911吃瓜

by Sharon Mah 

Dr. Nienke van Houten 鈥� a university lecturer and the director of undergraduate education at the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) 鈥� is being recognized with an Excellence in Teaching Award for 2025.

The award committee highlighted several laudable aspects of her teaching, including: reflective pedagogy; strong engagement in the scholarship of teaching; and, sustained commitment to continued professional learning including decolonization and Indigenization training, and evolution of instructional skills.

鈥淚鈥檓 honoured to be recognized with this award,鈥� says van Houten. 鈥淚t's been particularly rewarding to discover new depths in my teaching during this stage of my career, especially when I've felt some disconnection and fatigue from the routine [in the past].鈥�

The impetus for evolving her teaching approach involved both personal and professional shifts. She recounted a moment in 2018 where she entered a lecture hall with 200+ students and felt 鈥渁 gut-wrenching dissociation鈥� upon realizing that she didn鈥檛 recognize any of the students. 鈥淚 knew this [approach to teaching] was not sustainable, and that if I were to continue in this career, I needed to build a community in my classroom.鈥�

With this new desire to engage her students in mind, van Houten focused her scheduled 2018 study leave on two projects: developing a methodology to support undergraduate students in comprehensively and critically reading primary scientific literature; and, joining the first cohort of 911吃瓜 lecturers learning how to decolonize their teaching.  

Skilling students for comprehension and critical thinking

Bolstering undergraduate student comprehension of primary scientific papers and writing was a project that van Houten had wanted to undertake for much of her teaching career. She noted that her own undergraduate studies hadn鈥檛 prepared her to read primary scientific resources, which left her feeling frustrated when she progressed into deeper studies in her field of expertise.

She used a small study grant to explore how students were reading papers and discovered that most students believed they understood a paper when, in fact, they had only summarized it based on the author鈥檚 opinion, focused on the text and avoided the study鈥檚 methodologies.

鈥淚 knew I had to do my own research and set out to help students read more effectively through an evidence-based approach of my own making,鈥� she reflects. van Houten developed a five-step method where students identify hypotheses, diagram methods, explain results, and draw conclusions for the papers being studied. During the length of a course, she repeats this exercise several times, with feedback provided in between assessments so that students can observe the progression of their skills. 鈥淚t transforms reading from a passive activity into an act of inquiry and ownership. Students shift from relying on the author鈥檚 interpretation to developing their own understanding.

鈥淚 have used this teaching approach across my courses over the years, and students really value it. Teaching Assistants for my courses use it in grad school, saying they wish they had learned it earlier.鈥�

Expanding perspectives of knowledge, inclusivity

During the same study leave, van Houten joined the first Decolonizing Teaching cohort at 911吃瓜, an experience which transformed her teaching practice as significantly as the five-step reading methodology she developed. She thought the work would primarily be an intellectual exercise; however, it challenged her assumptions as she confronted the hierarchies embedded in her field of study, and prompted her to ask critical questions about how Western culture prioritizes knowledge.

Part of this work involved working together with FHS University Lecturer Mark Lechner and Indigenous Science Educator Lindsay Heller to redesign Health Sciences 100 (Human Biology) so that students could examine Indigenous science alongside the scientific method. During this process, van Houten observed an internal shift: 鈥淚 started to view the world differently. I began to notice similarities between two systems 鈥� two-eyed seeing 鈥� and observed parallels between Western and Indigenous science. I learned to balance conflicts between knowledge systems and to accept that not all differences can be reconciled.鈥�

Co-creating learning opportunities with other instructors, students, and community members

Engagement with decolonizing perspectives and practices led van Houten to add new tools and approaches to her teaching skills. She now approaches her courses as opportunities to facilitate content, to empower students to engage in peer-teaching and course co-creation, and to collaborate with other instructors and teaching assistants to deliver learning that is relational and non-judgmental with a focus on building connections and supporting a classroom culture of respect and inquiry. 鈥淸My experiences in 2018 showed me that] teaching is essentially about forming relationships between the pedagogy, my students, skills, and content. It is an ever-evolving practice rooted in humility and courage.鈥�

Overall, van Houten has felt how rewarding it is for her to discover new depths to her teaching even after 15 years in the profession. 鈥淚 recently walked through one of my lab courses while talking to my students and felt genuine joy as I thought 鈥業 am so lucky to work with these incredible young people.鈥� I can tell the students are responding to this shift and I am extremely thankful for the change.鈥