Improving the Learning Experience for Students: Trent University Announces Inaugural Teaching Fellows
Dr. Stephen Hill and Dr. Jane Mackie announced as two new fellows thanks to generous gift
Trent University’s Centre for Teaching and Learning is delighted to announce the first two recipients of the inaugural Trent Teaching Fellowships, Dr. Stephen Hill, an associate professor with the School of the Environment, and Dr. Jane Mackie, an assistant professor with the Trent/Fleming School of Nursing, will engage in teaching scholarship to improve the learning experience for students at Trent University.
The Trent Teaching Fellowships, which are funded as part of a generous gift announced in the spring at Trent’s annual Celebration of Teaching Excellence, provide an opportunity for faculty to pursue meaningful and sustained initiatives in the areas of teaching, leadership, innovation, and scholarship. The gift of $24,000, which is part of the current $50 Million Campaign: Unleash the Potential, will see the two new Teaching Fellows receive a one-time grant of $6,000 to support their project over a three-year period. The gift will support four fellowships in total, two which will be awarded next year as well.
“By developing a curriculum framework for our community-based education program, Trent will be better positioned to form meaningful relationships with community partners,” says Professor Hill, who will use the fellowship to focus on mapping and developing community-engaged learning at Trent. “It’s an honour to hold this fellowship. People at Trent really value teaching. By working with each other, we can bring out the best in students and make a difference in our community."
Professor Mackie will use the fellowship towards implementing a new active learning approach to teaching medication dose calculations to first-year nursing students at the University. “It is my hope that by using active learning strategies in a flipped classroom with first-year students, I can inspire confidence about their own ability to learn in a subject area they are often anxious about,” she says. “The opportunity to increase confidence in their ability to learn is key with first year students as this will translate into better confidence and learning in all of their future studies.”
The Trent Teaching Fellowships offer a catalyst for change and innovation in teaching and learning within Trent, while providing fellows an opportunity for educational leadership. The Teaching Fellowship program is designed to elevate the status of teaching, while positively impacting student learning, engagement, retention, and success.
About Trent University
One of Canada's top universities, Trent University was founded on the ideal of interactive learning that's personal, purposeful and transformative. Consistently recognized nationally for leadership in teaching, research and student satisfaction, Trent attracts excellent students from across the country and around the world. Here, undergraduate and graduate students connect and collaborate with faculty, staff and their peers through diverse communities that span residential colleges, classrooms, disciplines, hands-on research, co-curricular and community-based activities. Across all disciplines, Trent brings critical, integrative thinking to life every day. Today, Trent's unique approach to personal development through supportive, collaborative community engagement is in more demand than ever. Students lead the way by co-creating experiences rooted in dialogue, diverse perspectives and collaboration. In a learning environment that builds life-long passion for inclusion, leadership and social change, Trent's students, alumni, faculty and staff are engaged global citizens who are catalysts in developing sustainable solutions to complex issues. Trent's Peterborough campus boasts award-winning architecture in a breathtaking natural setting on the banks of the Otonabee River, just 90 minutes from downtown Toronto, while Trent University Durham delivers a distinct mix of programming in the east GTA.
Kate Weersink, media relations & strategic communications officer, Trent University, 705-748-1011 x6180 or kateweersink@trentu.ca