As higher education continues to navigate rapid technological change, increasing student accommodation needs, and ongoing resource constraints, instructors are being asked to do more than ever before. Amid growing workloads and evolving expectations, one question remains at the centre of our work: How do we create meaningful, human-centred learning experiences for students?
The Innovations in Education Conference 2026 brings together educators, educational developers, researchers, students, and academic leaders to explore practical strategies and evidence-informed approaches for teaching in today’s complex learning environments. Through keynote presentations, expert discussions, and interactive conversations, participants will examine how to remain focused on the aspects of teaching and learning that matter most while responding to emerging challenges and opportunities.
This year’s conference theme focuses on retaining human-centred learning while addressing the complex and nuanced realities of contemporary teaching practice. Together, we will explore how institutions and instructors can thoughtfully respond to technological innovation, support diverse learner needs, and create learning experiences that foster engagement, growth, and student success.
Dates: December 1-3, 2026 Time: 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. daily Location: Virtual via Zoom Events Format: Online Registration: Opens in early October Cost: $50
The Innovations in Education Conference is an annual event hosted by the MacPherson Institute. This year, we are excited to collaborate with Dr. Joe Kim, professor in McMaster University’s department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, to build on the success of his annual Education & Cognition Conference.
By bringing together these two established events, we aim to offer a unique and balanced program that connects the science of learning with the practical realities of teaching. Participants can expect engaging discussions that explore both the psychological foundations of learning and the day-to-day challenges educators face in today’s classrooms.
In response to participant feedback from previous years, we have also reimagined the conference format. This year, the program is being carefully curated by the planning committee to focus on timely and high-impact topics. As a result, there will be no call for proposals for the 2026 conference.
Each conference day will feature a focused theme, beginning with a keynote presentation or featured speaker, followed by panel discussions and guided conversations designed to deepen understanding and encourage meaningful engagement among participants.
The Innovations in Education Conference will run from Tuesday, December 1 to Thursday, December 3, 2026. Each conference day will feature a focused theme, beginning with a keynote presentation or featured conversation, followed by panel discussions and guided conversations designed to deepen understanding and encourage meaningful engagement among participants.
University students must learn and apply an extraordinary volume of information while managing competing demands on their attention. Although the Science of Learning offers powerful insights into how people acquire and retain knowledge, educators face an equally important challenge: inspiring learners to invest their curiosity, attention, and effort. Through practical examples, memorable stories, and lessons learned, we will discover effective strategies that can be adapted to classroom environments.
Lori Goff, director of the Paul R. MacPherson Institute for Leadership, Innovation and Excellence in Teaching will deliver opening remarks to begin the conference and introduce our conference theme.
Joe Kim, professor in the department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University
University students must learn and apply an extraordinary volume of information while managing competing demands on their attention. Although the Science of Learning offers powerful insights into how people acquire and retain knowledge, educators face an equally important challenge: inspiring learners to invest their curiosity, attention, and effort.
Drawing on two decades of teaching, educational research, and faculty development, I will explore how evidence-based teaching practices can support durable learning, motivation, and community-building. Through practical examples, memorable stories, and lessons learned from working with thousands of students and educators, we will discover effective strategies that can be adapted to classroom environments.
The act of interpolating low-stakes memory tests during study is a proven method for boosting retention. This presentation traces the laboratory-based origins of this research before examining recent empirical evidence showing that interpolated retrieval practice improves online learning for university and community college students.
Karl Szpunar, associate professor and director of Psychological Science Training, Toronto Metropolitan University
Faria Sana, Adjunct professor, McMaster University department of Psychology Neuroscience and Behaviour
Jem Parekh, head teaching assistant for MACIntroPsych
Generative AI is part of the ecosystem in which students learn and how instructors teach, assess, and design courses. It raises practical questions about assessment, academic integrity, disciplinary expectations, and workload. It also raises a deeper question: what happens to the relationships that shape how we learn?
Throughout the day, we will look at what generative AI means for teaching and learning while staying grounded in a principle that has not changed: learning is shaped by trust and strong relationships, between instructors and students and between classmates. Participants will leave with practical ideas for strengthening trust in how we teach and learn.
and
Stephanie Verkoeyen, special advisor, Generative AI at McMaster University
Rebecca Bekele, McMaster Students Union associate vice-president (University Affairs)
Mark Humphries, professor of History at Wilfrid Laurier University and a Fellow at the Balsillie School of International Affairs
Creating inclusive learning environments benefits all students while helping institutions respond effectively to the diverse needs of today’s learners.
This themed day will explore how equity, diversity and inclusion work can enhance teaching practices, support learner success, and create more robust educational experiences.
Participants will leave with practical ideas for building inclusive learning environments that promote belonging, engagement, and success for all learners.
Professor, Psychology Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University
kimjoe@mcmaster.ca
Joe Kim is a Professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University, where he has three major roles: Director of Education and Cognition Lab; Academic Director of McCall MacBain Postdoctoral Fellows Teaching and Leadership Program; and principal instructor for the innovative McMaster introductory psychology program. A common link across his numerous roles and career is a desire to implement evidence-based practices that promote life-long learning.
Associate Professor and Director of Psychological Science Training, TMU
karl.szpunar@torontomu.ca
At Toronto Metropolitan University, Dr. Szpunar directs the Memory Lab. The Memory Lab conducts research that elucidates the cognitive and neural mechanism supporting functional uses of memory in daily life. Topics of interest include the role of memory in learning and future thinking. Specifically, the Memory Lab is currently carrying out research that aims to (i) help learners overcome the limits of attention and memory in traditional educational settings, (ii) understand the role of memory in giving rise to spontaneous mental simulations of future events and their impact on behaviour and well-being, and (iii) understand how memory and future thinking in young and older adults can impact the future of society. Insights from these lines of research are being used to develop novel interventions for improving educational outcomes and public health. These various research activities are made possible by funding support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the National Science Foundation.
