Learning

By promoting excellence at every level, we shall help our students to become leaders in their chosen fields, achieve their personal and career goals, and contribute effec tively to the well-being of society. The key is to provide UBC students with the best possible educational experience, founded on the principles outlined in our vision and mission statements. Our students will develop an understanding of their responsibilities as members of a global society, including the need to respect the natural environment and live in harmony with their fellow human beings. They will learn to push boundaries and take risks in search of new knowledge and unconventional ideas. They will acquire strong analytical and communication skills, and continue to develop their ideas beyond graduation through life-long learning.

GoalS and Strategies

Foster a sense of social awareness and global responsibility.

• Through the Faculty-directed creation of new courses, the augmentation of existing courses, modified promotion/graduation requirements, and expanded co-curricular opportunities, ensure that all students develop a greater awareness of their responsibilities as global citizens and of the issues surrounding social, environmental, and economic sustainability.

• Support faculty efforts to integrate global perspectives into curricular planning and teaching practice.

• Encourage students to learn more about Aboriginal issues and perspectives through courses in First Nations culture and history.

• Increase opportunities for student participation in international projects and study abroad programs.

• Encourage students to become involved in community service learning experiences.

Ensure that all academic programs meet the highest standards of excellence.

• Ensure that in each year of their studies all students are exposed in lab or classroom to senior faculty members and researchers in their preferred discipline.

• Renew our commitment to help students in all disciplines develop good analytic and communication skills.

• Recognize interdisciplinarity as an an important principle in academic planning for undergraduate and graduate programs.

• Explore new avenues in professional and interprofessional education.

• Create new programs for both full-time and part-time students that address the life-long learning needs of citizens in a knowledge-based society.

• Continue improvements to all aspects of the learning environment, including upgrades to laboratories and classrooms, and re-examine the configuration of instructional space in the context of changing expectations about teaching and learning.

Review the methods by which instruction is delivered, including scheduling of courses and the structure of undergraduate programs.

• Encourage Faculties to continue developing innovative approaches that expose undergraduates to research-based and experiential learning, including co-operative education and problem-based learning.

• Make the big small wherever appropriate: provide individualized services and experiences to students within Faculty-based or program-based communities.

• Examine the issue of class sizes, with a view to enhancing students’ engagement in their learning.

• Continually strive to improve the digital environment at all UBC sites.

• Enhance service and support for distance learners.

• In partnership with the teaching hospitals and health authorities, establish clinical educational opportunities in the health professions to accommodate increasing numbers of students.

Support innovations and improvements in teaching.

• Institute regular Faculty-based reviews of learning methodologies and learning outcomes in all disciplines to ensure maintenance of the highest standards.

• Develop programs to assist new faculty and graduate students in all disciplines to develop strong instructional skills.

• Support innovative teaching and create new learning experiences through the application of leading-edge technology.