2026 UCalgary Teaching and Learning Grant recipients announced

When teaching, learning and research come together, powerful things happen. This year’s 25 University of Calgary Teaching and Learning Grant recipients each proposed unique projects that are compelling, innovative and centre academic development. 

Led by the Provost’s Office, the 2026 UCalgary Teaching and Learning Grants program allocated $685,095 to projects from across 10 faculties. Since this initiative began in 2014, 368 projects have been funded to a total of $8,676,122.

The grants support projects that generate new research about teaching and learning at UCalgary, integrate research findings into teaching practices, and support faculty as they develop as educational leaders. The two- and three-year grants are divided among three streams: Development and Innovation, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and Educational Leadership.

“Our strength comes from a community that learns, questions and creates together,” says Dr. Yakut Gazi, PhD, vice-provost of teaching and learning. “This year’s grant recipients are expanding on that spirit by developing new approaches that enrich student learning, strengthen our culture of inquiry, and amplify our understanding of impactful teaching and learning. When we invest in research on teaching, we hold our educational practices to the same rigorous standard we demand of every other discipline, and our students are the direct beneficiaries.”

In 2026, a total of 63 applications for grants were received. This is the most submissions that have been accepted since the launch of the program. Requests for funding rose sharply for projects led by researchers in the Faculty of Arts, with strong continued participation from the Schulich School of Engineering, Cumming School of Medicine, and Werklund School of Education.

“It’s incredibly exciting to see a record number of applications this year. It really speaks to the momentum we’re building across campus around teaching and learning.” says Dr. Jean-Yin Tan, DVM, academic lead for the Teaching and Learning Grants program. “It’s clear that the University of Calgary teaching and learning community is eager to try new ideas, improve the student experience and do this work in thoughtful, evidence-informed ways. The projects we’re supporting reflect that energy and a shared commitment to meaningful, inclusive and forward-looking education.”

Recipients of this year’s teaching and learning grants are diving deep and asking important questions about how we teach and learn. They are exploring how peer mentorship influences student engagement and faculty belonging, how disability shapes inclusive teaching practices, and how game-based learning improves AI literacy.

The record number of strong applications signifies the growing culture of research, innovation and scholarly teaching and learning across UCalgary. We extend our thanks to all applicants for their thoughtful, detailed proposals and offer congratulations to this year’s recipients who are moving forward to transform teaching and learning across UCalgary.

2026 Teaching and Learning grant recipients

Analog Pedagogies: Building Analog Media Collection Infrastructure for Teaching and Learning

Grant Holder: Principal – Samantha Thrift (Faculty of Arts) 
Team Member: Blake Evernden
Grant Stream: Development and Innovation (DI)
Focus Areas: Academic integrity and ethics; Course development and innovation; Work-integrated learning, experiential learning, undergraduate research and creative; Professional learning in higher education; Transdisciplinary teaching and learning
Grant: $41,000

Bridging Knowledge Gaps: A Decolonial and Community-Engaged Framework for SOCI 487

Grant Holder: Principal – Gbenga Adejare (Faculty of Arts) 
Grant Stream: Development and Innovation (DI)
Focus Areas: Community well-being and mental health; Work-integrated learning, experiential learning, undergraduate research and creative; Transdisciplinary teaching and learning
Grant: $14,400

Building a Pathway: Institutional Frameworks for Responsible AI Development in Teaching and Learning

Grant Holder: Principal – Soroush Sabbaghan (Werklund School of Education), Jessalyn Kathryn Holodinsky, Jacqueline Hui, Heather Jamniczky, D'Arcy Norman, Trevor Poffenroth and Soroush Sabbaghan
Grant Stream: Educational Leadership (EdL) 
Focus Areas: Equity, inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility; Graduate student mentorship and learning experiences
Grant: $38,400

