Dr. Anka Lekhi has been honoured with the prestigious BCTLC West Coast Teaching Excellence Award. Dr. Lekhi has played a leading role in a major UBC initiative to enhance higher education opportunities in science for international students who are English language learners. She teaches General Chemistry and other science courses in the UBC Vantage One Science program, as well as direct entry students in General Chemistry and Aqueous Environmental Chemistry. Over the past decade, Dr. Lekhi has introduced evidence-based instructional strategies that have improved the academic progress of more than 4,000 undergraduate students.
Dr. Lekhi transformed her first-year chemistry course based on Universal Design for Learning principles, allowing English language learners to experience content in multiple modalities. She developed case studies and team-based pedagogy for academically diverse students, promoting interdisciplinary thinking through real-life applications in her environmental chemistry course. Additionally, she collaboratively created a successful two-course sequence introducing firstyear international students to scientific research.
Dr. Lekhi spearheaded both the Chemistry department’s Teaching Assistant Training Program, including a significant EDI.I component and a Laboratory Foundations event for incoming firstyear students with no prior laboratory experience. Her participation in SoTL aims for excellence in teaching that also reduces inequalities often felt by underrepresented groups in STEM. She has incorporated content highlighting authentic connections to Indigenous knowledge and histories in multiple courses, advancing UBC’s Indigenous Strategic Plan. Dr. Lekhi’s leadership and efforts are ultimately aimed at diversifying and enriching STEM fields.