Alon Eisenstein

Faculty: UBC Applied Science

Faculty website: engineering.ok.ubc.ca/about/contact/alon-eisenstein/

Teaching Fellow: 2023

Courses: APSC 201, ENGR 405 / APSC 505, ENGR 411 / ENGR 511, ENGR 499, APSC 503, ENGR 542

Teaching Awards: School of Engineering’s Faculty & Staff Awards of Excellence in Educational Leadership, 2022

Teaching and Learning Activities related to Teaching Fellows

• Leader of Community of Practice on Work-Integrated Learning
• Engineering Education Seminar coordinator, initiated in 2022-2023 academic year
• Host of The Germinator, engaging students and faculty with guest entrepreneurs
• Co-leading UBCO’s participation in Map the System Canada competition
• 2023 recipient of the Marshall Bauder Chair in Experiential Learning and Leadership
• ALT2040 funded project: “Embedding Professional Development Competencies in the Engineering Curriculum”
• SoTL research: “Impact of Indigenous-focused module in a second-year technical communication course”
• SoTL research: “Engineering students’ perception on their start-up work experience”

Teaching Fellow opportunity provides

“An opportunity to take an active role within a community of like-minded people who deeply care about teaching and learning, as well as inform the place of CTL within this community and support its mission to advance teaching excellence at UBC Okanagan.”

Teaching Passions and Philosophy

“My passion for teaching is driven by my core belief that the purpose of education is to enact transformative societal change that makes the world a better place for everyone. My teaching philosophy is inspired by Paulo Freire’s Critical Pedagogy and John Dewey’s Experiential Education Philosophy.

I believe students are unique individuals, owing to their own life’s circumstances, and I must accept them as they enter the classroom in their entirety, not as empty vessels to be filled. Using critical reflection, I empower students to challenge their assumptions as they integrate new knowledge with their already existing knowledge.”

Ongoing and Future Goals

• Increase students’ engagement with system thinking through curricular and extra-curricular activities to enable them to tackle complex problems
• Increase students’ and faculty’s engagement with social entrepreneurship and other knowledge mobilization to benefit society