We're thrilled to share that both of the 2025 Online Teaching Awards recipients are from Arts! Congratulations to Dr. Megan McCarthy and Dr. Michael MacDonald.
The awards recognize instructors who innovate in their pedagogy to create online courses that are engaging, accessible and rigorous.
Learn more about their work:
Excellence in Online Course Design: Dr. Megan McCarthy
Designing an online course that is both flexible and personal is a challenging undertaking. Yet, students who nominated Dr. McCarthy’s ARTS 140-Topic 54 for the 2025 Excellence in Online Course Design award indicated that her course achieved exactly that. The evaluation committee was particularly impressed by how her course design successfully balanced student flexibility with a meaningful instructor presence, facilitated through weekly video announcements and one-on-one consultations with students.
Beyond the human touch of her course design, the committee found several aspects of her pedagogical design noteworthy: McCarthy successfully aligns learning outcomes with content and assessments, integrates diverse modalities, applies universal design principles, and uses scaffolded assessments that remain resilient in the era of GenAI. Dr. McCarthy’s dedication to continuous improvement—seeking peer feedback to refine her craft—truly exemplifies the spirit of this honour.
Excellence in Online Teaching: Dr. Michael MacDonald
While a well-crafted course design provides the essential groundwork for learning, it is the quality of instruction that truly defines the student experience. In recognition of his significant contributions to the student online learning experience. Dr. Michael MacDonald has been named the recipient of the 2025 Excellence in Online Teaching award. As nominations for this honour are submitted exclusively by students and Teaching Assistants, this award serves as a direct reflection of the professional impact he has made in the digital classroom.
Dr. MacDonald’s nomination package demonstrated an instructional approach that is rooted in maintaining regular, respectful communication and a proactive commitment to individual student growth. His practice of providing commentary on weekly reading responses, responding to his students’insights and promoting opportunities for reflective engagement helped to foster a supportive environment that encouraged academic growth. The committee noted how his dedication helped build a "community of scholars," empowering his students to see themselves as researchers and peers who are well-prepared to contribute meaningfully to the field of study.
Originally shared in the Daily Bulletin.