Building Community Through Peer Mentorship

Grant Holder: Principal – Brandon Carroll (Faculty of Arts) 
Team Members: Nariman El-Chammaa, Kyla Flanagan, Gurleen Sangha, Madison Skinner, Lisa Stowe and Jennnifer Thannhauser
Grant Stream: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) 
Focus Area: Course development and innovation; Work-integrated learning, experiential learning, undergraduate research and creative; Open Educational Resource (OER)
Grant: $34,520

CRATE: Co-designing Responsible AI Training & Education in Nursing

Grant Holder: Principal – Zahra Shajani (Faculty of Nursing) 
Team Members: Justin Burkett, Bemi Lawal and Riley Martens
Grant Stream: Development and Innovation (DI)
Focus Areas: Academic integrity and ethics; Course development and innovation; Work-integrated learning, experiential learning, undergraduate research and creative
Grant: $15,000

Development and evaluation of a curriculum for career, professionalism, leadership, and transition to independent clinical practice for resident physicians

Grant Holder: Principal – Alia Teja (Cumming School of Medicine) and Wendy WQ Ye 
Team Members: Mathieu Chin, Jerry M Maniate and Martina Trinkaus
Grant Stream: Development and innovation (DI)
Focus Areas: Community well-being and mental health; Community-engaged teaching and learning; Work-integrated learning, experiential learning, undergraduate research and creative
Grant: $30,000

Disciplinary Literacies: Preservice Teachers in Practice

Grant Holder: Principal – Umit Boz (Werklund School of Education)
Team Member: Catherine Burwell
Grant Stream: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) 
Focus Areas: Work-integrated learning, experiential learning, undergraduate research and creative; Land-based learning and Indigenous Ways of Knowing; Transdisciplinary teaching and learning
Grant: $36,000

Embodied Pedagogies: How Disability Shapes the Work of Teaching Assistants

Grant Holder: Principal – Alan Santinele Martino (Cumming School of Medicine) 
Team Members: Izza Babar, Meaghan Edwards and Kristen Hardy
Grant Stream: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) 
Focus Areas: Community well-being and mental health; Equity, inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility
Grant: $14,200

Game-Based Learning for Generative AI Literacy: Developing Curriculum Materials for an AI Art Battle Game

Grant Holder: Principal – Mohammad Keyhani (Haskayne School of Business)
Grant Stream: Development and Innovation (DI)
Focus Areas: Course development and innovation; Equity, inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility; Open Educational Resource (OER)
Grant: $10,000

Getting Ready to Trade: A Comparison of Three Methods of Preparing Students for Simulation-Based Learning

Grant Holder: Principal – Steven Paget (Haskayne School of Business) 
Grant Stream: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) 
Focus Areas: Entrepreneurial thinking and innovation; Equity, inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility; Program innovation and renewal
Grant: $10,000

Harmonized 3rd year ENEL labs

Grant Holder: Principal – Arne Dankers (Schulich School of Engineering) 
Team Members: Denis Onen and Ben Tan
Grant Stream: Development and Innovation (DI)
Focus Areas: Community-engaged teaching and learning; Course development and innovation; Program innovation and renewal
Grant: $41,000

Harvesting Spirit & UCalgary: Co-Creating a Microcredential in Indigenous Food Sovereignty

Grant Holder: Principal – Lauren Kepkiewicz (Faculty of Arts) 
Team Members: Brittney Balcaran, Durga Kale, Adela Kincaid, Daryl Kootenay, Emily Rourke, Mikaila Way and Theresa Westhaver
Grant Stream: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) 
Focus Areas: Community-engaged teaching and learning; Equity, inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility
Grant: $40,984.95

Inclusive Laboratory Videos for Chemistry

Grant Holder: Principal – Julie Lefebvre (Faculty of Science) 
Team Members: Amanda Musgrove and Alexandre Paquette
Grant Stream: Development and Innovation (DI)
Focus Areas: Community well-being and mental health; Equity, inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility
Grant: $40,950

Inquiry-Driven Redesign of Engineering Laboratory Courses

Grant Holder: Principal – Adria Lotus (Schulich School of Engineering) 
Team Member: Poornima Jayasinghe
Grant Stream: Development and Innovation (DI)
Focus Areas: Professional learning in higher education; Program innovation and renewal
Grant: $15,000

