Prof. Jeji Varghese, Sociology and Anthropology, has been named the recipient of the University’s inaugural Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award.
The award is funded by the integrated planning process, administered by Prof. Serge Desmarais, associate vice-president (academic), and supported by Teaching Support Services (TSS). Interested faculty submit proposals for projects aimed at improving teaching or learning on campus. The recipient is selected by a committee and receives space and support from TSS.
“This award is a critical tool in our ongoing efforts as a community to strength the learning environment for undergraduate students,” Desmarais says. “I’m delighted with the project that Jeji has proposed and look forward to its success.”
For her project, Varghese will be assessing the use of community-based research (CBR) as a tool for engaged learning; it’s an extension of an initiative that she received Learning Enhancement Funding for in 2008. She will be looking at how CBR motivates student engagement through opportunities to experience real research issues, apply classroom knowledge to their experiences and develop skills as qualitative researchers.