News release

For immediate release
Jan. 14, 2010

Mount Royal faculty selected as Teaching and Learning Scholars

(CALGARY – Jan. 14, 2010) Twelve outstanding Mount Royal University faculty members have been chosen as scholars for Mount Royal’s 2010 Teaching and Learning Scholars Program. The Teaching and Learning Scholars Program encourages and supports classroom research designed to help teachers teach and students learn more effectively at both the post-secondary and K to 12 levels.

“The work of the 2010 Scholars will produce a deeper and more complete understanding of successful student learning, innovative university teaching, and effective educational practices at Mount Royal, throughout Canada, and beyond,” explains Richard A. Gale, PhD, director of the Institute for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. These instructors were selected for their interest in and commitment to scholarly investigation of teaching and learning, and will spend the 2010-2011 academic year researching important aspects of how students learn.

The program, the first of its kind in Canada, will build on Mount Royal’s history and dedication to teaching excellence, as well as an institutional commitment to student success and the improvement of teaching and learning through scholarship and innovation. It has also influenced similar initiatives at other institutions including Royal Roads University and the University of British Columbia.

The 2010 Teaching and Learning Scholars are:

• Liza Choi, Faculty of Health and Community Studies (Nursing)
• Israel S. Dunmade, Faculty of Science and Technology (Environmental Sciences)
• Jane McNichol, Faculty of Communication Studies (Public Relations)
• M. Helena Myllykoski , Faculty of Health and Community Studies (Nursing)
• Heather Nelson, Faculty of Teaching and Learning (General Education)
and Faculty of Arts (Humanities)
• Jodi Nickel, Faculty of Teaching and Learning (Education and Schooling)
• Melanie Rathburn, Faculty of Teaching and Learning (General Education)
and Faculty of Science and Technology (Biology)
• M. Qasim Syed, Faculty of Science and Technology (Physics)
• Joanna Szabo Hart, Faculty of Health and Community Studies (Nursing)
• Lee Wertzler, Faculty of Arts (Psychology)
• Andrea L. Williams, Bissett School of Business (Business Communications)
• Becky Willson, Library Services (Psychology and Counseling)

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Media contact:
Fred Cheney, Media Relations Officer
Office of External Relations
Office: 403.440.5195
Cell: 403.542.7904
mediarelations@mtroyal.ca