The Queen’s Institute for Educational Scholarship and Research (QIESR) is being launched to strengthen and connect educational scholarship across the university and its broader community. Bringing together participation from across faculties, departments, and support units, the institute will help scholars study teaching using evidence. It will make this work more research-driven, better resourced, and more visible, while aligning it with institutional priorities and strengthening a culture that values and supports it. The goal is to expand opportunities for learning, enhance the student experience, and support new approaches to teaching.

“At its core, QIESR reflects a shift in how we think about teaching and learning,” says Denise Stockley, Director of QIESR and Professor and Scholar in Higher Education with the Office of the Provost (Teaching and Learning). “It recognizes this work not just as practice, but as scholarship that can shape curriculum, connect disciplines, and contribute to conversations within and beyond the university.”

The institute will offer guidance, training, and opportunities for scholars to do this work. They will be able to develop research projects, connect with collaborators, and contribute to new and existing initiatives. QIESR will also support collaboration through its Nexus program, where instructors can form research groups around shared questions in teaching and learning, and work together over time to produce research and other outputs.  

QIESR Director Denise Stockley speaking at the institute's launch event on April 30, 2026.

“Queen's has always had faculty doing serious scholarly work on teaching and learning, but these efforts have often happened without the institutional support they deserve,” says Gavan Watson, Vice-Provost (Teaching and Learning). “QIESR changes that. It creates the infrastructure for this research to be taken seriously as an institutional priority, not just individual effort.”

QIESR will be distinct from existing teaching resources at Queen’s. While the Centre for Teaching and Learning supports teaching practice within the university, QIESR will focus on research, connect scholars across the institution, and link to a broader national effort to strengthen research on teaching and learning.

Over time, QIESR will build capacity for research on teaching and learning at Queen’s, support collaboration across disciplines, and strengthen how this work connects to academic priorities. It also creates opportunities to raise the profile of this research through publications, funding, and partnerships, and to position Queen’s within a growing national and international network in this field.

Learn more on the QIESR website.