Adjunct Professor, McMaster University Department of Psychology Neuroscience and Behaviour
sanaf@mcmaster.ca
Dr. Faria Sana (she/her) is an Associate Professor at Athabasca University, and an Adjunct Professor at McMaster University. She specializes in research on interleaving, online learning, and attention. She earned her Ph.D. from McMaster University in Canada. Dr. Sana conducts research on evidence-based pedagogy and the science of learning. She is the director of the Cognitive Science of Learning Lab and co-director of the EdCog Research Lab. Her research program is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Dr. Sana works closely with community partners to ensure that findings from educational and cognitive psychology are translated and disseminated to key stakeholders, and put into practice. Her research has been published in peer-reviewed academic journals and has been showcased in newspapers and magazines, such as The New York Times and the Atlantic.
Dr. Lori Goff, Director, Paul R. MacPherson Institute for Leadership, Innovation and Excellence in Teaching at McMaster University. With a doctorate degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, she focuses her research on conceptions of quality in higher education, institutional teaching cultures, indicators of quality teaching cultures, student partnership, and strategic leadership in higher education. In practice, through university-wide strategic planning and implementation processes, Dr. Goff continues her efforts to foster an institutional culture that values the development of teaching and enhancement of student learning experiences through dialogue and partnership.
Special advisor, generative AI at McMaster University
Stephanie Verkoeyen is a Special Advisor, Generative AI at McMaster University, where she works across teaching, learning, research, and operations on how the university engages with AI. Her work spans governance, risk management, and AI literacy, alongside consultations with programs and units and conversations among people who often see AI very differently.
Her deeper interest is in the questions AI makes newly urgent: whether our systems, structures, and measures are aligned with the purposes we’re trying to serve, and what needs to change as we decide what role any new technology should play. She also produces and hosts the podcast AI Dialogues, which explores ethical, pedagogical, and institutional implications of generative AI.
Professor of History at Wilfrid Laurier University and a Fellow at the Balsillie School of International Affairs
Mark Humphries is a Professor of History at Wilfrid Laurier University and a Fellow at the Balsillie School of International Affairs. His research applies generative AI to historical practice to understand how knowledge work is likely to change. He builds open-source tools that help historians transcribe and analyze handwritten documents and maintains the Historical Handwritten Text Recognition (HHTR) benchmark, which tracks LLM progress on reading historical handwriting. He developed one of the first certificate programs in generative AI and teaches AI courses to undergraduate and graduate students. He has published seven books on Canadian, military and health history, including The Last Plague: Spanish Influenza and the Politics of Public Health in Canada. He writes the Substack Generative History (https://generativehistory.substack.com/), and his work has been featured in The Verge and University Affairs.
Director of the Office of Teaching & Learning at the University of Guelph
Erin is Director of the Office of Teaching & Learning at the University of Guelph where she leads strategy and services that advance teaching excellence and inclusive and learner-centred pedagogy. She previously served as Associate Vice-Provost, Academic Quality & Teaching Innovation at Sheridan College and as Special Advisor to the Provost on Generative AI at McMaster University.
A convener and builder, Erin has launched campus-wide AI literacy communities of practice, developed governance and service pilots for generative AI, and scaled evidence-informed teaching initiatives. She is co-editor with Sara Fulmer of the “AI Playbook for Teaching & Learning Leaders,” and frequently collaborates with Canadian partners to translate research into practical guidance for instructors and academic leaders through erinai.ca. Her current work focuses on assessment in the age of autonomous AI.
With a PhD in English and Cultural Studies from McMaster, Erin reads for fun and believes that stories guide our understanding of our present and shape our possible futures.
Associate vice-president (University Affairs), McMaster Students Union
Faculty special advisor to the provost on AI, McMaster University
Dr. Kim Dej is an Associate Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Sciences, and currently the Vice-Provost, Teaching & Learning at McMaster University. Dr. Dej has been at McMaster since 2004 and holds a PhD in biology from Johns Hopkins University. She is a renowned educator having won the President’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to Teaching and Learning, a McMaster Student Union Award (Science), an OCUFA Teaching Award and a YWCA Women of Distinction Award for Education and Mentorship. Dr. Dej has previously taught in the Life Science program and has taught courses in Genetics, Cell Biology, Research Methods, Community Engagement, and the McMaster Discovery Program. Dr. Dej also leads the Intersession Learning Initiative and is involved with the McMaster Children and Youth University. She is engaged in pedagogical research with a focus on interdisciplinary programming and community-engaged teaching and learning, and is engaged in interdisciplinary curriculum development, reflexive learning practices, and peer-mentorship opportunities for undergraduate students with an emphasis on equity and belonging in all curricula.
For more information about registering and using Zoom Events:
Questions?
Connect with us via email mi@mcmaster.ca.
During the conference, Zoom Events will be the hub of activities. The virtual lobby will open one week in advance of the conference and attendees can join the lobby by clicking the event link hub and clicking “Join Lobby.” From here you can create a profile for yourself and start building an itinerary of events you want to attend.
Sessions
Speakers
Itinerary
We appreciate your support in testing your conference access before the start of the conference. We have performed extensive testing on the platform and expect a smooth conference program; however, technical difficulties are always a risk. We ask for your patience and understanding as we work quickly to provide assistance to both presenters and attendees who may experience difficulties during the event.