Professor Ju is an Associate Professor in the Human Biology Program in the Faculty of Arts and Science. He has received numerous teaching awards since joining the Human Biology Program in 2011, including the inaugural June A. Larkin Teaching Fellowship in Pedagogy in 2015. He also currently serves as member of the Academic Board of the Governing Council of the University.

Professor Ju’s doctoral and post-doctoral research focused on the examination of the cellular and molecular pathways underlying motivation, learning and memory, neurodegeneration and stroke and Alzheimer’s disease. At present, he is working on the translation of his research in neuroscience in motivational learning and the use of augmented assessment tools to gauge the effectiveness of online lecture delivery and learning. Professor Ju’s recent pedagogical projects center on his interests in mental health in the classroom, social justice topics in STEM and educational equity and developing open educational resources. He is also an Open Education (OE) Fellow through eCampus Ontario and works with students to develop resources around these teaching interests and themes.

Professor Ju’s Fellowship will focus on the redesign of a 3rd year undergraduate biology course and the use and assessment of Work-Integrated Learning (WIL). He has already been piloting this project by partnering with the Career Learning Network to offer an opt-in WIL experience for students in HMB 322 Topics in Health and Disease. By incorporating WIL in the form of job shadowing, the goal is to directly connect course learning with possible post-graduate career choices, increasing student engagement in the course material and improving their learning experience. Professor Ju also plans to develop best practices to incorporate WIL opportunities, assess scalability to larger class sizes and to create a YouTube channel recording and sharing his learning throughout the two-year project. Additionally, in collaboration with the other Teaching Fellows and members of the teaching community Professor Ju will develop new methods of reflective assessments/assignments for students who take part in WIL opportunities