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About Us

Clayton Smith, Ed.D.

Dr. Clayton SmithDr. Clayton Smith is an Associate Professor at the University of Windsor in the Faculty of Education. He has spent 30-years engaged in higher education administration at four post-secondary education institutions across Canada and the U.S. before returning to teaching in 2017. Most recently, he completed two terms as vice-provost and dean of students at the University of Windsor where he oversaw a far-reaching portfolio that included enrolment management, student affairs, and internationalization. He currently teaches M.Ed. International Cohort students and conducts research to bring the student voice to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, with a particular focus on student perspectives on the promising practices for teaching culturally and linguistically diverse international students. Dr. Smith is a member (PI) of our Teaching International Students Research Group and leads our related International Student Learning Community. Dr. Smith served as the Project Director for the research symposium. In that capacity, he worked closely with the research team, the student conference coordinator, the International Student Learning Community, and project collaborators on the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the research symposium. 

George Zhou, Ph.D.

Dr. George ZhouDr. George Zhou is a Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of  Windsor where he works with chemistry and physics teacher candidates to help them learn to appreciate science through a process of argumentation. His research focuses on science education and educational technology. Given the significance of the culture factor for education, he has expanded his research into international and comparative education. Using a post-colonial theoretical framework, he examines the goal of science education, the ways of teaching science to English Language Learners, and the preparation of teacher candidates for cultural diversity. Dr. Zhou is a member of our Teaching International Students Research Group and our related International Student Learning Community. Dr. Zhou provides advice to the planning committee on the unique needs of Chinese-origin international students and served as symposium Associate Director.

Erika Kustra, Ph.D.

Erika KustraErika Kustra is the Director of the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Windsor.  She is Past-Chair of the Educational Developers Caucus (EDC) and has been an educational developer for over 20 years, facilitating over 200 workshops nationally and internationally.  Erika has research interests and publications on scholarly teaching, assessment of centres, learning outcomes, educational leadership, educational development portfolios, conference design, Students as Partners, and curriculum. She is leading a multi-institutional project to examine teaching culture. Erika received awards for team teaching and leadership. 

 

Michael Potter

Michael PotterMichael K. Potter is a Teaching and Learning Specialist in the University of Windsor’s Centre for Teaching and Learning.  He has served as co-creator and coordinator of the University Teaching Certificate (UTC) Program (2009-2017), creator of GATAcademy, co-creator of the GA/TA awards program, Chair of the Council of Ontario Educational Developers, Secretary and Vice-President of the Bertrand Russell Society. Michael's teaching experience spans disciplines and age levels, from high school students to professors nearing retirement, always with an eye toward grounding his approach in interdisciplinary scholarship. Although his own scholarly endeavours now focus on storytelling and the use of nihilist, existentialist and pragmatist philosophy in university teaching, he has published a variety of academic and popular works, and is the author of Bertrand Russell’s Ethics (2006), co-author of Leading Effective Discussions (2008) and Learning Outcomes Assessment: A Practitioner’s Handbook (2015), and co-editor of a special issue of the Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning focused on the role of the arts and humanities in SoTL (2015).  Michael is a member of our Teaching International Students Research Group and provided advice to the Research Symposium Planning Committee on SoTL topics.

Bonnie Stewart 

Bonnie StewartBonnie Stewart is an educator and social media researcher interested in what digital networks mean for institutions and society. Assistant Professor of Online Pedagogy and Workplace Learning in the University of Windsor’s Faculty of Education, Bonnie was an early MOOC researcher and ethnographer of Twitter. Bonnie's current research interests include the data literacies of educators, and what it means to know, to learn, and to be a citizen in our current information ecosystem.  Bonnie was a project collaborator and provided advice to the Research Symposium Planning Committee on digital pedagogy topics.

 

Fatme Ammar

Fatme AmmarFatme Ammar is a third-year University of Windsor Outstanding Scholar and nursing student, and a member of our Teaching International Students Research Group. She has worked on a related project on "Connecting Best Practices for Teaching Linguistically and Culturally Diverse International Students with International Student Satisfaction and Student Perceptions of Learning", which has resulted in the publication of two book chapters, one peer-reviewed journal article, and one peer-reviewed research poster. She has been instrumental in establishing baseline research and preparing the way for enhancement of our research on international student perspectives on best practices for teaching post-secondary international students in open and online learning. Ms. Ammar served as the Research Symposium Student Conference Coordinator. 

Rija Gillan

Rija GillanRija Gillan is a fourth-year University of Windsor Outstanding Scholar and business student with a specialization in marketing and a minor in economics. This is her first semester working with the Teaching International Students Research Group.

 

 

Alayna Tieu 

Alayna TieuAlayna Tieu is a third-year University of Windsor Outstanding Scholar and physics and computer science major with a minor in math. This is her first semester working with the Teaching International Students Research Group.

 

 

Aliyah King

Aliyah KingAliyah King is a second-year University of Windsor Outstanding Scholar and behaviour, cognition, and neuroscience major. This is her first semester working with the Teaching International Students Research Group.

 

 

Gabriela Danko

Gabriela DankoGabriela Danko is a third-year student of German studies at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. She is currently participating in the Mitacs Globalink Research Internship program and is working on the "Connecting Best Practices for Teaching Linguistically and Culturally-Diverse International Students with International Student Satisfaction and Student Perceptions of Learning" project at the University of Windsor. Ms. Danko is also a member of the Teaching International Students Research Group as a part of her internship.