Director, Educational Development Unit
As director of the Educational Development Unit, Natasha collaborates with members of the EDU and colleagues across the university to plan programs and initiatives that build teaching and learning capacity. She has extensive educational development experience, supporting faculty, instructors, graduate students and curriculum committees as they strive to enhance student learning, strengthen academic programs, and improve their teaching practice.
Natasha has a broad and interdisciplinary academic background that includes a Bachelor of Environmental Science, a Master of Landscape Architecture, and a PhD in Land Resource science. Prior to accepting the role of director of the EDU, she worked in educational and curriculum development at the University of Guelph.
Natasha has strong interests in curriculum review and assessment, graduate student teaching development, building teaching and learning capacity through integrated networks of practice, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. She also maintains disciplinary research interests in bioclimatic urban design and thermal comfort.
Educational Development Unit Strategic Plan 2015-2018
- Kenny, N.A., Watson, G., and Walton, C. In press. Exploring the context of Canadian Graduate Student Certificates in University Teaching. Canadian Journal of Higher Education.
- Watson, G. and Kenny, N. 2014. Teaching critical reflection to graduate students. Collected Essays on Teaching and Learning,7(1).
- Burcher, L.M., Kenny, N. and Hall, S. (2013) Visualizing an outcomes-based approach to education: linking pedagogy to practice. Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) Paper No. 13-16. Austin, Texas.
- Vanos, J., Warland, J., Gillespie, T.G. and Kenny, N.A. (2012) Human energy budget modeling in urban parks in Toronto, ON. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 51, 1639–1653.
- Vanos, J., Warland, J., Gillespie, T.G. and Kenny, N.A. (2012) Thermal comfort modelling of body temperature and psychological variations of a human exercising in an outdoor environment. International Journal of Biometeorology, 56(1), 21-32.
- Vanos, J., Warland, J., Gillespie, T.G. and Kenny, N.A. (2012) Improved predictive ability of climate-human-behavior interactions with modifications to the COMFA outdoor energy budget model. International Journal of Biometeorology, 56(6), 1065-74.
- Coe, J.B., Darisi, T., Satchell, T., Bateman, S.W. and Kenny, N. (2012) Using focus groups to engage veterinary students in course redesign and development. Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, 39(1): 30-38.
- Goody, A., McDonald, J. and Kenny, N. What might an educational development portfolio look like? (July, 2014) Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia Conference. Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China.
- Aspenlieder, E., Kenny, N. and D’Elia, M.J. (June, 2014) The learner-centredness project. Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Conference. Queen’s University, Kingston, ON.
- Watson, G. and Kenny, N. (June, 2014) The ethics of collecting “good” curriculum data. Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Conference. Queen’s University, Kingston, ON.
- Borin, P., Dawson, D., Kustra, E., McDonald, J., Kenny, N., and Arbach, M. (June, 2014) Investigating the educational developer’s portfolio: a world café experience. ICED, Stockholm, Sweden.
- McDonald, J., Arbach, M., Borin, P., Kenny, N., and Kustra, E. (February, 2014) Building an EDC community resource: developing a guide to support an educational developer's portfolio. EDC Conference, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB.
- Watson, G. and Kenny, N.A. (June, 2013) The disorienting dilemma: “teaching” critical reflection.Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Cape Breton University.
- Dawson, J. and Kenny, N.A. (April, 2013) Engaging faculty in learning outcomes assessment through curriculum mapping and improvement. Symposium on Learning Outcomes Assessment: Practically Speaking. Council of Ontario Universities, Toronto, Ontario.
- Kenny, N.A. and Watson, G. (February, 2013) Complexity, ambiguity and change: exploring and addressing challenges related to curriculum review and development. Educational Developers Caucus Conference, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario.
- Kenny, N.A. and Watson, G. (June, 2012) Alignment, Engagement and Innovation: Sharing and Exploring Best Practices on the Design of Graduate Courses on University Teaching. Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, University of Saskatchewan.
- Kenny, N. and Wilson, M. (February, 2012) Change-Capable Institutions: Exploring and Creating a Framework for Leadership Development for the Educational Development Community. Educational Developers Caucus Conference, Dalhousie University.
- Wilson, M., Kenny, N., Baker, N. Grose, J. (February, 2012) How can we know that they got it? Supporting the search for evidence of student achievement of learning outcomes. Educational Developers Caucus Conference, Dalhousie University.
