McMaster’s Office the Provost and the MacPherson Institute have established a grants program to support the implementation of the Partnered in Teaching and Learning strategy.
The new Partnered in Teaching and Learning grants, which will be awarded annually, will encourage innovations in teaching and learning and improve student experiences and outcomes.
The grants are open to faculty and instructors seeking to implement one or more of the teaching and learning priorities in their classroom, department, faculty, or staff unit.
“McMaster is looking for ways to recognize the amount of effort quality teaching and learning requires,” said acting vice-provost, Faculty, Kim Dej. “These grants are designed to do just that, providing additional resources and incentives to help educators engage in this work.”
The two types of grants are designed to encourage innovations in teaching and learning within and beyond the classroom, to elevate teaching as a professional discipline, and to improve student experiences and outcomes.
Seed grants of up to $4,000 will support initiatives that immediately and directly impact student learning experiences within an academic course or in the co-curricular spaces between their courses.
For example, this funding could be used to explore more equitable practices and pedagogies like Indigenizing curriculum or improving mental wellness in the classroom, to redesign coursework to incorporate innovative assessment such as peer feedback in undergraduate classrooms, or to incorporate technology-enhanced instruction.
Garden grants of up to $25,000 will support larger-scale improvements to whole programs or the teaching cultures and strategic educational directions of departments, schools or faculties.
The funding may also help support partnerships between programs, departments, or faculties, and interdisciplinary teams are particularly encouraged to apply.
This funding could support the creation of interdisciplinary and/or experiential learning opportunities, the revitalization of an activity, service, program, or process to improve equity and inclusion, programs to improve first-year experiences (e.g. peer mentoring programs, wayfinding assignments), or community based/experiential learning, among others.
More information on the Partnered in Teaching and Learning Grants will be shared at the virtual Teaching and Learning Month Kickoff and Orientation on May 4, where Provost Susan Tighe, Dej and MacPherson Institute Director Lori Goff will provide details about the grants, outline teaching and learning priorities, highlight progress made in Year 1 of the Partnered in Teaching and Learning strategy, and answer questions about teaching and learning at McMaster. Click here to register