for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (MIIETL). As one of the first teaching centres in Canada to reach this 50 year milestone, we are excited to share this exciting anniversary at the Innovations in Education Conference with our valued teaching and learning community.
To commemorate this anniversary, and in alignment with our mission to “collaborate to explore, enhance, support, and recognize teaching and learning experiences at McMaster,” we are celebrating 50 years of teaching and learning stories at McMaster with the creation of “Where learning deeply matters: Reflections on the past, present, and future of teaching and McMaster University.” This anthology commemorates the history of teaching and learning at McMaster University and the many iterations of the MacPherson Institute since 1972.
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Where learning deeply matters: Reflections on the past, present, and future of teaching and McMaster University
The collected chapters in this anthology span decades of teaching and learning experiences at McMaster, represent a wide-range of perspectives (over 75 authors), and offer provocations for our teaching and learning future. This book would not have been possible without the energy and commitment of the editors, Dr. Alise de Bie and Dr. Cathy Grise, student partners, authors and many staff contributors. We owe particular gratitude to Dr. Alise de Bie, whose contributions to this book have been extraordinary. Readers – those in the present and those in the future – will benefit from Alise’s vision for this work and dedication to its execution.
The publication of this book coincides with the first day of the Innovations in Education Conference, hosted by the Paul R. MacPherson Institute for Leadership, Innovation and Excellence in Teaching and Learning.