Our Leadership in Teaching and Learning Fellows

FEED Study: Feedback in EPAs and Education Development 

Department: Pediatrics, Faculty of Health Sciences  

Abstract:

All medical residency programs in Canada now follow Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME), which emphasizes achieving specific, observable skills over personalized professional development. In this model, residents demonstrate competency through regular clinical assessments. A key tool used for this is the Entrustable Professional Activity (EPA), representing real-life clinical tasks (e.g., taking a history, performing procedures, or discussing diagnoses) that residents must be trusted to perform independently. Despite widespread use, CBME is only partly supported by evidence-based studies. 

Ideally, EPAs should provide constructive, real-time feedback to support resident learning. However, informal observations suggest they are often used as administrative checkboxes rather than opportunities for meaningful feedback. 

The FEED Study addresses this issue by analyzing EPA data from all McMaster University residency programs. Using the validated Quality of Assessment for Learning (QuAL) tool, narrative comments will be evaluated for specific observations, actionable suggestions, and relevance to future improvement. These findings will inform the development of a sustainable feedback tool for medical trainees and eventually all students in CBME at McMaster. 

Improving feedback quality will enhance residents learning, support reflection, and guide performance improvement. The findings will support practical tools to strengthen how feedback is delivered and received across training programs. 

Ultimately, this project will help promote a culture where assessment supports both evaluation and professional growth.  

PULSE Study – Physiological Understanding of Lifestyle Stressors in Education 

Department: Kinesiology, Faculty of Science 

Abstract: 

University students today face an unprecedented mental health crisis, with 7 out of 10 students reporting high stress levels throughout the semester. Many students feel overwhelmed and alone in their struggles, not realizing that their peers face similar challenges. Current methods of measuring student stress rely on surveys that can be influenced by mood and social pressure to appear “fine.”  

This study will use modern wearable technology to objectively track the real-time stress levels, sleep patterns, and daily activity of 40 second-year Kinesiology students over a full semester. By monitoring heart rate changes, sleep quality, and exercise habits, researchers can identify when students are most at risk for academic struggles—often before the students themselves realize it.   

The goal is to help students understand that stress responses are normal and common, reducing shame and encouraging them to seek help when needed. By comparing wearable device data with test scores, researchers hope to identify early warning signs that could trigger support interventions.  

This research could transform how universities support student success by moving from waiting for students to fail and ask for help, to proactively identifying at-risk students through biological indicators and providing timely, personalized support strategies. 

Manipulatives for Calculus Education 

Department: Mathematics & Statistics, Faculty of Science  

Abstract:

The goal of this initiative is to enhance student learning and engagement in second-year multivariable calculus by developing active learning and inquiry-based modules centered around custom-designed 3D manipulatives. In collaboration with undergraduate student partners, we will design and test a suite of scalable and open-access lesson plans and tutorials paired with 3D printed and vacuum-formed manipulatives. After embedding these modules into 5 undergraduate calculus courses (Math 1XX3, ArtsSci 1D06, Math 2XA3, Math 2XB3, and Math 2MC3, totalling over 600 students and 12 teaching assistants per year), we will assess the effectiveness of these modules and manipulatives on student learning outcomes, engagement, and confidence. All members of our team will participate in the dissemination of our work, including conference presentations, academic publications, and open educational resources.  

We have successfully completed two pilot years of this initiative, and it has proven to be quite popular with both students and faculty. The financial resources available through this fellowship would allow us to keep the momentum going and scale up our work, providing leadership by example to other educators, both within our department and worldwide. 

Co-Investigators: Caroline Junkins & Patrick Naylor

A structured use of GenAI in STEM following management principles 

Co-applicants: Dr. Meena Andiappan, Mr. John Fink, Dr. Sam Scott 

Department: Engineering Physics, Faculty of Engineering 

Abstract:

The integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) into higher education presents both transformative potential and significant challenges. In the right circumstances, GenAI has been shown to enhance student learning performance, learning perception, and higher-order thinking. However, uncritical adoption risks generating inaccurate information, fostering over-reliance, and hindering critical thinking. Ad hoc use GenAI is insufficient; its effective use requires a structured, intentional, and proven approach.

GenAI tools are incredibly fast, remarkably creative, and completely self-assured but lack critical thought, direction, and big-picture perspective. As such, they resemble a highly capable junior  employee and places the user in the role as senior / manager. In this model, the user, as ‘manager’, oversees the AI’s process arriving at a solution and ultimately take ownership of the result. This junior-senior dynamic is well established in the practice of management, and may be an effective structure for efficient, effective, and ethical GenAI usage.  

The primary objective of this project is to adapt proven management principles for leveraging GenAI effectively STEM topics. Building on evidence that GenAI’s impact in teaching and learning is moderated by how it is used, the project will design and assess structured student-AI interaction following project management principles.  

The proposal foresees explicit guidance on how to interact with GenAI for a particular task (prompt engineering), but moreover and critically, how to manage AI through the project cycle (management theory). The established project management structure including problem clarification, ideation, solution development, and implementation and testing. McMaster resources including the MacPherson institute and the LTL community will be consulted on effective strategies to implement and evaluate the impact of this managed approach on student learning performance, perception, and higher-order thinking. A McMaster student partner will be integral to conducting a needs analysis in the first year and assisting in implementation and data collection in the second.  

The results will directly benefit student learning by providing structured, evidence-based strategies for integrating GenAI in a way that truly enhances engagement, improves academic performance, and cultivates crucial critical thinking skills needed for an AI-integrated workforce. By focusing on managing the process of AI use, the project mitigates risks like over-reliance and prepares students to “use their human brain before their computer brain”. 

This LTL Fellowship is essential for developing my educational leadership capacity by enabling me to lead innovation in a critical area of educational technology integration. Engagement with the LTL network will provide mentorship and support for this growth. I plan to continue to advocate for educational change by disseminating project findings and practical strategies for managed AI use internally (e.g., within engineering, aligning with priorities to lead the digital revolution and enhance educational practices), and the wider academic community. Through documentation and presentation, I would be able to offer practical guidelines for applying management principles to AI-supported learning in specific contexts, facilitating the adoption of these evidence-based practices by peers.

Metacognition & Testing as Learning (MeTAL) Study

Department: Anatomy, Dept of Pathology and Molecular Medicine

Abstract

Anatomical knowledge is critical for scaffolding clinical, and functional information essential to health care professions student achievement and eventual clinical practice. Getting to this point however, is challenging for learners and is made exponentially more difficult by students’ typical use of ineffective study strategies. Over 100 years of research demonstrates that the most effective study strategies employ recall and spaced practice to both enhance initial learning and promote long-term memory. Thus, creating course-integrated opportunities for students to develop content proficiency via evidence-based practices is especially important in our field.

The current proposal is aimed at doing just that — developing and evaluating an evidence-based formative assessment tool for use in anatomy courses across the Allied Health Sciences at McMaster. Critically, this proposal builds upon a well-established line of research within our lab group – the AI OSPE (artificial intelligence objective structured practical exam) to expand and evaluate it’s use in a new context — as a formative practice tool. Through this effort, we aim to discern which features of the application (e.g., provided vs. withheld solutions, required vs. optional judgements of performance) best support learning in the context of anatomy assessments which requires the use of image-based questions that test content learned within a real course and via single-word answer responses.

Results of this study will broadly impact anatomy education at McMaster University and beyond. For context, upwards of 2000 students are enrolled annually in anatomy courses offered by the Education Program in Anatomy, all of whom would directly benefit from the inclusion of an evidence-based formative practice application like the one under development here. Further, with progressively improved functionality of our AI OSPE application, deploying this tool as a resource for programs outside of our institution also becomes possible.

