2025 Learning and Teaching Conference

Illuminating Journeys: Navigating Pathways in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Guest Speakers

Assistant Professor Melanie Hamilton
Director, The Jane and Ron Gramham Centre for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Associate Faculty member of the College of Graduate and Post-Graduate Studies at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada

Dr. Melanie Hamilton is the Director of the Jane and Ron Gramham Centre for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and an Assistant Professor in Curriculum Studies at the University of Saskatchewan. She is a Registered Nurse (RN) by disciplinary background and spent over 20 years teaching in Bachelor of Nursing programs in Alberta. Dr. Hamilton has an expertise on curriculum development, revision, and renewal.  Currently, Dr. Hamilton serves at the Director of the SoTL Centre, where she oversees graduate programming (Grad certificate, MSOTL, and PhD in Education-SoTL focus). Her teaching focuses on the history of SoTL, the SoTL research processes, and research lenses (epistemologies and ontologies]. She works closely with students and faculty to develop and engage in SoTL research. She also studies mid-career faculty, to explore the experiences of MCF, retention strategies, professional development, and tenure and promotion.

Dr. Hamilton is actively engaged in SoTL research at the national and international levels. She has been an invited keynote speaker and presenter on numerous SoTL topics internationally. Dr. Hamilton holds significant leadership roles including the current Past-President for the International Society of Teaching and Learning (ISSoTL) and Past-Chair of SoTL Canada and the membership on the Board of Directors for the Society of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE). Her commitment to teaching and leadership has earned her both institutional and provincial awards. In 2020, she was honored with an ISSOTL Fellowship for her outstanding work in supporting, developing, and engaging in SoTL initiatives at the international level.

Professor Denise Stockley
Scholar in Higher Education, Queen’s University, Canada

Dr. Denise Stockley is an Educational Psychologist and Professor and Scholar in Higher Education at Queen’s University. Her work advances the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) through research, leadership, and educational innovation. A past president of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE), she has played a key role in shaping national and international conversations about how educators create and sustain scholarly approaches to teaching.

Her research explores how SoTL cultures develop within and across institutions, with a focus on faculty engagement, leadership, curriculum renewal, and research ethics education. She examines how ethical inquiry and scholarly practice intersect to support integrity and reflection in teaching and learning.

At Queen’s University, Dr. Stockley leads initiatives that connect SoTL with program design, faculty development, and policy innovation. Her work also extends to health professions education, where she integrates SoTL principles with competency-based education, interprofessional learning, and universal design for learning.

Event Chair: Dr Justin Bilszta
Senior Lecturer in Medical Education. Dept of Medical Education, The University of Melbourne 

Justin is the Director of Postgraduate and Custom Programs in the Department of Medical Education and Co-Chair of the Melbourne Medical School’s Graduate Education Committee. For over 20 years, Justin has been involved in the design, delivery and co-ordination of a range of academic programs including within the Doctor of Medicine (MD), Masters of Clinical Education, Masters of Clinical Research and Bachelor of Medical Science (Hons). Prior to joining the Dept of Medical Education, he spent 10 years as a Research Fellow with the Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne.