Across UBC Vancouver, teaching innovation is happening at scale. In recent years, projects supported through the Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund (TLEF) have reached tens of thousands of students across hundreds of courses, while providing opportunities for students to work directly with project teams. Through new technologies, redesigned learning activities, and more inclusive teaching practices, these initiatives are shaping how students engage with course material and their peers in classrooms across the university.
In the 2026/27 funding round, $2.4 million has been awarded to support 60 new and returning projects that are advancing innovation in teaching and learning at UBC. These include 18 Large TLEF Transformation projects and 42 Small TLEF Innovation projects designed to pilot new approaches in individual courses or learning environments.
The scale of this work is significant. Projects funded this year will engage a significant number of faculty, staff and students on the project teams. These projects will also create opportunities for students to contribute directly to teaching innovation. More than 210 UBC students will be employed through TLEF projects to help support the development, implementation and evaluation of initiatives designed to enhance teaching and learning.
The work behind these projects is highly collaborative. The TLEF actively engages faculty alongside staff and students who work together on project teams. By bringing together different forms of expertise – from teaching practice and educational research to technical development and student perspectives – these teams are able to test new ideas and evaluate how they support student learning in real classroom settings. This collaborative approach helps ensure that innovations are grounded in both pedagogical research and the lived experiences of students.
The impact of these projects extends well beyond the teams who lead them. In the 2025/26 funding cycle, TLEF-supported initiatives reached 32,994 student enrolments across undergraduate and graduate courses at the UBC Vancouver campus. In total, 16,832 unique students were impacted through 215 courses offered across 462 course sections in 11 Faculties.
While the projects themselves span a wide range of disciplines – from Applied Science and Arts to Forestry, Medicine and Science – their impact is felt in classrooms across the university. Regardless of the Faculty or program, these initiatives aim to create learning environments that are more engaging, accessible, and responsive to students’ needs.
As the funded project teams begin their work, they will explore new ideas and approaches designed to address evolving challenges in teaching and learning. In doing so, they will continue to strengthen collaboration between faculty, staff and students across the university, working toward a shared goal: enhancing the student learning experience at UBC.