From a professional development standpoint, funding this project will further my ability to mentor and be mentored by other faculty, graduate students and undergraduate research trainees, thus expanding my education and research network at McMaster. My current professional goal is to lead my department in education scholarship and further our collective potential to take on new students, teach new courses or offer new degrees by modelling what successful student-partnerships look like and bring to the field of anatomy education scholarship. In addition, I see this fellowship as an opportunity to take an intentional and evidence-based approach to better understanding and applying leadership and mentorship principles in my career. I already do this in my teaching and am eager to expand my capabilities to effect change at the faculty level and ultimately become more prepared to hold leadership positions within my faculty.

MacSPARK (The McMaster Accelerating Chemistry Success Preparation)

Department: Chemistry and Chemical Biology

Abstract

MacSPARK is a pilot research project that aims to support incoming first-year students who are enrolled in general chemistry (CHEM 1A03) or general chemistry for engineers (CHEM 1E03). It is a chemistry bridging program with the emphasis on early diagnostics of chemistry preparation through self-tests, and early interventions through a combination of targeted feedback via virtual group meetings with peers and upper-year students, and one-on-one office hours with professors, together with self-paced studies using online module videos, capped with an evaluation of personal growth and learning via post-engagement quizzes.

The objectives are two-fold: (1) building a supportive and collaborative community through weekly virtual group meetings with peers, upper-year students, and professors; (2) fundamental review sessions related to selected topics from high school chemistry through a learning cycle that consists of diagnostic self-tests, a review of selected instructor-led videos, attending group meetings led by upper-year students, and finally complete post-engagement quizzes. The main driving force to initiate this project has arisen due to the increasing rate that we have seen in early withdrawal rates for students enrolled in CHEM 1A03 and CHEM 1E03 over the past six years. This trend suggests that our students are “giving up” earlier compared to previous years, which has a negative impact on student success and retention. Therefore, it is more important than ever to provide opportunities for early diagnostics and interventions to enhance preparedness and maximize potential success of our incoming Science students.
A deterioration of learner engagement and motivation contribute to high attrition rates for first year undergraduate student. To better support learner motivation, researchers have recently begun investigating the roles of a learner’ sense of social belonging, which may have an impact on student success and retention. This program fosters community building through weekly, 2 hour long group meetings, which are led by our enthusiastic upper year students. In addition to providing students with opportunities to apply the content covered in the online module videos to more complicated problems, the group meetings also provide a virtual platform for students to connect with their peers, learn about future careers, research and co-op opportunities, and program options/resources available to students. In short, MacSPARK sets our incoming students up for success by building a sense of community, as well as preparing students academically by reviewing selected high school chemistry topics that are relevant for transitioning to a first-year chemistry curriculum.

I am part of a group exploring open educational resources (OER) to potentially replace our current textbook for CHEM 1A03 and CHEM 1E03. The philosophy behind the OER initiative is to support students with similar learning opportunities without the added financial stress that often comes with purchasing a textbook. I am passionate about exploring ways to better support our students and to meet their needs, which is what this proposal on MacSPARK is all about. With the support of the Fellowship, I will develop and implement the program, and also evaluate its effectiveness by analyzing these metrics: course-specific withdrawal rates, test performance, and student perceptions of social belonging. I will share these results with my colleagues within the department and beyond. The results collected from this program will further help to illustrate to the teaching/learning community the need for data driven decision making processes.

Evaluation of the impact of team-based learning and open pedagogy in a level-II course in Economics

