Acadia University is proud to announce four winning recipients of the Teaching and Learning Enhancement Awards (TLEAs).

The TLEAs are funded by the Office of the Provost and Vice-President, Academic, and administered by an adjudication committee overseen by the Office of the Vice-Provost, Teaching and Learning Excellence. This $10,000 annual fund helps support initiatives to enhance the quality and creativity of teaching at Acadia. Each successful project will take place over 12 months and receive $2500 in funding. 

"We received 16 outstanding submissions this year, and each highlight the creativity of our Acadia faculty members and their commitment to providing students with exceptional learning experiences,” said Dr. Lauren Finniss, Acadia's Vice-Provost Teaching and Learning Excellence. "These educators demonstrate the importance of this grant program and the value of growing the fund to support more initiatives.” 

Meet the 2024 award winners

From left to right: Dr. Trevor Avery, Dr. Erin Crandall, Dr. Andrew Biro, Dr. Carley O’Neill, Dr. Alicia Noreiga-Mundaroy.

 

Dr. Trevor Avery, Biology and Mathematics & Statistics
Proposal: “Quant Hub”
The Quant HUB is an online, open-access resource designed to help students develop fundamental skills surrounding computers, data management, and data analysis/communication using interdisciplinary software tools Excel and R/RStudio. While intended to be a resource for the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, Quant HUB will be available to all students at Acadia and will be hosted on the Atlantic Open Educational Resource platform.

Dr. Erin Crandall and Dr. Andrew Biro, Department of Politics
Proposal: “Designing a Political Simulation for Intro Politics”
This project involves the finalization of an in-class simulation activity for POLS 1303 which will be run in Dr. Biro and Dr. Crandall’s courses beginning in Fall 2024. The simulation is a hands-on learning opportunity that will be published as an Open Education Resource (OER) and made available to other educators teaching politics.

Dr. Carley O’Neill, School of Kinesiology
Proposal: “An Interdisciplinary Approach to Acadia’s Cardiac Maintenance Program”
The Acadia Cardiac Maintenance (ACM) program pairs Kinesiology students at a 1:1 ratio with a recent graduate from the hospital-based cardiac rehabilitation to provide rehabilitation support. This project proposes a more interdisciplinary approach to the program with the inclusion of a Registered Dietician in the development and delivery of theoretical content and student experiential activities regarding heart healthy nutrition. This interdisciplinary expansion is directly in line with the interdisciplinary nature of cardiac rehabilitation programs and provide a unique and exceptional experience for students.

Dr. Alicia Noreiga-Mundaroy, Community Development
Proposal: “Fostering Racial Inclusivity through Community Development Education: Planning and Supporting African Nova Scotia Students’ Success”
This program is nested within the Department of Community Development’s vision to strengthen its network, outreach, and support to racialized Nova Scotians and to forge stronger solidarities with the province’s Black communities. This project will engage 25 African Nova Scotian students from local high schools in a one-day relationship-building, knowledge dissemination, and activities coordinated by Acadia’s Black Student Support Coordinators, CODE’s faculty and is an experiential learning opportunity for CODE students.

Successful applicants will share their project results with a brief summary report published on the learning and teaching website and at a public forum, such as the Annual Festival of Teaching and Learning.

Congratulations to the 2024 TLEA Award winners!