Professor Jacqueline Smith joined the Department of Computer Science in 2015. Her teaching philosophy centres around her belief that human connection is at the core of successful teaching and learning. She is committed to making Computer Science available and welcoming to all interested students. Her classroom teaching is typically in large introductory Computer Science courses, and she is especially interested in the experience of students who have had no prior exposure to the discipline. Her efforts to improve the student experience in introductory Computer Science courses include implementing active learning at scale, piloting a mastery-based course, and designing and delivering training to support teaching assistants as they learn to teach. Outside of her classroom teaching, she created Second-Year Learning Communities to support students newly admitted to a Computer Science program. She additionally made significant contributions to improving the process for admission to Computer Science at the University of Toronto.

Professor Smith also works with other teachers, from new teaching assistants to experienced faculty, providing pedagogical support for their courses, and helping them implement best practices in inclusive teaching. She provided guidance to instructors in her department as they moved courses online in 2020, supporting both instructor and student wellbeing. She is engaged in the Computer Science Education research community and presents her work regularly at Canadian and international conferences.