Emma Baggott

Emma Baggott is an Electrical Instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) within the School of Trades. With four years of teaching experience, she specializes in electrical apprenticeship training through the program's four-level scaffolded curriculum. Emma brings extensive industry experience to her role, having completed her own electrical apprenticeship that required living "all over western Canada" for six years before transitioning to education.

Emma is currently completing her Provincial Instructor's Diploma from Vancouver Community College, which has transformed her teaching philosophy. Her educational journey includes:

• Electrical Apprenticeship (completed across western Canada over six years)
• Provincial Instructor's Diploma (in progress at Vancouver Community College)

Emma's teaching approach focuses on transforming student perceptions, particularly for those who struggled in traditional academic settings. She developed an innovative gamification system called "Kirchhoff's Krona" where students earn points for class participation that can replace their worst exam score with the class average. This method not only increases engagement but builds classroom community as students sometimes share their Krona with peers. She describes her role as partly being a "cheerleader" who helps students change their "internal mental dialogue" about learning.

Emma enthusiastically embraced remote teaching during the pandemic, recognizing its potential to enhance learning through resources like shop videos that students can review at their own pace. She regularly solicits student feedback to refine her methods, having switched from an Elmo document camera to a Wacom tablet based on student input. Her philosophy rejects the "sage on the stage" model in favor of collaborative learning where both instructor and students are community partners.

Emma maintains strong industry connections, particularly with a company owner she worked with as an apprentice. This relationship directly benefits her students, as the company hires approximately five apprentices from each cohort she teaches. She draws parallels between her Kilimanjaro climb and teaching, emphasizing the importance of managing expectations and finding positives in every experience. Her adventurous spirit and innovative teaching methods make her a valued educator at KPU.