Research Projects

A key question is understanding what equates to expertise in problem-solving. Many problems in traditional assignment types are algorithmic in nature, resulting in students relying on surface level details to engage in practices to solve the problem. This project strives to understand what equates to expertise when individuals design and solve different types of problem (e.g., multiple-choice, free response, open-ended). Sub-projects here include:​

• Applying problem solving models to open-ended problem-solving to identify characteristics of expertise.
• Investigating problem-solving expertise in science major students.
• Understanding the assessment writing practices of faculty and students, and how these can identify expertise.
• Determining cognitive load limitations for visually dependent problems.

With online learning becoming ubiquitous across higher education there is a growing need to understand how students interact within these learning environments, whilst also allowing them to take control of their learning process. Mechanisms that allow us to better understand the under lying culture of learning in Web2.0 learning environments will allow us to better support student learning, improve critical thinking and better pedagogic implementation. Sub projects include:​

• Identifying what equates to trust in online environments when students have only online interactions.
• Quality metrics for validating student generated content.
• Social network analysis to better understand peer to peer cultures in online learning environments.

The graduate teaching assistant is the essential workforce in higher education to ensure that students have the opportunity to learn in smaller class sizes such as recitations and labs. Furthermore, reflective practice is an important mechanism for educators to understand the heart of their practice. However, reflective practice is complex and intellectually challenging and often is confused with evaluation. Reflective practice born through the principles of self-awareness, self-regard and self-improvement. Sub projects include:​

• Developing a culture of reflective practice in graduate, undergraduate and learning assistants.
• Applying models of reflective practice to provide insights about GTA considerations when teaching.
• Using GTA reflective practice to inform GTA training programs.

Multiple Literacies are multiple literacy areas of scientific literacy that facilitate a persons engagement with science. Although there are many literacy areas, the research group investigates five literacy areas which are:​

• Information literacy- the set of abilities needed to locate necessary information, critically evaluate it and effectively and ethically use it.
• Conceptual Literacy- the set of abilities needed to demonstrate understanding of core concepts in a particular discipline.
• Visual Literacy- the set of abilities needed to interpret, negotiate and make meaning of information presented by visual representations.
• Experimental Literacy- the set of abilities needed to design and conduct an experiment, and to analyze the resulting data to draw conclusions.
• Socio-cultural Literacy- the set of abilities needed to recognize social, political, and ethical issues in science, and to engage critically with individuals about and issues related to equity, diversity and inclusion.

Student mental health has become a major concern across higher education, with two thirds of young people experiencing levels of examination stress and anxiety. Research shows that high levels of stress can interfere with attention and reduce working memory leading to lower performance in courses and course assessments. Early experiences with anxiety and stress can also set a precedent for mental health problems throughout adulthood. Sub projects include:

Using biophysical stress response data to monitor:

• Variation in working memory function and field dependency in the context of chemistry courses as a result of test anxiety.
• Stress monitoring of students engaged with visual representation creation based on auditory or visual stimuli cues in the context of chemistry courses.
• The impact of item writing flaws in multiple-choice questions on student test anxiety.
• Measuring students’ perception of test anxiety vs their biophysical stress response to auditory and visual stimuli in the context of general and organic chemistry.