Department: Economics

Abstract

Although the three-year pandemic has finally ended, it continues to have a profound effect on teaching and learning. The rapid changes in the current digital age, coupled with the rising cost of education and the increasingly diverse composition of classrooms, are also requiring educators to provide rich learning experiences while fostering deep learning and promoting inclusivity and accessibility. This project aims to implement team-based learning and open pedagogy in Intermediate Microeconomics I (Econ2Z03) to address the new challenges in teaching and learning. Students tend to show more initiative and learn more effectively when studying in small groups, and their knowledge and understanding are strengthened through group interactions. Students can build their communication and cooperation skills through group work, which contributes to their future success in the workplace. Students also tend to make friends and establish study groups that carry over to their other courses, which strengthens their sense of belonging. In the proposed project, in-class team activities, including two-stage tests and group discussions, will be combined with outside the classroom group activities that generate multiple-choice questions. These activities will help students achieve a deeper understanding and further hone their research, writing, and editing skills. Such assignments will not expire at the end of the semester, and the resulting high-quality questions will be validated, revised, edited, and ultimately included in an interactive, open-source question bank for future Econ2Z03 students. Students are not passive learners but active participants in creating educational resources, where they can develop a sense of ownership and belonging in the process. In addition, open-source learning resources can help lower the cost of education and promote accessibility.

Qualitative and quantitative measures will assess the impact of team-based learning and open pedagogy with regards to the students’ collaboration, engagement, learning outcomes, sense of satisfaction, and sense of belonging. This project will implement recommendations from the most recent academic program review (IQAP in 2016-2017) to promote the students’ communication skills and improve their economics-related writing skills.

In addition, the proposed project connects to the following impact areas in McMaster’s Teaching & Learning Strategy, and Digital Learning Strategic Framework:

•     Encouraging Partnered Learning
•     Fostering Inclusive Excellence and Scholarly Teaching
•     Developing Active Learning Spaces
•     Advancing Digital Literacy and Proficiency

The project will develop procedures and resources to help other educators implement similar pedagogical innovations in their teaching practices. This fellowship will help to achieve educational leadership goals that include promoting an active learning environment at McMaster, involving student partners in teaching practices, encouraging the development and adoption of OER and open pedagogy, and promoting equity and inclusion.

Implementing a comprehensive framework for nurturing and promoting critical, creative and collaborative thinking in biology courses

Department: Biology

Abstract

The proposed project addresses significant challenges in higher education, including student disengagement, competency gaps among graduates and the need for equitable learning opportunities. With partners at The Critical Thinking Consortium, we will learn and implement a systematic and comprehensive framework that centers critical thinking, creativity and collaboration in lectures and assessments within the biology department courses at McMaster University Through course surveys and ongoing meetings with student focus groups, we will gather feedback and make adjustments to our strategies. In this way we hope to build student voice and agency in learning. In order to scale the use of this framework into other courses within the biology department, we will create a professional learning community comprised of faculty and teaching staff where we can participate in focused workshops and co-construct practical strategies for implementation of this framework. Through peer observation and feedback, we will aim to work together to refine and invigorate our departmental teaching practices.

Within this project, there is an excellent and exciting opportunity to strengthen and hone educational leadership skills through developing a professional learning community and guiding the activities. Additionally, through engaging in self-reflection, actively seeking feedback from peers and mentors and participating in networking activities and events I aim to strengthen my leadership capacity and advocate for innovate teaching and learning strategies that put students at the center. In the first half of the project, over 700 students across 4 courses in biology will be impacted. Through community-based learning and support with faculty sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, we hope to implement this framework in a broader range of courses where we can impact over 1500 students each year. Finally, through networking and dissemination activities, we hope to continue the work from this project and extend it to other departments within the Faculty of Science. Through the innovative teaching and learning strategy of centering our lectures and assessments around a critical, creative and collaborative thinking model, students will benefit by enhanced engagement, building of essential competencies, and access to equitable learning opportunities related
to personal and professional growth.

Please click here to see our 2023 cohort of Leadership in Teaching & Learning Fellows.

Please click here to see our 2022 cohort of Leadership in Teaching & Learning Fellows.

Please click here to see our 2021 cohort of Leadership in Teaching & Learning Fellows.

Please click here to see our 2019 cohort of Leadership in Teaching & Learning Fellows.

To view the 2019 cohort – click on the Faculty based menu across the top and find the fellows under their respective year.

Please click here to see our 2018 cohort of Leadership in Teaching & Learning Fellows.

To view the 2018 cohort – click on the Faculty based menu across the top and find the fellows under their respective year.