Investing in student success through teaching innovation

The University of Manitoba is investing in innovative approaches to teaching and learning through the 2026 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Support Fund. Ten projects have been awarded funding, spanning education, health sciences, engineering, science, music, art and kinesiology.

Administered by the Office of the Provost and Vice-President (Academic), the SoTL Support Fund enables UM educators to investigate how teaching practices influence student learning and success.

This year, the fund awarded one Major Project grant and nine Seed Project grants, which support innovative, time-limited teaching and learning research ideas. Together, the recipients are generating knowledge that can enhance educational experiences across various disciplines.

Major Project

Funding up to $25,000 in support of a larger-scale interdisciplinary SoTL research project

Enhancing point-of-care ultrasound education for medical students

Project Lead: Dr. Terry Li, Max Rady College of Medicine

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is an increasingly important clinical tool that enables physicians to capture real-time images at the bedside, supporting faster and more informed clinical decision-making. The Rady Faculty of Health Sciences recently expanded access to the technology by purchasing 80 handheld ultrasound probes for student use.

Learn more about the innovative new technology in this UM Today story.

Despite POCUS' growing importance in patient care, integrating it into undergraduate medical education has been challenging due to limited access to equipment, instructional time and trained instructors. With support from the SoTL Support Fund, Li will lead a project to strengthen POCUS training for undergraduate medical students and help integrate the technology more effectively into the curriculum.

For Li, the funding has been critical not only in supporting the research itself, but also in strengthening the project's design and interdisciplinary approach. “Educational research can be costly, especially with a heavy involvement of technology and research personnel,” says Li. “At the same time, funding for this type of research is sparse and inadequate at the provincial and national levels. The UM SoTL Support Fund not only funds my equipment acquisition and personnel hiring, it also encouraged me to engage and collaborate with researchers outside my faculty."

The SoTL project application included probing questions and involved consultation with SoTL developers, which made me critically think about gaps in POCUS teaching and strategically design a study to address these gaps.

Terry Li

Dr. Terry Li views ultrasound images on monitor.

The project will focus on three areas: developing evidence-based learning resources, creating a standardized assessment tool and identifying effective teaching approaches.

Using eye-tracking technology, Li’s team will study how POCUS experts perform ultrasound examinations and apply those insights to the development of instructional materials for medical students. The researchers will also create an objective structured clinical examination to assess student competency using the new probes. In addition, the team will conduct a randomized study comparing the newly developed self-guided learning materials with traditional instructor-led instruction.

Terry Li wears glasses with eye-tracking software.

Dr. Terry Li wears eye-tracking glasses that will help inform effective student training in point-of-care ultrasound.

The videos and learning strategies developed through this study will help medical students build foundational POCUS skills early and advance their learning more efficiently as they progress through their training.

Terry Li

Together, Li said this research will provide evidence to guide the integration of POCUS into the UM’s medical curriculum, helping students build confidence and competency in using the new ultrasound technology. The findings will also contribute to advancing POCUS education and supporting best practices in medical training beyond UM.

Seed Projects

Funding up to $6,000 in support of a SoTL research project

Project 1:

Project lead: Daniela Sens Nunes, Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry
Bridging disciplines, building competence: Evaluating an integrated orthodontic-pediatric clinic to enhance clinical learning in undergraduate dental education

Project 2:

Project lead: Xiaoxiao Du, Faculty of Education
Engaging education students with multimodal assignments to support understanding of Manitoba's Framework of Learning

Project 3:

Project lead: Stephanie Hladik, Price Faculty of Engineering
Mapping undergraduate Engineering students' conceptualizations of ethics and equity

Project 4:

Project lead: Trisha Scribbans, Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management
Navigating the "pedagogical shock": Investigating student experiences of the transition from recall-based learning to clinical reasoning in Kinesiology

Project 5:

Project lead: Alison Bulow, Max Rady College of Medicine
Investigating team-based learning in Gross Anatomy: Implications for student knowledge acquisition, perceptions and communication skills

Project 6:

Project lead: Jacquie Dawson, Desautels Faculty of Music
Inside the rehearsal: Side-by-side performance as professional learning for music students

Project 7:

Project leads: M. E. Sparks, School of Art, and Victoria Sparks, Desautels Faculty of Music
Sound meets canvas: Interdisciplinary performance and creative risk in arts education

Project 8:

Project leads: Barbara Tallman and Asuka Qiao, College of Nursing
Strengthening dementia-care preparation in early nursing education through gentle persuasive approaches

Project 9:

Project lead: Cole Robson-Hyska, Faculty of Science
The impact of discipline-specific language on student performance and perceived difficulty in undergraduate anatomy and physiology assessments

Together, these projects demonstrate how questions arising in classrooms, clinics, laboratories and creative spaces can lead to research-informed improvements in teaching and learning. By supporting faculty members and instructors as they investigate effective educational practices, the SoTL Support Fund helps foster a culture of continuous improvement and innovation that benefits students, educators and the broader academic community.

Boilerplate: Empowering Learners

At UM, we encourage life-long curiosity while providing tools – inside and outside the classroom – to succeed in a rapidly changing world. Empowering learners is one of the strategic themes you’ll find in MomentUM: Leading change together, the University of Manitoba’s 2024–2029 strategic plan.