Research in Focus

In this episode, Dr. Natalia Gajdamaschko describes the context and tradition of cultural historical activity theory, a school of thought in developmental psychology based on the early work of Lev Vygotsky and Alexander Luria. Dr. Gajdamaschko describes some of the basic ideas of and differences between play activity theory and learning activity theory. She also shares highlights of her recent work with the new BC curriculum as well as some of her hopes for the future.

Working at the intersections of mental health and social justice, Dr. Sharalyn Jordan is using community-based research to advocate for access to refugee protection and psychosocial supports for people fleeing persecution related to sexual orientation, gender identity or expression (SOGIE). In this podcast, Dr. Jordan describes how the narrative accounts of LGBTQ+ refugees in Canada have impacted training in local settlement agencies, Federal Court decisions and new Federal guidelines on SOGIE refugee decisions.

This episodes features 2017 Cmolik Prize Winner, Dr. Peter Liljedahl, and his research on vertical non-permanent surfaces (VNPS) and visibly random groupings as effective teaching practices in mathematics classrooms. Dr. Liljedahl describes how Building Thinking Classrooms, a mathematics teaching practice framework, was developed with, and for, mathematics teachers in British Columbia.

How do students learn, critique and understand online data sources? How do they make sense of the knowledge available in online representations? This episode focuses on Dr. Engida Gebre, who is the primary investigator of the Learning Design for Developing Young Adults Data Literacy and Representation Competences project. Dr. Gebre explores the questions: how do students learn, critique and understand online data sources? How do they make sense of the knowledge available in online representation?

In this episode, Dr. Suzanne Smythe, associate professor in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University, discusses her new collectively co-written book: Disrupting the Boundaries in Education and Research. The book, collaboratively composed by an interdisciplinary group of professors at Simon Fraser University, explores the question: “How can we work together in new ways across our scholarly locations of early childhood education, mathematics, language, adult learning, and teacher education?”

In this episode, Dr. Charles Bingham, a professor in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University, discusses the STEPS Forward program, and in particular, discusses his project’s focus on post-secondary inclusion and providing support for students with developmental disabilities.