The Department of Chemistry was delighted to learn that Kris Sanghyun Kim, an Associate Professor in the Teaching Stream at UTSC, is the 2026 recipient of the Margaret-Ann Armour Award for Early Career Chemistry Education from the Canadian Institute of Chemistry.
This award is presented in memory of Dr. Margaret-Ann Armour as a mark of recognition to an early career educator who has made an outstanding contribution in Canada to undergraduate education in the chemical sciences, chemical engineering, or chemical technology.
In their official announcement of the award, the CIC praised Kim for innovation in bringing experiential learning to students through community-engaged projects. “He has fostered partnerships across teaching and research initiatives with collaborators like the Campus Farm, Culinaria Research Centre, and the Toronto Zoo.”
Chemistry Stories asked Prof. Kim to tell us a little about his time as a TA on the St. George campus, the crucial role of mentorship in his educational journey, his students' collaboration with the Toronto Zoo, and the inspiration offered by a music teacher when he was young.
Bio: Whether it’s a great movie or a memorable lab experiment, I’ve always been interested in learning about how things are designed “behind-the-scenes.” When it comes to curriculum design, learning about the driving philosophy and systematic approaches to brainstorming and materializing the curriculum always piqued my interest.
During my undergraduate studies, my first work study position involved updating experiments for an introductory analytical chemistry course. I gained an appreciation for all the factors that had to be balanced to design a new experiment, catching the interest of students while offering real world connections, safety of chemicals, connections to relevant course topics, length of experiments, and so much more.
During my graduate studies at UofT St. George, I had the privilege of being a part of a Chemistry Teaching Fellowship program (CTFP) and serving as a Lead Writing TA in the Department of Chemistry. Both roles gave me insight and experience into curriculum design, extending questions to how we might be able to measure the impact our designed interventions have on student learning. Alongside these roles, I was always looking forward to the days I got to TA, whether it be as a lab demonstrator or tutorial leader, and I would often attend professional development workshops offered by the Teaching Assistants’ Training Program (TATP).
Near the end of my graduate studies, I had the opportunity to serve as a TA trainer with the TATP and learn more about curriculum design, this time in the context of helping peer teaching assistants, and in particular examining how educators are thinking about making their classrooms more accessible.
After completing my PhD, I worked in a few different roles before being appointed as a faculty member. These helped broaden my perspective on how I can support students and TAs. I was an Instructional Designer with the TATP, where I learned about curating self-paced online curriculum, after which I was a Learning Strategist at UofT, during which I offered coaching support to students such that they could build a range of academic skills. This usually took the form of offering 1:1 support, providing workshops to larger groups, or working closely with faculty members to embed supports within their courses.
Soon after, I had the opportunity to lead a team of Learning Strategists across UofT, where we collaborated with various Student Life teams (including Health & Wellness, Accessibility Services, Registrars, Writing Centres, etc.) to offer students wrap-around support in helping them meet their academic goals.
One of the priorities our team focused on was building out peer-based programs to support a wider range of students in developing metacognitive skills. These experiences certainly shaped, and continue to shape, how I design curriculum and provide supports to students and TAs today.
Could you say a little, in practical terms, about the work being recognized by the Margaret-Ann Armour Award?
A lot of projects I work on have a shared theme of collaboration, whether it be with students, staff, faculty, and/or community partners. I place a lot of emphasis in both my research and pedagogical projects on creating space to co-create with students, whether it be with undergraduate or graduate students.
I find this often requires a lot of intentional actions, conversations, and clarification of expectations, especially given the natural hierarchy and power imbalance often present between faculty and students. This philosophy extends into my work with community partners, as well, where I strive to facilitate shared spaces that invite equal stake and say in direction of projects.
For example, we have an ongoing partnership with the Toronto Zoo’s Nutrition Science team where they offer students in our analytical chemistry course unique case studies every semester, providing opportunities for students to see how they can apply what we’re learning in class to support ongoing challenges faced by the team at the zoo . These have led to numerous student-led research projects and the synergy has led to discussions of expanding our partnership, in particular to address larger questions around sustainability and animal conservation through the lens of analytical chemistry.
What led you into teaching?
I find it rewarding to see the proverbial “lightbulb” moment for students. When I was an undergraduate student, it took me quite a while to figure out learning and studying strategies that worked best for me, and so when I get to see that moment for students today, it’s rewarding to know they’ve obtained some new knowledge and figured out a process through which they can learn new things moving forward.
More on a personal note, when I first immigrated to Canada to pursue my undergraduate studies, there were very regular moments where I would feel completely lost (both in courses, but also life). I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have had access to really caring and supportive mentors at each step of my career.
We don’t know what we don’t know, and I so I feel that having mentors look out for you (whether it be navigating undergraduate or graduate studies, or your career) is a real privilege. I’m always incredibly thankful for the mentors I’ve had, and I hope to be able to continue passing on this type of support to students.
You mention breakthroughs: can you tell us about a lightbulb moment of your own?
When I was young, I was really into music (playing the clarinet and alto saxophone) and I think back to one of my clarinet teachers who showed me a piece of music that was way too difficult to play during our first lesson. He promised that within a few months, I’d be able to sight-read the piece, and I remember just laughing it off. After several lessons, he pulled the piece back out and asked me to sight read it. I struggled, but I remember feeling surprised that I could even stumble my way through something I didn’t even know how to start just a couple months back. It felt really motivating.
Thinking back to this moment, I am sure my teacher placed a great deal of care in scaffolding lessons that helped me gradually build my skills.
I really want to reproduce this type of moment for students when I teach chemistry. For example, near the end of my analytical course, I like to show students snippets of research articles that use a string of acronyms that refer to different instruments and methods that we’ve learned over the semester. It’s really rewarding seeing them nod along to what was once “Greek” to them.
How does receiving the Margaret-Ann Armour Award feel on a personal level?
Most projects that I’ve started evolved organically and shifted directions in ways I could not have imagined and in the best ways possible, thanks to all my collaborators, so I see this award as a celebration of the amazing community of students, staff, faculty, and partners we have here in Toronto.
The award is also a recognition all my past mentors, as they’ve shaped the way I think about pedagogy and carry myself as an educator, as well as my current mentors. Being recognized for these awards requires a considerable amount of time, energy, and support from others, and not everyone is fortunate to have that level of support.
I place a lot of emphasis in both my research and pedagogical projects on creating space to co-create with students. -Kris Sanghyun Kim