Educational Development Associates General Email: TA&GradCTL@queensu.ca
The EDA program is an internship-like opportunity for graduate students with an interest in teaching and learning. Each year the Centre hires up to three graduate students to work closely with an Educational Developer to design and deliver programming to support TAs', graduate students' and post-doctoral fellows' ongoing professional development as educators. If you're interested in the possibility of work as an EDA, look for announcements each May for upcoming opportunities.
Contact the current EDAs at TA&GradCTL@queensu.ca if you would like any additional information about CTL programming for graduate students.
What Kind of Support do EDAs Provide?
The EDA team can support graduate students, Teaching Assistants and Teaching Fellows in the following ways:
- Individual or group consultations about syllabus design, teaching dossiers, instructional strategies
- Classroom teaching observations (both virtual and in-person)
- Discuss ideas and strategies for active learning in your lectures, tutorials, or labs
Clarissa De Leon
Faculty of Education
Lead Educational Development Associate
Contact Information:
Email: TA&GradCTL@queensu.ca
Background
Pronouns: she/her
Clarissa is a PhD student at the Faculty of Education. Her research focus is anti-racist education in university teaching and learning. Specifically, she is exploring the experiences of BIPoC graduate students to better understand the institutional supports they need to do anti-racist education work.
In addition to her PhD research, Clarissa is an anti-racist educator who works with elementary and secondary teachers to help them grow their anti-racist teaching practices. She is also committed to doing anti-oppressive work in Katarowki/Kingston, specifically she is a part of the leadership team for Roots and Wings which is a program that educates, empowers, and engages BIPoC youth in social justice topics.
Prior to pursuing graduate studies, Clarissa was a middle school teacher. She has since focused on developing as a post-secondary educator. As the lead Educational Development Associate, Clarissa is excited to bring her experiences and insights from her teaching and research to the CTL.
Monica L. Garvie
Department of Biology
Educational Development Associate
Contact Information:
Email: TA&GradCTL@queensu.ca
Background
Monica is an Indigenous PhD candidate in the Biology Department, specializing in paleolimnology. As a first-generation degree holding woman from Treaty 9 territory with an Undergraduate focus in Northern Studies and a Certificate in Indigenous Learning, Monica is both experienced and knowledgeable in navigating the demands of western pedagogy while maintaining Anishinaabe mino-bimaadiziwin, pedagogy, and epistemology.
She is passionate about asserting the Indigenous epistemological presence and Indigenizing the western academic space, beginning with the way the academy approaches teaching and learning. Monica has extensive teaching experience through a wide range of formal teaching assistant positions as well as informal peer and undergraduate mentorship over the last four years.
In addition to her PhD work, Monica is also involved with several Queen’s organizations focused on Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Indigenization including the BGSC, SGPS, and PSAC to name a few. As an Education Development Associate with the CTL, Monica is motivated to not only bring her unique experience and knowledge to the Queen’s teaching community but to also deepen her own understanding and relationship with various pedagogies and experiences.
Indrani Karmakar
Smith School of Business
Educational Development Associate
Contact Information:
Email: TA&GradCTL@queensu.ca
Background
Pronouns: she/her
Indrani is a Ph.D. student at the Smith School of Business. For her doctorate, she is exploring interventions that can prevent and reduce excessive use of technology in individuals and help them to lead a more technologically balanced lifestyle.
Prior to pursuing her doctorate, Indrani worked in the oil and gas and IT industries for a while. She has worked globally and has been exposed to many different cultures throughout her career. As a result, she has gained knowledge about working in diverse teams and respects individuals from different backgrounds and experiences.
Indrani has experience working as a teaching and research assistant for several courses, as well as experience instructing undergraduate courses as part of her Ph.D. work. She is passionate about teaching and bringing her industry experience to her classroom. She is driven to contribute her unique knowledge and experience to CTL as an Education Development Associate and enhance her abilities as an instructor by learning about different pedagogies and pursuing different opportunities.
Nishana Ramsawak
Department of Civil Engineering
Educational Development Associate
Contact Information:
Email: TA&GradCTL@queensu.ca
Background
Pronouns: she/her
Nishana is a PhD candidate in the department of Civil Engineering at Queen’s University, focusing on “Factors of Water Quality Degradation in Drinking Water Distribution Systems.”
Before joining Queen’s, she was employed as a Quality Control Supervisor at the Water and Sewerage Authority of Trinidad and Tobago, an Instructor of Mathematics for Scientists at the St Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies, and a Water Specialist Research Consultant with the Caribbean Policy Development Centre in Barbados.
Nishana is involved in several charitable organisations in Trinidad and Tobago, and has a scholarship in her name at her Alma Mater in Trinidad, where she advocates for education in children. Since moving to Kingston, she has been part of the Black Youth in STEM program, where she provides a safe space for Black, Indigenous, People of Colour (BIPOC) to learn and explore STEM in a fun, interactive, and enthusiastic way, while developing critical thinking and skill enhancement while learning.
During the pandemic when the borders in Trinidad and Tobago were closed and she could not go home for the Christmas of 2020, she used the money for the ticket home and started the Christmas charity drive “Helping Handbags Kingston Initiative.” She provided feminine products to women in vulnerable homes, and thanks to the overwhelming support from the Kingston community, this is now an annual charity drive.
Nishana is also a Graduate Inclusivity Fellow, where she works with a diverse team to promote Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) at Queen’s University. Previously, she worked with the Engineering Teaching and Learning Team (2021-2022), where her interest in pedagogy, course design and development led her to the Centre for Teaching and Learning.