Teaching Excellence and Innovation Award

All sessional instructors, lecturers, term and tenure-track faculty members at any rank in the Faculty of Science are eligible for this award. The nomination must have the support of at least one student.

Note that a faculty member who won the award previously will be ineligible for the same award for two years; i.e., an instructor who won the award in 2024 is not eligible in 2025 and 2026.

• Nominations may be submitted by individual or groups of students, alumni, and faculty members (including Department Heads, Associate Deans, and Dean) in the Faculty of Science. Self-nominations will not be considered.
• Only nominations pertaining to activities carried out within the last 12 months will be considered.
• A nomination form must be submitted through the link provided on this page. Submitted nomination forms will be sent directly to the Dean’s Office.
• Eligible nominees will be contacted by the Dean’s Office to submit a nomination package.
• The Faculty of Science Awards Adjudication Committee will review the nomination packages.
• The Dean’s Office will contact the award winner and release the results.
• The award will be presented at the Annual Faculty of Science Awards Ceremony.

Nominees will be contacted and asked to submit a statement that provides evidence of teaching excellence and/or innovation. The statement should address the following points in a maximum 5-page document written in 12-point font with 1-inch margins:

• Nominee’s statement that provides course context, instructional goals, teaching approach, and assessment of learning outcomes (maximum 1 page).
• Letter(s) of support (maximum 1 page each) from students.
• Additional supplementary material from two of the following (maximum 2 pages total):
  • Sample student work (e.g., assignments, projects, test results, longitudinal comparisons) that demonstrate the work is a result of teaching effectiveness and innovation (maximum 1 page).
  • Teaching evaluations from the course(s) being considered in the nomination (statistics only, please do not include student comments) (maximum 1 page).
  • Peer evaluation of teaching with background context (course subject, learning objectives, class size, and year level) (maximum 1 page).
  • External reviews of student output, if any; examples include community partners, industry sponsors, industry judges or panelists, conference reviewers. (maximum 1 page).

Demonstrated teaching excellence and innovation, which includes the application of known pedagogical techniques and the successful experimentation with new pedagogical methods. The evaluation criteria include:

1. Excellence in Teaching

   Achieve high standards in student learning and learning outcomes in the classroom. Provide evidence of teaching success based on: strong teaching evaluations contextualized with information on course subject, class size, and level; peer evaluations; student output as it relates to classroom teaching; evidence of student learning outcomes; and other forms of student feedback.

2. Pedagogical Practice

   (Re-)Design courses to have a constructive alignment between the learning outcomes, teaching methods, and assessments. Show that the course design is planned to achieve specific pedagogical objectives intentionally.

3. Success in Achieving Instructor Goals

   Use multiple types of indicators to evaluate student learning (e.g., concept inventory, pre/post-assessments, self-reflections, peer evaluations, external evaluations). Show evidence of concept mastery in student learning beyond letter grade performance. Align student evaluations or peer commentary to the instructional goals.

4. Innovative Instructional Methods

   Implement innovative teaching methods, connect with community members and organizations, or apply innovations in format, content, and delivery methods. Use innovative assessment methods and demonstrate alignment between assessments and learning outcomes; these methods must be accompanied by evidence of student engagement, critical thinking, and autonomy.

5. Student Guidance and Support

   Conduct activities that promote success in student learning; examples include supervision, tutoring, student mentoring, and teaching assistant training.

6. Advancement of the Faculty’s Strategic Goals

   Apply teaching or assessment methods that encourage experiential learning, interdisciplinarity, collaboration, or undergraduate research and scholarship.

Nominations will be accepted throughout the academic year. A call will go out to faculty and students in July, November, and March each year.

• Annual deadline for nominations is May 15th.
• Nominated faculty will be notified no later than May 31st and will be asked to complete their package by June 30th.
• Nominations will be adjudicated in July and award presentations will be made in September.
• Award recipients will be encouraged to share their teaching strategies either in a workshop or online format.