The Spotlight
Building a culture of teaching innovation at SFU
"At SFU, we educate students who will become leaders, engaged citizens and fill critical skills gaps in a wide variety of industries—preparing them both for jobs and for lives of meaning, contribution and resilience."
"Curriculum renewal is critical to ensuring that students receive an education that is relevant, efficient and responsive to industry trends and institutional goals."
Across Simon Fraser University (SFU)’s three campuses, a culture of innovation is expanding the bounds of learning and teaching from both inside and outside the classroom.
From discussing the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI) with a 3D AI model to studying rare artifacts to field research on local beaches, students at SFU receive a world-class, hands-on education, delivered by faculty members who are putting innovative teaching practices into action.
“At SFU, we educate students who will become leaders, engaged citizens and fill critical skills gaps in a wide variety of industries—preparing them both for jobs and for lives of meaning, contribution and resilience,” says Joy Johnson, SFU’s president and vice-chancellor. “Our faculty, staff and partners are committed to this work and to providing an excellent education and environment for students to thrive.”
Now celebrating its 60th anniversary, SFU is recognized as Canada’s leading university for innovation (World University Rankings for Innovation, 2025). That innovation includes research mobilization and engaging in global challenges, but it also means demonstrating how faculty can bring an innovative mindset to their teaching practices and support the holistic student journey.
“I am truly proud of the work that we have done in this area, and especially that our faculty and staff have made it a priority to create an engaging learning environment for students,” says Johnson. “I cannot wait to see how we continue to evolve and demonstrate best learning and teaching practices over the next 60 years.”
Innovative teaching at work
Meet Kia, the AI teaching tool
Students in professor Steve DiPaola’s class were the first in the world to learn about AI in conversation with a 3D AI digital persona named Kia. Developed out of DiPaola’s iViz research lab, Kia engages in real-time discussions, debates the ethics of AI with students and serves to help demystify and critically examine this new and emerging technology.
“I want to ‘anthropomorphize’ AI by bringing in this talking, emotive 3D character because students see so much of this on social media, and I want to expose AI for what it is and what it isn’t,” DiPaola says.
As AI continues to change the way we learn, do business and connect with each other, DiPaola is hopeful that this course will provide students with tools to shape the future of this technology, using it to create positive impact in their communities and the world.
Hands-on learning with ancient artifacts
Meanwhile, in the Department of Archaeology, rare artifacts dating back potentially thousands of years are being incorporated into classroom curriculum.
The artifacts, which were donated to SFU after being found in a thrift shop, are believed to be from the medieval period. This fall, a new archaeology course will see students attempting to identify where and when they originate from—going beyond textbooks to help students practice skills they will use in their future careers.
“This is an incredibly exciting donation and an amazing opportunity for students here at SFU,” says Sabrina Higgins, associate professor in global humanities and archaeology.
“We’re fortunate to have access to cutting-edge research technologies within our department to properly study these objects, so it promises to be a rewarding journey for students.”
Creating a community for learning and teaching excellence
More than 1,000 faculty members teach and work at SFU, many of whom balance research and lab time with teaching, mentorship and supervisory responsibilities. Amidst these demands, responding thoughtfully to evolving student needs, changing learning contexts and new challenges can be difficult—which is why the university’s Centre for Educational Excellence (CEE) was founded. The Centre collaborates with instructors to deliver workshops, create resources and lead change processes in areas such as curriculum and course design, inclusive teaching practices, online learning and technology-enabled learning and teaching.
For example, CEE worked with SFU’s School of Interactive Arts and Technology (SIAT) to undertake a curriculum renewal process that engaged faculty in a collaborative and transparent way. Curriculum renewal is critical to ensuring that students receive an education that is relevant, efficient and responsive to industry trends and institutional goals.
“Curriculum renewal that meaningfully engages faculty is complex but deeply important work,” says CEE director Kanthi Jayasundera. “The process in SIAT created space for reflection, collaboration and shared ownership—strengthening academic community and supporting both students and instructors in teaching and learning.”
Supporting holistic research success
SFU is among Canada's fastest growing research-intensive universities, with sponsored research income reaching $286 million in 2024/25. Graduate students are a critical part of that research ecosystem, and creating an excellent learning and teaching environment for these students means supporting them holistically throughout their university journey.
In 2024, SFU introduced a minimum funding guarantee for all PhD students—one of the highest funding minimums in the country—as well as a university-wide PhD scholarship. For PhD candidate Joan Letting, who moved with her young family from Kenya to pursue a degree at SFU, this support has created a sense of belonging and allowed her to focus on her research in the School of Communication.
“In a city as expensive as Vancouver, financial support at SFU has given me something I had never experienced academically before: breathing room,” she says. “Not luxury – just the stability needed to research heavy subjects like online violence against Black women journalists with clarity and emotional grounding.”
These supports allow students to worry less about their next paycheque and instead invest their time in impactful research. As many graduate students are also teaching assistants, this also creates positive impacts for teaching culture at the university.
A university for the future
As SFU celebrates 60 years of boundary-breaking learning and teaching, both inside and outside the classroom, it’s hard to know what the future will hold—but Johnson remains excited about the journey ahead.
“Our students are graduating into a unique moment in time. We live in a world full of uncertainty, but also great promise and opportunity,” she says. “And the university is navigating that same, ever-changing world. I don’t know what SFU will look like in 60 years, but I do know that we will keep adapting, evolving and providing the best education we can for every single student who comes through our doors.”
See more examples of SFU’s work for real impact: