UBC chemist awarded 2025 West Coast teaching award
May 14, 2025
Dr. Anka Lekhi—a UBC professor focused on making the transition into first-year chemistry labs and classes more accessible and impactful—has been named one of this year's West Coast Teaching Excellence Award winners.
"I’m thrilled and honored to receive this acknowledgement," says Dr. Lekhi, an Associate Professor of Teaching with the Department of Chemistry and Vantage College.
"Teaching is a joy for me because of my inspiring students, dedicated teaching assistants, and collaborative colleagues who aim for an inclusive, student-centred learning environment."
Dr. Lekhi plays a leading role in major UBC initiatives to enhance higher education opportunities in science for international students who are English language learners. Over the past decade, Dr. Lekhi has introduced evidence-based instructional strategies that have improved the academic careers of more than 4,000 undergraduate students.
“Anka has an enduring commitment to designing context-rich chemistry classroom and lab experiences that support students’ motivation and meaningful learning,” says Dr. Jaclyn Stewart, Associate Dean, Academic with the Faculty of Science.
“Her teaching approach honours where students are coming from and invites them to connect with science to deepen their sense of belonging.”
Her teaching philosophy is rooted in empathy, curiosity and a vision for building more equitable and interdisciplinary learning spaces. Through this lens, Dr. Lekhi transformed her first-year chemistry course based on Universal Design for Learning principles, allowing English language learners to experience content in multiple modalities. She developed case studies and team-based pedagogy for academically diverse students, promoting interdisciplinary thinking through real-life applications in her third-year aqueous environmental chemistry course.
For over 14 years, Dr. Lekhi has led UBC Chemistry's teaching assistant training program, building materials that recognize and support the significant impact that teaching assistants can have on fostering inclusion.
More recently, she developed and hosted a one-day laboratory foundations event for incoming first-year students with no prior laboratory experience. The goal is to increase learner confidence as they transition into labs and the post-secondary environment.
Dr. Lekhi’s focus in her scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) projects aims for excellence in teaching that also reduces inequalities often experienced by underrepresented groups in STEM. She has incorporated content highlighting authentic connections to Indigenous knowledge and histories in multiple courses, advancing UBC’s commitments under the Indigenous Strategic Plan.
The West Coast Teaching Excellence Awards were established by the British Columbia Teaching and Learning Council. Up to five awards are granted annually.
