For the original article and pictures on the University of Ottawa website, click HERE.

Additional note: Professor Zweibel was a pioneer in the field of teaching Alternative Dispute Resolution, piloting the first course over 15 years ago.  She was able to develop this into a mandatory course in our first year program and integrated ethics into it. 

Common Law Professor Ellen Zweibel  has been awarded the Desire2Learn Innovation Award in Teaching and Learning  for 2013, an international recognition of her exceptional dedication and genuinely innovative approaches to higher education.

“Ellen Zweibel is a true leader in her field and the University of Ottawa is fortunate to have her,” says Dr. Rose Goldstein, Vice-Principal, Research and International Relations at McGill University.  “So many students and teachers have benefited from Ellen’s innovative teaching and this award is extremely well-deserved.”

Created to encourage educators to explore, develop and experiment with innovative techniques, the Desire2Learn Award celebrates new approaches to post-secondary education, both nationally and internationally.  The award is handed out jointly by Desire2Learn  and the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education  (STLHE).  Prof. Zweibel is one of 5 award winners for 2013.

“Since her appointment as a professor in 1983 at the University of Ottawa, Prof. Zweibel’s contributions to post-secondary education have had a meaningful and sustainable impact on her own faculty and in other disciplines,” says uOttawa Vice-President Academic and Provost, Christian Detellier.  “She identified gaps in the law faculty’s core curriculum and improved student engagement by introducing experiential and blended learning to teach core legal competencies in dispute resolution and professional responsibility and, most recently, legal writing.  Prof. Zweibel is one of the University of Ottawa’s most active, resourceful, innovative and collaborative professors.”

Prof. Zweibel is also a recognized community builder and a valuable mentor to her colleagues.  She has led numerous initiatives to revitalize and improve the law school curriculum and has built a volunteer network from the larger legal community to observe and coach student learning activities.  The quality of her teaching, the importance of her pedagogical initiatives and the glowing testimonials from her colleagues and students earned her the University of Ottawa Excellence in Education Prize in 2011.

“I have personally learned so much from Professor Zweibel,” says Dr. Laura Schweitzer, President of Union Graduate College, New York.  “After attending her workshop in Ottawa, I have retained her three times to teach leadership groups in the US (in Kentucky, Washington D.C. and New York).  I salute the STLHE for awarding Ellen the Desire2Learn Innovation Award.  It is an appropriate international recognition for her excellence in teaching.”

Prof. Zweibel and the other winners will be celebrated on June 21 in Sydney, Nova Scotia at the 2013 STLHE Annual Conference.  Each of the five winners will receive a two-year membership in STLHE as well as $2,200 toward travel and registration costs for Desire2Learn’s annual users’ conference, FUSION 2013, and STLHE’s Annual Conference.  The award winners will also be recognized at FUSION, which will be held from July 15-17 in Boston.

Prof. Zweibel is a co-founder and director of the Faculty’s Legal Writing Academy which uses experiential learning to strengthen the writing skills of all students in Canada’s largest law faculty.