Integration of MHFA in CEP

Grant Holder: Principal – Angela Judge-Stasiak (Faculty of Social Work) 
Team Members: Meg Fester and Christie Horak
Grant Stream: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) 
Focus Area: Community-engaged teaching and learning; Equity, inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility; Work-integrated learning, experiential learning, undergraduate research and creative; Program innovation and renewal
Grant: $30,000

Language Partners Program

Grant Holder: Principal – Angela George (Faculty of Arts) 
Team Members: Eleonora Buonocore, Rachel Friedman and Siobhan Kelly
Grant Stream: Development and Innovation (DI)
Focus Areas: Equity, inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility; Transdisciplinary teaching and learning
Grant: $39,350

LLM Literacy for Teaching, Learning, and Academic Integrity

Grant Holder: Principal – Ronnie de Souza Santos (Schulich School of Engineering) 
Grant Stream: Development and Innovation (DI)
Focus Areas: Academic integrity & ethics; Equity, inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility; Professional learning in higher education; Program innovation and renewal
Grant: $41,000

MIND-Med: Mindfulness Integration in Medicine

Grant Holder: Principal – Teresa Killam (Cumming School of Medicine) 
Team Members: Todd Hill and Taryn Stokowski
Grant Stream: Development and innovation (DI)
Focus Areas: Community well-being and mental health; Entrepreneurial thinking and innovation; Online and blended learning
Grant: $31,790

Mistreatment within the clinical learning environment – Exploring residents’ experiences of reporting and support

Grant Holder: Principal – Amanda Roze des Ordons (Cumming School of Medicine) and Shannon Ruzycki
Team Member: Deborah Okusanya
Grant Stream: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) 
Focus Areas: Academic integrity and ethics; Work-integrated learning, experiential learning, undergraduate research and creative
Grant: $15,000

Pedagogies of Collective Care

Grant Holder: Principal – Tonya Callaghan (Office of Institutional Commitments) 
Team Member: Jamie Anderson
Grant Stream: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) 
Focus Areas: Course development and innovation; Equity, inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility; Graduate student mentorship and learning experiences
Grant: $41,000

Precision Health Program Curriculum Review Process Action Plan

Grant Holder: Principal – Alicia Romero Lopez (Cumming School of Medicine) 
Grant Stream: Development and innovation (DI)
Focus Areas: Entrepreneurial thinking and innovation; Work-integrated learning, experiential learning, undergraduate research and creative; Program innovation and renewal
Grant: $10,000

Re-Imagining Sociological Methods Training

Grant Holder: Principal – Annette Tézli (Faculty of Arts) and Ayesha Mian Akram
Team Member: Ruqayyah Baderinwa
Grant Stream: Development and innovation (DI)
Focus Areas: Equity, inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility; Work-integrated learning, experiential learning, undergraduate research and creative; Program innovation and renewal
Grant: $12,800

Security and Privacy Immersive Summer Experience

Grant Holder: Principal – Miti Mazmudar (Faculty of Science) and Ryan Henry
Team Member: Janet Leahy
Grant Stream: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) 
Focus Areas: Equity, inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility; Professional learning in higher education; Transdisciplinary teaching and learning
Grant: $31,800

Teaching Statistical Concepts Using Interactive Animation

Grant Holder:  Principal – Christopher Sears (Faculty of Arts) 
Grant Stream: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) 
Focus Areas: Course development and innovation; Equity, inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility; Work-integrated learning, experiential learning, undergraduate research and creative; Online and blended learning; Open Educational Resource (OER)
Grant: $9,900

Un-Design: Establishing a Design Justice Pedagogy Collective

Grant Holder: Principal – Matthew Parker (School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape) 
Team Member: Cecile Kotyk
Grant Stream: Development and Innovation (DI)
Focus Areas: Community-engaged teaching and learning; Course development and innovation; Equity, inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility; Sustainability and global engagement
Grant: $41,000