Innovate. Evaluate. Disseminate. It’s a process that might sound familiar to many scientists, and Professor Jennifer Campbell has applied it with resounding impact to the science — and art — of teaching computer science.

The University of Toronto has presented Campbell with the prestigious 2021 President’s Teaching Award, the University’s highest honour for teaching. The award recognizes sustained excellence in teaching and significant contributions in educational leadership.

Jennifer Campbell is Professor, Teaching Stream and Associate Chair, Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Computer Science. She joined U of T in 2003 after completing her BSc at the University of Prince Edward Island and her MMath at the University of Waterloo. She also completed a Certificate in University Teaching while at Waterloo.

Throughout her time at U of T, Campbell has excelled as an innovator in CS education. As universities started to experiment with Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in 2012, Campbell co-developed an introductory programming course that extended U of T's high calibre of CS instruction to hundreds of thousands of students around the world.

The resulting high-quality videos produced for the MOOC enabled Campbell to co-develop a new, “flipped” approach to CSC108, the Department’s introductory programming course. Using those videos, lecture material could be presented outside the classroom, and in-class time could be focused on active learning, with just-in-time guidance from instructors and TAs.

While CSC108 was the Department’s first flipped course, it certainly was not the last, as positive student feedback led to the development of more active learning throughout the curriculum. These moves were backed by evidence from Campbell’s own research that demonstrated significant improvements in learning outcomes.

With colleagues, Campbell has secured over $250,000 in teaching-related grant funding to support a variety of pedagogical initiatives, including developing teaching materials, designing new curricula, and conducting research studies to evaluate the outcomes of novel approaches.

Beyond her own classroom, Campbell co-founded the Second-year Learning Community (SLC) program, which provides a sense of community and professional development opportunities to second-year students. The program’s success with CS students has led to its expansion to twelve other departments.

Campbell has dedicated herself to mentoring fellow educators, both within and outside of U of T.

Within the Faculty of Arts and Science, Campbell has been a leader in the transition to online teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has served as an Online Learning Academy (OLA) Fellow and actively engaged in outreach with instructors throughout the Faculty.

Campbell has authored over twenty publications on computer science education and has served many times as a program committee member for the Special Interest Group in Computer Science Education Technical Symposium (SIGCSE TS) and the conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE).

Students have praised the learning environment that Campbell fosters as an instructor, describing her as empathetic, approachable, and “invested in my success.”

“Jen is a superlative teacher and inspiring educational leader whose impact has been felt by hundreds of thousands of students around the globe, as well as colleagues in our department, across U of T, and internationally. We are proud to celebrate this well-deserved recognition,” said Professor and Chair Marsha Chechik.

With files from the Division of the Vice-President & Provost.