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University of Calgary Teaching & Learning Grants

Current grant holders are encouraged to attend the upcoming Toast to Teaching and Learning Grant holders event on May 23. Refreshments and beverages will be provided.

Streams

There are three different teaching and learning grant streams.

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Area of focus

There are 14 distinct areas of focus.

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Eligibility & applications

Anyone who works at UCalgary can be part of a grant project. Applications for 2025 grants are now closed. 

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Current grant holders

Grant recipients can view information about starting a project, responsibilities, related resources, and more.

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Program description

Funded by the Provost's Office, the University of Calgary Teaching and Learning Grants program is designed to provide support to enhance student learning experiences through the integration of teaching, learning and research, and to support faculty as they engage in Scholarship of Teaching & Learning and develop educational leadership capacity.

Through two- and three-year grants, the program supports the development, implementation, critical examination, and dissemination of innovative, evidence-based approaches to student learning to achieve the following goals:

  • Integration of research evidence into teaching practice
  • Generation of new knowledge about teaching and learning at the University of Calgary
  • Dissemination of the results of that work to benefit others
  • Development of educational leadership identity

Timeline

Applications open

August 15, 2024

Peer feedback deadline

Nov. 21, 2024 (optional)

Application deadline

Jan. 15, 2025

Adjudication process

February 2025

Notice of award

Results announced Spring 2025


Streams

Applicants can select one or more of the following streams:

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Development and Innovation

This grant stream will support teaching and learning projects to develop something new or innovate something already in place in an academic course or program at the University of Calgary. The scope may vary from individual activities to entire programs, such as the creation of a new resource, the implementation of a new practice, or the (re)design of activities, courses, or programs. Recipients will share their work with relevant campus audiences to benefit the practice and understanding of others.

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Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

Recipients will draw on their discipline-based expertise to develop a scholarly project anchored by a meaningful question about student learning and the activities intended to facilitate that learning in an academic course or program. The SoTL project is designed to answer that question by making relevant student learning visible and then systematically analyzing this evidence. These projects aim to improve student learning by strengthening the practice of teaching. To benefit the practice and understanding of others, SoTL grant recipients will share their work with relevant campus audiences and disseminate more broadly within relevant scholarly communities.

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Educational Leadership

Recipients will develop their educational leadership capacity through the implementation of strategic teaching and learning initiatives that include the development of professional learning opportunities to help other academic staff/educators strengthen their teaching and learning practice in academic courses or programs. Fundable projects may involve a range of contexts and activities, not just those that occur in the classroom. Educational Leadership grants are intended to have an impact beyond the scope of an individual academic course and recipients will share their work with relevant campus audiences and disseminate more broadly within relevant scholarly communities.


Areas of focus

The Teaching and Learning Grants provide an opportunity to help advance the institutional teaching and learning priorities outlined in UCalgary's 2023-30 Strategic Plan Ahead of Tomorrow. Applicants can select one or more of the following areas of focus:

Equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility

Creating opportunities, reducing inequities, ensuring equitable access, increasing representation, promoting engagement, inclusion, and empowerment, improving belonging, and removing barriers for equity-deserving groups.

Land based learning & Indigenous Ways of Knowing

Learning on the land, engaging with community and Traditional Knowledge Keepers/Elders, enhancing Indigenous ways of knowing, being, doing, and connecting, and building parallel pathways that connect teaching and learning to our commitments in ii' taa'poh'to'p.

Community well-being and mental health

Creating a community of caring, reducing stigma, learning and talking about mental health and well-being, and integrating research-informed practices in academic courses and programs so that students and educators realize their potential.

Sustainability and global engagement

Advancing sustainability and global engagement education through teaching and learning, creating programs and courses that build essential core competencies for intercultural capacity building, regenerative futures, pluralism, global citizenship, and sustainability leadership.

Entrepreneurial thinking and innovation

Creating teaching and learning opportunities and resources that emphasize entrepreneurial and critical thinking, with a focus on being creative, taking initiative, exchanging knowledge across disciplines, learning from experience, and finding innovative solutions to effect change and build a better future.

Transdisciplinary teaching and learning

Create and enhance teaching and learning built around problems, opportunities, and possibilities, with a focus on building knowledge between, across and beyond traditional disciplines.

WIL, EL, undergraduate research and creative scholarship

Developing, redesigning, or integrating accessible experiential learning (EL), work-integrated learning (WIL), undergraduate research, and creative scholarship opportunities in courses or academic programs that foster reflective processes, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills that prepare students for career success.

Community-engaged teaching and learning

Design and expand experiential teaching and learning opportunities that are timely, relevant, and responsive to the needs and interests of community. Integrate opportunities for students to work alongside industry and community leaders to generate questions, new understanding, and solutions to real-world problems.

Program innovation and renewal

Optimize student learning and student experience through critical evidence-based examination of academic programs and assessment practices, or implementation of an action plan to innovate academic curriculum, to develop and improve future-focused programs.

Graduate student mentorship and learning experiences

Developing or redesigning new graduate learning experiences, and supporting high-quality mentorship.

Online and blended learning

Investigating and integrating technologies and digital learning in online and blended learning modalities to strengthen teaching and learning and enhance the flexibility of programs.

Academic integrity & ethics

Promote and create educational resources in academic integrity and ethics, including ethical and creative use of generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) and authentic assessment approaches in teaching and learning.

Professional learning in higher education

Design, promote, and investigate high-quality professional learning opportunities related to teaching and learning in higher education for academic staff, postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, and teaching assistants, to ensure life-long learning and high-quality academic course and program design and innovation.

