QIESR Nexus groups function as research groups: structured, multi-year scholarly communities organized around clearly self-defined themes in teaching and learning research. The Nexus Program supports collective ecosystems that generate sustained collaboration, visible outputs, and institutional impact.
Through formal designation as a QIESR Nexus, the program strengthens cross-disciplinary engagement, fosters shared leadership, and advances Queen’s national and international profile in educational scholarship.
Teaching Innovation and Practice Nexus
Led by Meghan Norris, Associate Professor in Psychology, this Nexus explores leadership and structures in higher education through the lens of teaching innovation and practice.
The Teaching Innovation and Practice Nexus brings together scholars to advance educational scholarship in this area. Its work focuses on strengthening scholarly capacity, developing expertise in ethics protocols for educational scholarship and innovation, identifying opportunities for grants and funding, and fostering connections among scholars at Queen’s and beyond.
The Nexus meets regularly during Fall and Winter semesters, and those interested in engaging with this work are invited to connect at qiesr@queensu.ca.
Pedagogy of Peace Nexus
Led by Lindsay Brant, Director, Indigenous Initiatives, St. Lawrence College, the Pedagogy of Peace Nexus is an interdisciplinary research community focused on how peace is learned, practiced, and sustained in the context of environmental change, systemic and policy transitions, and Indigenous sovereignty. Grounded in Indigenous knowledge systems and justice-centered approaches, it brings together scholars, students, and community partners to explore education as a pathway to more peaceful and sustainable futures.
Through research collaboration, teaching innovation, and community engagement, this Nexus advances practical tools and new ways of thinking about reconciliation, environmental responsibility, and collective wellbeing. It positions learning as a vital force for navigating conflict, fostering respectful relationships, and supporting just transitions at local, national, and global levels.
This Nexus meets regularly, and those interested in engaging with this work are invited to connect at qiesr@queensu.ca
Active Learning in the Age of AI Nexus
Led by L.F. Carver, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences, this Nexus explores the impact of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) on teaching, learning, and course design in higher education.
The Active Learning in the Age of AI Nexus brings together faculty to examine how widespread use of GenAI is reshaping student engagement with course materials, including reading, synthesis, and written work. Its work focuses on sharing experiences, identifying emerging challenges, and co-developing active learning strategies that continue to promote critical inquiry and analytical thinking within this evolving context. Through collaborative discussion, this Nexus will contribute to a shared report to support faculty in adapting their teaching practices.
This Nexus meets regularly, and those interested in engaging with this work are invited to connect with Dr. L.F. Carver at LC105@queensu.ca
Research Ethics Education Nexus
Led by Rachel Zand, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences, this Nexus centralizes research ethics scholarship and evidence-based education and training.
The Research Ethics Education Nexus brings together scholars, researchers, administrators, and practitioners to advance educational scholarship in research ethics. Its work focuses on strengthening scholarly capacity, developing expertise in research ethics education and innovation, identifying opportunities for grants and funding, and fostering connections among scholars at Queen’s and beyond.
The Nexus meets regularly, and those interested in engaging with this work are invited to connect at qiesr@queensu.ca.
Artificial Intelligence: Deliberation, Governance, and Transformation (AI-DGT) Nexus
Led by Dr. Eleftherios (Terry) Soleas, the AI Deliberation, Governance and Transformation (AI-DGT) Nexus studies how a university governs, and is changed by, artificial intelligence. We treat Queen’s own AI transformation as a living laboratory, drawing on its governance work, community surveys, and adoption data to ask how institutions can govern AI wisely and how teaching, learning, and academic life are being remade. Our work is scholarly rather than administrative: we study and evaluate the change and feed evidence back to those who lead it, but we do not set policy ourselves. Bringing together faculty, students, and staff across disciplines, the Nexus produces rigorous research alongside practical guidance on academic integrity, assessment, equity, and trust in educational AI. Through collaborative projects, peer-reviewed scholarship, and partnerships within and beyond Queen’s, we aim to help higher education meet its AI moment with evidence rather than guesswork.
The Nexus meets regularly during Fall and Winter semesters, and those interested in engaging with this work are invited to connect at qiesr@queensu.ca
Organizational Research and Behaviour (ORB) Nexus
Led by Dr. Eleftherios (Terry) Soleas, the Organizational Research and Behaviour (ORB) Nexus studies how institutions develop their people. We examine the education, development, and retention of organizational workforces: how leadership is cultivated, how professional learning changes practice, and how workplaces learn, adapt, and sustain healthy cultures. Faculty and Staff join as equal partners, but our questions begin with the experience of the people who carry out the educational mission every day. ORB extends the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning beyond classroom and ‘traditional learning spaces’ to the real sites lifelong learning of the institutional workforce, producing rigorous research alongside practical tools, evaluations, and learning partnerships that improve working lives. Through collaborative projects, co-created endeavours, peer-reviewed scholarship, and engagement with funders and partners, ORB advances Queen’s profile in an area where serious, staff-engaged inquiry remains rare and without-a-doubt badly needed.
The Nexus meets regularly during Fall and Winter semesters, and those interested in engaging with this work are invited to connect at qiesr@queensu.ca