Course Developers and Designers

Saraswathi Vedam, RM, FACNM, Sci D (hc)

Hello future colleagues, my name is Saraswathi Vedam.  I am a midwifery professor in the Faculty of Medicine, and Lead Investigator of the Birth Place Lab at UBC.  I have been a clinician and a health professional educator for 32 years.  Over that time, I have been fortunate to work with and learn from many types of health professionals in both low and high resource countries. My research projects include Changing Childbirth in BC, a provincial, community-based participatory study of women’s preferences for and experience of maternity care, and the Giving Voice to Mothers Study that explores maternity experiences among persons of colour and those who experience multiple barriers across North America.

 

Courtney Broten, RM, McAc, MHPE

Since completing my degree in Midwifery, I have cared for diverse groups of people throughout pregnancy, birth, postpartum and newborn periods in both rural and urban settings in British Columbia. I am particularly interested in health professional education research and design. In 2018 I completed a Master’s in Health Professional Education through Maastricht University and I have served as faculty with the Division of Midwifery at UBC since 2010. I am a member of UBC's Centre for Health Education Scholarship, where I get constant inspiration. My professional responsibilities have included working for the Midwives Association of BC on provincial access issues for midwives.

 

Namsook Jahng, PhD, Educational Consultant

Namsook has a background in Curriculum and Pedagogy. She works as a Learning Designer in Curriculum & Course Services team at the CTLT. She consults faculty members at UBC and external clients to support enhancement of course design and development in online, blended, and face-to-face settings. Based on her extensive teaching and research experience in educational technology and online learning, she offers services including pedagogical consultation, instructional design, project management, new course development and revisions of existing courses.  Her on-going interests are focused on implementing pedagogical theories into best practices employing learning technologies.

 

Lucas Wright, MEd, Educational Consultant

Lucas supports faculty and staff in integrating technology in their teaching and learning practice. He is an adult learning instructor with more than 15 years of experience teaching adults online, face-to-face and in blended contexts. He has a keen interest in blended learning, open education and the role of learning portfolios in teaching and learning. Lucas supports professional development programs at CTLT including the Instructional Skills workshop, Teaching in A Blended Learning Environment, the Learning Technology Hub and the edX Studio sessions.

 

Sarah McCabe, MA

 

I am a researcher and educator, currently based in Calgary, Alberta. I worked on this course as the Graduate Academic and Teaching Assistant for the Department of Midwifery at UBC to help develop this interprofessional education course. I graduated from UBC in 2019 with an MA in Educational Studies, focusing on women’s health, health education, and sexual and reproductive health rights. These passions have taken me to Uganda, Germany, and across North America. I also work as a DONA-Certified birth doula and as a childbirth educator in my community. 

 

Nadia Picco

Nadia Picco is currently team lead at UBC Studios, a media production studio at the University of British Columbia. She has applied her expertise as a communication designer for research, marketing, and education both in the private and public sectors for over 20 years. Nadia’s current pursuits include learning new skills in emerging technologies for personal and pedagogical purposes.

 

Gabriel Lascus

Gabriel provides project management, leadership, and production expertise in the preparation and design of multimedia content: complex imagery and illustration, advanced photo retouching, animated processes, motion graphics, podcasts, promotional video production, sound design, directs small and large event photoshoots, one-on-one portrait sessions, designs infographics, brand and promotional materials for social media and print distribution, designs book covers, brochures, large format posters, and provides interior design solutions for improving corporate working spaces. Gabriel has a background in Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Multimedia, Desktop Publishing, and Mechanical Engineering. His life-long passion is photography Links to an external site.. Some of his work can be found here Links to an external site. and here.