Capilano University announces new director, Teaching and Learning
Capilano University welcomed Brit Paris, PhD, (she/her) to the role of director, Teaching and Learning on January 3, 2023 following a national search.
Paris has a background as an educator and educational developer and is award-winning scholar. She has worked as an education developer in the university’s Center for Teaching Excellence, supporting faculty pedagogical development since fall 2020. That same year, Paris received the Killam Laureate Award for her doctoral research on teaching and learning.
Paris brings a decade of experience in a variety of leadership roles in Canada and overseas. She has held roles of department head and curriculum lead at a comprehensive secondary school in the UK and president of the University of Calgary graduate students' association, and has served on numerous boards and committees, including during her previous role at CapU. Paris is also an associate editor of the Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and Papers on Post Secondary Learning and Teaching, has authored several peer-reviewed articles, and presented at national and international conferences.
She has led teaching and learning initiatives such as department-wide curriculum re-design and developed workshops for graduate student teachers and experienced instructors alike. At CapU, she led the development of the university's Certificate in University Learning and Teaching and secured Creative Activity Research and Scholarly Activity funding and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grant for a research project on how feedback practices have changed in light of the COVID-19 remote teaching.
Paris holds a PhD from the University of Calgary (UCalgary) in educational research-learning sciences (funded by both SSHRC and Killam doctoral awards) and a SSHRC-funded Master of Arts, Education Research—Languages and Diversity, also from UCalgary. Additionally, she holds a Bachelor of Education (Secondary Education) from the University of Alberta, a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) in Linguistics and a Bachelor or Arts in German and Linguistics from UCalgary. Her research focuses on effective feedback practices to enhance student learning across disciplines and she has co-authored articles on various topics in the scholarship of teaching and learning.
As an experienced educator, educational developer and academic leader, her strong commitment to teaching and learning through collaboration will continue to advance the important contributions and impacts of the Centre for Teaching Excellence, and more broadly leadership for excellence in teaching and learning at the University.
Sincerely,
Laureen Styles, EdD
VP, Academic & Provost
Submitted by: Communications