Scholarly Teaching activities advance teaching and learning by supporting, generating, and sharing research that informs educational practices and enhances student learning.
The MacPherson Institute’s research impact has grown over the past few years through the expansion of the Student Partners Program; strong support for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) via grants, workshops, communities of practice, conferences, and consultations; and the development of research programs focused on key themes such as equity, inclusion, and student-faculty partnership. The MacPherson Institute has also contributed to educational development internationally and built collaborative networks that strengthen both local and global teaching and learning research.
Student Partners Program
As one of the MacPherson Institute’s flagship programs and core funding opportunities, the Student Partners Program is an example of how collaboration and co-creation can become a transformational experience for both instructors and learners.
The Student Partners Program provides opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to collaborate on funded, teaching and learning projects. Projects can focus on teaching and learning research, course and curriculum design/re-design or review. This collaboration encourages in-depth engagement for students and inclusion of student perspectives in the process.
This past year the Student Partners Program expanded project calls for additional topic-specific streams including Institutional Quality Assurance Process, Open Educational Resources and Generative AI. As a result, the MacPherson Institute saw a 138% increase in the number of applications (52 in FY24 to 124 in FY25) and supported 177% more successful projects (31 in FY24 to 86 in FY25).
Total Student Partners Program Participation:
Student Participants from all 6 Faculties and Arts & Science Program
Faculty/Staff Participants from all 6 Faculties and Arts & Science Program
Total Student Partners Program Applications
Successful Student Partners Program Applications
Students as Partners Community Forum
This year, the MacPherson Institute hosted the Second Annual Students as Partners Community Forum, a one-day virtual event featuring panel discussions, interactive workshops, and networking sessions. Over 70 participants from across Canada attended, including students, educators, and educational developers, to share experiences and insights on student-faculty partnerships. The event continues to strengthen the national Students as Partners network and further supports engagement and sustained momentum of building the practice of student partnership and collaboration across institutions.
Students as Partners Podcast
The MacPherson Institute launched a Student Partners Podcast pilot and produced nine episodes, featuring over 30 guests that included both faculty and student voices. As of May 2025, the podcast had received nearly 350 plays across Apple and Spotify platforms. This new knowledge mobilization platform has served as a useful resource to promote and inform individuals who are interested in learning about student-partner programming.
International Journal for Students as Partners
The International Journal for Students as Partners (IJSaP) is a journal about learning and teaching together in higher education. IJSaP explores new perspectives, practices, and policies related to students and staff working in partnership to enhance learning and teaching in higher education. Shared responsibility for teaching and learning is the underlying premise of students as partners, and IJSaP is produced using a student-staff partnership approach.
Journal Metrics
Manuscripts Published
Faculty Reviewers
Student Reviewers
Information Box Group
Downloads
Abstract Views
Journal Highlights
- 21% increase in the number of IJSaP manuscripts published
- 67% increase in the number of IJSaP abstracts viewed
- Continued growth in IJSaP participation from faculty and students
- 64% increase in participation from faculty reviewers
- 157% increase in participation from student reviewers
These increases are, in part, attributed to a focused effort to improve communication and operations of the editorial board for IJSaP. The Editorial Manager has worked closely with editorial teams to understand workflows and identify areas for possible improvement.
As part of these improvements, a major milestone was achieved with the indexing of IJSaP in the Education Resources Information Centre (ERIC), which is a comprehensive, full-text database of education research and information. This database is used by academics, researchers, educators, policymakers and the general public. This accomplishment has helped improve discoverability and exposure for IJSaP.
This past year, the IJSaP team also focused heavily on improving their presence on social media platforms like LinkedIn and BlueSky.
Looking ahead, a new “Editor’s Handbook” is in progress to help provide guidance on common challenges and to consolidate shared best practices. Additionally, the IJSaP editors presented a panel discussion at the Students as Partners Community Forum and plan to attend similar events in the future to further raise awareness about the publication and to share opportunities for students and faculty to contribute.
Accomplishments
Teaching Stream Faculty Supports
The MacPherson Institute has been focused on enhancing supports for teaching stream faculty.
- This past year, the Scholarly Teaching team launched a Microsoft Teams space to support teaching-stream faculty as a hub for resource sharing, peer networking and communication about the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and teaching-focused opportunities
- Engagement was further strengthened with new opportunities for educators to connect at monthly Writing Days and through targeted email communications that highlight events, conferences, and journals related to teaching
- In collaboration with the McMaster University Library, the MacPherson Institute has also been creating and streamlining online resources connected to research on teaching and learning and to clarifying areas for partnership and support
The MacPherson Institute continues to expand opportunities to support and encourage teaching-stream faculty in advancing their scholarship and dissemination efforts.