Open educational resources

Creating and adapting learning and teaching materials in any format and medium to be shared with students and other educators in the public domain to provide no-cost access to knowledge. 

Learn more about OERs here. Supported by SU Quality Money.


  • Open Educational Resources (OER) are learning, teaching and research materials in any format and medium that reside in the public domain or are under copyright that have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, re-use, re-purpose, adaptation, and redistribution by others (UNESCO).
  • If you have chosen to apply for the TI Grants Area of Focus for the development of an open educational resource (OER), there are additional considerations for adapting or creating an OER. Please review the following considerations and conditions.

Eligibility requirements

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Who can be involved?

The Teaching and Learning Grants program is intended to support effective teaching and learning initiatives proposed by individuals or groups who contribute to the learning experiences of University of Calgary students. Recognizing that everyone at the university makes these contributions, we invite applications that involve academic staff and librarians, archivists, curators, teaching assistants, post-doctoral scholars, student service professionals and administrative staff. In addition, fundable projects may involve a range of contexts and activities, not just those that occur in the classroom.  

There are specific guidelines about who can serve as Principal Grant Holders (PGH). See below for details. 

While collaboration with colleagues from other institutions is valued, grant funds may only be used for expenses incurred by University of Calgary collaborators on a project. 

Who can be a principal grant holder?

Principal grant-holders (PGH) must be continuously employed by the University of Calgary for the duration of the proposed grant. Sessionals, graduate students and others with appointments that don’t continuously span the full duration of the grant may be co-applicants but not PGHs. In addition, Research Services stipulates that only the following may serve as PGHs: 

  • Academic Appointee - any employee of the University holding an academic appointment (continuing, limited term, contingent term or sessional) or a non-employee of the University holding a clinical or adjunct appointment.  
  • Manager, level M1 or above.  
  • For Qatar any employee is eligible, provided sponsor guidelines allow for this provision.
  • Any individual may be the PGH on only one Teaching and Learning Grant project at a time

Current grant holders who will complete their project, including the submission of the required final report and closure of their project account, by the start date of the next grant cycle may apply as a PGH for a new Teaching and Learning Grant. 

A PGH on one grant may participate as a collaborator on one or more concurrent Teaching and Learning Grants.  

If a PGH ends employment with the university, a new PGH may be proposed to the Teaching and Learning Grants program, or it may revert to the fund. 

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Adjudication

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Adjudication committee

This process uses a double-blind approach to adjudication. Applications are evaluated by one of several Adjudication Committees. The committee will consist of members from across faculties, units, and disciplines.

Successful applications may be partially funded or fully funded, depending on the Adjudication Committee's assessment of quality, the appropriateness of the budget items, and the amount of funds available.

For more information, please refer to the Adjudication Committee Terms of Reference

Volunteer to adjudicate

Adjudication for the Teaching and Learning Grants program occurs in early February. The contributions of our adjudicators are essential to the success of the program, and the adjudication processes are strengthened by diverse perspectives from across the university community.

Adjudicators can expect to spend 8 – 10 hours reviewing applications and participating in virtual committee meetings.

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Open Educational Resources (OER)

Open Educational Resources (OER) are learning, teaching and research materials in any format and medium that reside in the public domain or are under copyright that have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, re-use, re-purpose, adaptation, and redistribution by others (UNESCO).

If you have chosen to apply for the TI Grants Area of Focus for the development of an open educational resource (OER), there are additional considerations for adapting or creating an OER. Please review the following considerations and conditions.

  1. Will you be adapting an existing OER, creating a new OER, or developing ancillary/supplemental materials (e.g. question banks, videos, sample exams, etc.)? 
  • Adapting an OER means grant proposals will focus on modifying one or more existing open educational resources. Existing OER may be adapted in a number of ways including updating or localizing content, incorporating interactive components, improving diversity and inclusion, developing ancillary or supplemental materials to add to an existing open textbook, etc. 
  • Ancillary materials, also known as supplemental or supplementary content, are resources that can be used to support additional teaching and learning needs within a course. They can be used in conjunction with an open textbook, but also as separate components of a course. These resources may include question banks, videos, images, simulations, lesson plans, lecture notes and slides, open homework platforms, assessments, workbooks and lab manuals, or interactive content.
  • Creating an OER means grant proposals will focus on developing a new open educational resource that does not exist in their desired form within their discipline. These projects will generally be more involved as the content largely does not already exist in another OER, so this type of OER project will likely take more time and effort.
  1. When you are developing OER, the resource you create can be changed and updated over time as the content within your course and within the field evolves. We recommend developing a sustainability plan for ongoing support for the OER, so that you can continue to benefit from it for years to come.
  2. Have you already conducted a search for open educational resources that relate to your proposed OER project? You can access the OER By Discipline Guide or the Open Course Matching Service for support in getting started with your OER search.
  3. It is expected that OER projects will be shared under a Creative Commons (CC) license. What Creative Commons License are you planning on applying to your OER project?

  Grant Recipients agree to …

  • Ensure that the open educational resource (OER) is available and accessible under a Creative Commons license that allows for the creation and (re)use of derivative works.
  • Obtain written permission from all contributors of the OER project, including students, for the publication of their work under this license and each contributor’s preferred form of attribution.
  • Share their OER openly and have a current version with its source files, in an editable format, deposited in an appropriate open repository for preservation and reuse.

Ensure their OER project will follow the guidelines set out in the BCcampus Open Education Accessibility Toolkit, 2nd edition

If you have not developed an open educational resource project before, we recommend meeting with Libraries and Cultural Resources to discuss your proposal. 

For support and referral to resources for assistance with OER (e.g., Copyright and Repository Services) and your grant application.

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