Waterloo ExL

The purpose of Waterloo ExL is to support the expansion of experiential learning (EL) at UWaterloo.

Waterloo ExL will provide the resources for instructors who want to integrate, or enhance their integration of experiential learning within their courses and assist their peers to build sustainable capacity for experiential learning across campus. The program is led by four Experiential Learning Leads and supplemented by an Experiential Learning Committee.

Past Waterloo ExL events:

Learn more about Waterloo ExL and the Communities of Practice:

Waterloo ExL

Kelly Anthony

Lecturer, School of Public Health and Health Systems

Kelly Anthony
Kelly Anthony is a Continuing Lecturer at the School of Public Health and Health Systems in Applied Health Sciences. Her courses are often social justice focused and involve experiential learning; students learn in the context of the world outside of the class and with actual health issues and challenges. Other teaching interests include death and dying, health program planning and evaluation, and critical perspectives regarding health care delivery and health care systems themselves.

Kelly is leading a Community of Practice on Learning for Good focusing on how to connect students and community in a where both benefit, with participation from community partners.

Joel Blit

Assistant Professor, Department of Economics

Joel Blit
Joels main research interests are in the economics of innovation and economic geography. He studies the role that multi-location firms play in promoting the flow of knowledge across geographical space, the effect that intellectual property rights (patents) have on innovation, and whether skilled immigration can be leveraged to foster innovation. His most recent research focuses on AI and economics.

Joel is leading a Community of Practice on Games and Simulations in the Classroom

Jennifer Lynes

Associate Professor and Director, Environment and Business Program

Jennifer Lynes
Dr. Jennifer Lynes is associate professor and director of the University of Waterloos environment and business program. She is Chair of the non-profit organization Residential Energy Efficiency Program (REEP Green Solutions) and co-founder of the North American Sustainable Concerts Working Group.

With an educational background in both marketing and environmental studies, her expertise intersects business and the environment, where she focuses on investigating the marketing of sustainability.

Jennifer is leading a Community of Practice with Wayne on developing opportunities for students to create and innovate through interdisciplinary projects and experiences.

Wayne Chang

Lecturer, Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business

Wayne Chang
Wayne is a Lecturer at the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business, in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo, working with undergraduate student entrepreneurs through the Enterprise Co-op program and teaching course on Venture Creation.

He supports the start-up ecosystem of student programs and organizations on campus and in the Waterloo Region by actively encouraging networking processes, guest speaking, and identifying new opportunities with start-ups. In his 5 years at the university, he has taught and advised/mentored over 500 student-run start-ups and teams.

Wayne is leading a Community of Practice with Jennifer on developing opportunities for students to create and innovate through interdisciplinary projects and experiences.


 


EL Committee

Corey Johnson

Professor, Recreation and Leisure Studies

Corey Johnson
Coreys theorizing and qualitative inquiry focuses its attention on the power relations between dominant (white, male, heterosexual, etc.) and non-dominant populations in the cultural contexts of leisure. This examination provides important insight into both the privileging and discriminatory practices that occur in contemporary leisure settings. He also sees his research as complimentary to both classroom instruction and professional service, and he uses advocacy, activism, civic-engagement, service-learning and community partnerships to create unique learning opportunities for individuals and institutions. This synergy is particularly relevant as it increases the quality, level, and number of services offered in a given community.

Carrie Mitchell

Assistant Professor, School of Planning

Carrie Mitchell
Carrie explores her passion for urban planning and international development through her research and teaching. She spent over five years as a Senior Program Officer for International Development Research Centre (IDRC) managing two global programs - urban poverty environment and climate change water - funding and managing applied research led by developing country institutions. Now as a professor in the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo, her goal as a teacher is to encourage a sense of curiosity in, and engagement with, urban planning by incorporating real world examples and experiential learning into her classes.

Mariam Mufti

Assistant Professor, Political Science

Mariam Mufti
Dr. Mariam Mufti is a comparative political scientist by training. She teaches courses on domestic and international politics of South Asia, the politics of developing countries, and politics of authoritarianism and transitions to democracy. Since the beginning of her appointment in Political Science in 2014, she has sat on the Undergraduate Committee and served as the Experiential Learning Coordinator, a special position that was created by the Department in 2015 to spearhead the creation, maintenance and promotion of the experiential learning curriculum in Political Science. The goal of the program is to equip students with the knowledge, skills and values they need to engage in critical thinking and analysis of the social and political world, as well as to be good citizens.

Colleen McMillan and Alice Schmidt

Associate Professors, School of Social Work

Colleen
Alice

Colleen and Alice have extensive experience in university curriculum development and teaching , along with workplace practice. This collaborative approach has led them to create innovative courses that combine traditional lectures with interactive online resources, experiential learning and small group tutorials. They are actively involved in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) to assess, evaluate, and enhance their teaching methodologies which has positively influenced student retention, progression and success in the School of Social Work at Renison University College.

Learn more about the Building Faculty Capacity Initiative