Attention Education alumni! Are you currently teaching in an Alberta K-12 classroom? If so, you’re eligible to enter our Applause for Teachers contest, a small gesture of appreciation for all you do!

Dr. Jennifer Tupper has been reappointed as the Dean of the Faculty of Education for a second five-year term from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2027.

Congratulations to the following Education faculty members, staff and students who have recently been acknowledged for their impactful work, both within and beyond the academic community.

Congratulations to Dr. Ali Shiri, professor of library and information studies, on receiving the 2021 J. Gordin Kaplan Award for Excellence in Research!

The Faculty of Education has a proud tradition not only of producing great educators, psychologists and information studies professionals, but great research. Here are some recent stories you may have missed about UAlberta education researchers and the important work they do to improve teaching, learning, policy and professional practice in Alberta, in Canada and around the world.

The coronavirus pandemic prompted a widespread shift to online learning that left educators without much chance to prepare for the new mode of delivering their courses. Two years later, some are still struggling to make their virtual teaching as meaningful and effective as in-person instruction.

We asked Faculty of Education alumna and mentor teacher Amanda Pilipchuk (‘10 BEd, ‘16 MEd) to reflect on her teaching journey and offer advice to the next generation of educators.

What is your current teaching position?

Since 2010, I’ve taught at Archbishop Jordan Catholic High School within the Elk Island Catholic School Division. I have taught Grades 9 to 12 in a variety of courses, including foods, outdoor education and zoology. However, the main subject area I have taught throughout the entirety of my career is biology.

Among the challenges presented by remote learning is the need to accurately assess each students’ progress and provide timely, constructive feedback that helps them identify their strengths and address their weaknesses—a challenge that’s compounded in higher education settings by large class sizes and complex concepts that call on higher order thinking skills.

Dr. Farha Shariff is a teacher educator and advisor to the Office of the Dean on equity, diversity and inclusivity (EDI) and racial justice in the Faculty of Education. She’s also a mom, boxing coach and proponent of pineapple on pizza. Spend a few minutes getting to know Dr. Shariff.

When Benjamin Denga came to the University of Alberta in 2016 to pursue his master of education degree, he wanted to get oriented to campus. But as someone with a degree in business administration who had already pursued a decade-long career in educational training and development, this meant more than wayfinding and sussing out the best place for coffee. Denga wanted to learn as much as he could about the community he would be joining.

When science educator Carol Brown started developing materials to teach about vaccines and information literacy in K-12 classrooms, she brought in a special consultant to help with creating resources for younger elementary children: her four-and-a-half-year-old son.