DMSC Postdoctoral Fellow Receives President’s Fellowship in Research-Enriched Teaching Award

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Christine Fontaine, a postdoctoral fellow in the Christie Lab, has won a University Of Victoria (UVic) President’s Fellowship in Research-Enriched Teaching award. She was selected for the $16,700 award based on her ability to provide “research-enriched” teaching to an existing UVic undergraduate course. Christine will receive the funding partially as a fellowship and partially as remuneration for a teaching position.

“I am so excited to have been chosen for this award and to have the opportunity to teach a course in the DMSC as the primary instructor in January 2020,” Christine says.

“This opportunity is a new award in line with the strategic research plan here at UVic and will give me the opportunity to attend teaching workshops to keep honing my skills as an educator. I will also be able to take what I learn from these workshops to improve my plan for the upcoming course.”

Before teaching her course, Christine will attend an intensive instructional skills workshop offered by the Division of Learning and Teaching Support and Innovation. The workshop and the mandatory follow-up sessions are designed to enhance teaching skills specifically in the area of research-enriched teaching. She will also work with her faculty mentor to develop her curriculum.

For her course to be considered research-enriched, it must illustrate methods and/or results from Christine’s own research in a manner that students can engage with and apply in their own studies. Christine must also use her research knowledge to integrate current research literature and methodologies in the experiential learning aspects of the course, as well as engage the students in active learning strategies where they develop inquiry-based thinking and skills.

Christine will teach MEDS 410 (Functional Human Neuroanatomy). She will add her own areas of research interest, including neurodevelopmental diseases, to the course. This includes her PhD research area of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, how the brain learns and remembers, and the research methods used to study them.