Advancing teaching excellence and pedagogical leadership: CELT welcomes third cohort of Teaching Fellows

Eugene Chan is an Associate Professor of Marketing in the Ted Rogers School of Management at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University). He holds a PhD in Marketing from the University of Toronto, an MA in Social Psychology from the University of Chicago, and an AB in Honors Psychology from the University of Michigan. He also has an ARCT (Hons) in Piano Performance from Canada’s Royal Conservatory of Music.

He uses experimental and survey methods and draws on theories from diverse disciplines in the social sciences to study how people make choices, judgments, and decisions in the marketplace, in organizations, and in society. Generally, his research revolves around three themes. First, he studies how political ideology affects consumer behavior in both for- and non-profit contexts. Second, he studies how marketing, health, and science communication should be constructed and conveyed to best promote attitudinal and behavioral change for the better. Third, he studies how to prompt consumers to make green and environmentally-friendly choices and decisions. Many times, his research interests intersect.

His research has been published in top-tier outlets such as the Journal of Consumer Psychology; Annals of Tourism Research; Journal of Travel Research; Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes; International Journal of Research in Marketing; Journal of Experimental Psychology: General; Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin; Global Environmental Change; and Evolution and Human Behavior

Eugene has previously taught at the University of Toronto (Canada); University of Technology Sydney and Monash University (Australia); University of Ljubljana (Slovenia); and Purdue University (United States).

Dr. Alyssa Counsell is the Director of the Psychology and Statistics Education Research (PASER) lab. She seeks to bridge the gap between methodological innovation and applied statistical practice. Her research falls into two categories: 1) The applications of advanced statistical models for complex psychological data; and 2) Statistics literacy, pedagogy, and education in the social sciences. Dr. Counsell currently holds an SSHRC Insight Grant (2021 – 2026) for her research program, Improving Statistics Education and Statistical Literacy in the Social Sciences.

Terri Peters has long been interested in the effects of building performance on well-being; but when she lived in Copenhagen, she experienced it firsthand. Design there was different, especially in the medium-rise housing blocks that many, including Peters herself, called home. Instead of the long, dark condos that are typical of North America, balconies facing sunny courtyards were common, as was a focus on hygge, meaning coziness. “In Denmark,” she says, “quality of life is most important.”

It’s important for Peters, too. Much of her research focuses on superarchitecture: where design is driven by what adds to our health, such as wide-open views, good air flow, maximized daylight and access to the outdoors. Here in Canada, Peters wants superarchitecture to play more of a central role. However, as many of these elements are not quantitative—i.e. how do you measure that calm feeling you get from a well-lit room?—there are challenges.

To overcome them, Peters is researching strategies that benefit both our natural environment and our well-being, like appropriate uses of daylight and testing design options via digital simulation. She’s also speaking up at various health-related conferences. “The more architects who advocate, the healthier our buildings will be.”