TLS Staff Members

Cynthia Weston is a Professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology and Director of Teaching and Learning Services. Her teaching and research over the past 27 years at McGill have focused on teaching and learning in higher education. Recent research has focused on professors' use of reflection as a mechanism for constructing knowledge about teaching, the impact of professor reflection on student experience of learning, concept mapping as a tool for linking disciplinary knowledge to the teaching and learning process, and zones of teacher thinking.

Current educational development efforts emphasize multi-unit initiatives designed to have a transformative impact on teaching and learning at McGill. Projects include enhancing student engagement in large classes, redesigning teaching and learning spaces based on pedagogical principles, fostering the nexus between teaching and research, and the pedagogical preparation of graduate students.
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Dr. Laura Winer (PhD, Educational Technology) is the Associate Director of Teaching and Learning Services at McGill. Her dossiers include course evaluations, graduate education initiatives, the appropriate and effective use of technology in teaching and learning and policy development.

Before coming to TLS she was in the Office of the Provost, as Special Advisor to the Provost. She also spent four years in the Office of the CIO as the Senior Educational Technologist and began her career at McGill in 1999 in the Centre for University Teaching and Learning, the precursor to TLS. She has taught in the Faculties of Education at McGill, Université de Montréal and Concordia University, conducted research on educational and training applications of information and communications technology, most recently in the field of medical education, and published and presented nationally and internationally on faculty development issues and integrating ICT into teaching and learning.

Dr. Mariela Tovar is an Educational Developer at Teaching and Learning Services. Her areas of expertise include teaching and learning in higher education, design of educational programs and educational evaluation.

Formerly an Associate Professor in Education at Concordia University, Mariela has extensive experience teaching and conducting research in her areas of expertise. She has worked as an educational consultant in a variety of settings and disciplines including human rights, and environmental capacity building.

At Teaching and Learning Services, Mariela coordinates projects designed to enhance teaching and learning at McGill. Recent examples of these projects include Pedagogical Preparation of Graduate Student Instructors, and the development of the McGill Teaching and Learning Section page.

Mariela offers pedagogical support workshops for McGill faculty. She coordinates and co-facilitates the Course Design and Teaching Workshop, a 30-hour workshop where small multi-disciplinary groups of professors focus on designing their courses and reflecting on their teachin

Adam Finkelstein is currently an Educational Developer at Teaching and Learning Services at McGill University where his dossier includes the design of new teaching and learning environments, teaching and learning spaces, the use of technology in teaching and learning, enhancing student engagement with the use of clicker technology and other course design and teaching initiatives.

Before coming to TLS, Adam was the Manager of Educational Technologies in IT Services where he managed a team of instructional designers and multimedia programmers. He has developed many different types of award winning technology-enhanced teaching and learning projects for McGill including multimedia CD-ROMs, learning objects, simulations, and other on-line environments. He was also one of the leads managing the implementation and use of McGill’s Learning Management System and associated on-line technologies over the last 10 years.

Adam is also a Doctoral candidate in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology in the Faculty of Education at McGill University. His area of research interest includes the impact of teaching and learning spaces on the thinking, planning and actions of instructors.