Profile picture of Alysia

Dr. Alysia Wright

MSW RSW PhD
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Positions

Educational Development Consultant

Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning, TI Academic and Research Team

Contact information

Background

Educational Background

Bachelor Social Work, University of Montana, 2011

Master Social Work, University of Calgary, 2013

Doctorate Social Work, University of Calgary, 2022

Biography

Alysia Wright (PhD), is an Educational Development Consultant at the University of Calgary, Canada, where she also teaches at the Faculty of Social Work as a sessional instructor. She brings more than a decade of community and educational development experience to her teaching and consultation practice. Alysia is currently the academic lead for a three-year initiative to catalyze blended and online learning at the University of Calgary, which has included the development and delivery of faculty development initiatives with a focus on pedagogy, academic integrity, and intentional use of learning technologies to promote student-centered learning.

Projects

Teaching teachers how to teach: Exploring the role of teaching experience in educational development

In this multi-institutional research study, three educational developers explore the role of teaching experience in educational development practice, for the purpose of improving educational developers’ capacity to meaningfully connect with and support faculty members’ teaching development and expertise in diverse postsecondary contexts. Through focus groups with other educational developers across Canada, we explore the role of teaching experience in their educational development practice and co-create strategies for integrating teaching practices into educational developers’ portfolios.


Open Education Talks

Open education is a teaching approach that prioritizes collaboration, active learning, use of accessible learning materials, and student-led or centered design. The Open Education Talks is an annual interprovincial educational initiative with the University of Calgary, University of Alberta, Thompson Rivers University, and University of British Columbia. The purpose of these talks is to create an accessible, virtual space for educators and learners to engage in conversations about open education in postsecondary institutions and imagine the future of open practices in higher education.

Awards

  • Teaching Excellence Award – Sessional Instructor, Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary. 2022

More Information

Wright, A. C., Carley, C., Jivani, R., & Nizamuddin, S. (in press). Features of high-quality online learning in higher education: A scoping review. Online Learning Journal.

Exner-Cortens, D., Sitter, K. C., Van Bavel, M., & Wright, A. C. (2022). Photo-based evaluation: A method for participatory evaluation with adolescents. The American Journal of Evaluation, 43(1), 132-147.

Fedoruk, L., Wright, A. C., Anowai, A., & Osondu, Y. (2021). Students as partners in a covid-19 online teaching and learning environment. International Journal on Innovations in Online Education5(1).

Exner-Cortens, D., Wright, A., Van Bavel, M., Sitter, K., Hurlock, D., Carter, R., & Krause, P. (2021). “To be a guy is to be human": Outcomes of the WiseGuyz program through photo-based evaluation. Health Promotion Practice, 22(5), 659-669.

Exner-Cortens, D., Wright, A. C., Truscott, E., & Clausen, C. (2021). A systematic review of adolescent masculinities and associations with internalizing behavior problems and social support. American Journal of Community Psychology, 68(1-2), 215-231.

Shaw, J. C. A., Harper, L., Preston, E., Wright, A. C., Kelly, M., & Wiebe, E. (2021). Perceptions and experiences of medical assistance in dying among illicit substance users and people living in poverty.Journal of Death and Dying, 84(1), 267-288.

Wiebe, E., Kelly, M., Shaw, J. C. A., & Wright, A. C. (2020). Suicide vs. medical assistance in dying (MAiD): A secondary analysis of three qualitative studies. Death Studies, 44(12), 802-807.

Wright, A. C. & Griep, Y. (2019). Burning the midnight oil: Examining wellbeing and vulnerability in Alberta’s oil patch. The Extractive Industries and Society, 6(1), 77-84.

Exner-Cortens, D., Wright, A., Hurlock, D., Carter, R., Krause, P., & Crooks, C. V. (2019). Preventing adolescent dating violence: An outcomes protocol for evaluating a gender-transformative healthy relationships promotion program. Contemporary Clinical Trials Communication, 16(100484), 1-10.

Exner-Cortens, D., Hurlock, D., Wright, A. C., Carter, R., & Krause, P. (2019). Preliminary evaluation of a gender-transformative healthy relationships program for adolescent boys. Psychology of Men and Masculinity. Advance online publication. doi:10.1037/men0000204

Wright, A. C., & Shaw, J. (2018). The spectrum of end-of-life care: An argument for access to medical assistance in dying for vulnerable populations. Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy, 22(2), 1-9.

Wright, A. C., & Bertrand, L. D. (2017) Access to legal services in women’ shelters. Journal of Family Violence 32(1), 101-114.

Wright, A. C., Jardine, L., Anselmo, L., & Dyjur, P. (in press). An online community of practice framework for higher education. In K. Rainville, D. Title, and C. Descrochers (Eds.), Expanding the vision of faculty learning communities in higher education: Emerging opportunities for faculty to support and engage with each other. Information Age Publishers.

Auffrey, M., Tutty, L. M., & Wright, A. C. (2016). Preventing homelessness for women who leave abusive partners: A shelter-based “Housing First” program. In T. Augusta-Scott, K. Scott, & L. Tutty (Eds.), Seeking safety and justice: Innovations and research on interventions to address intimate partner violence. New York, NY: Routledge.

Dyjur, P., & Wright, A. C. (in-press). ePortfolio assignments to demonstrate learning in online courses. In P. Dyjur, M. Arcellana-Panlilio, and A. C. Wright (Eds.), Fostering Student Success in Online Learning. Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning.

Anselmo, L., Stepanchuk, A., & Wright, A. C. (in press). Advancing scholarship of teaching and learning in large enrollment courses: lessons learned from an online community of practice. Imagining SoTL: Selections from the Banff Symposium.