Explore the current teaching and learning projects being supported by Waterloo's Teaching Innovation Incubator. Select a project title to view the team, timeline, resources, and ways to get involved.
Accessible Education
This project is working to position accessible education as a road to better teaching and learning for everyone at Waterloo, not merely a regulatory approval matter. Recognizing that the disability community contributes to our diversity and re-imagining our teaching and learning approaches is required to fully include all identities, this project is working to create a truly accessible learning environment at the University of Waterloo.
Adapting Student-Led Individually Created Courses (SLICCs) to Encourage Self-Directed Learning
This project is working to make SLICCs a recognized, legitimate form of course delivery in faculties across campus. Its goals are to determine if SLICCs promote more student engagement and accountability for learning, and position SLICCs as a vehicle for interdisciplinary collaboration and learning.
AI Meets EDI: Virtual Simulations for Culturally Safe Indigenous Healthcare
This project will develop a virtual training module to equip healthcare learners with the skills and knowledge needed to deliver culturally competent care to Indigenous patients. Using generative AI and immersive virtual simulations, the module integrates expertise from Indigenous content creators, the Office of Indigenous Relations, and AI technology developed in partnership with Ametros Learning.
Data, Society, and Planetary Futures: A Cross-Faculty Tech Lab for Environmental Sensor Governance and Cyber-Physical Security
This project will pilot an interdisciplinary academic program and Human-Technology Lab that brings together AI, cybersecurity, and environmental governance to equip students with the technical, analytical, and ethical skills needed to understand and respond to the risks and societal impacts of environmental sensor networks, while establishing a scalable model for cross-faculty, AI-integrated teaching at the University of Waterloo.
Digital-Twin Teaching Platform for Mass-Customized Learning at Waterloo
This project pilots a Digital-Twin Teaching Platform that reimagines large-scale instruction to deliver real-time, personalized learning grounded in Waterloo-owned materials—reducing repetitive instructional work, improving student access to timely and judgment-free support, and advancing more sustainable, equitable, and human-centred teaching at the University of Waterloo.
Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Designed and Led "Wicked Problems" Course
This project brings together teams of PhD candidates to design, develop and offer a course related to contemporary “wicked problems” that catalyzes each PhD candidate’s research and disciplinary expertise while also offering them a meaningful teaching experience. This project will expose undergraduate students to (student) research and researchers, potentially motivating future graduate studies. Learnings from this work will also ideally lead to the development of a process and pathway for interdisciplinary course development.
Learning by Teaching a Large Language Model
This project will develop and evaluate a large language model (LLM) companion that students will use to enhance their learning experience. Unlike most AI systems that engage in some form of tutoring or question answering, we will flip the roles. The LLM agent will act as an ignorant virtual student, and the human student will be responsible for teaching concepts to the LLM companion.
Leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI)-insights and CEE-Faculty partnerships to evolve Work-Integrated Learning at the University of Waterloo
This project will explore how CEE can leverage AI-insights and create new faculty partnerships to strengthen and evolve Work-Integrated Learning at Waterloo. It focuses on 1Mentor, an AI platform that analyzes job market data to provide personalized career guidance and real-time insights to institutions.
The Family Simulation Training (FaST) Project for Health Service and Performance Students
This project will expand the Family Simulation Training (FaST) program as a distinctive, interdisciplinary teaching innovation that uses live simulated family therapy sessions to provide psychology, health-service, and theatre students with realistic, experiential learning—strengthening professional skill development, deepening cross-faculty collaboration, and positioning the University of Waterloo as a national leader in simulation-based education in health sciences and performance.
