Wednesday, April 18, 2012



It has been a quiet and welcomed time since my last blog.
The main reason I have not posted anything (other than I am not very good about
such things) is that I have been on administrative leave since stepping down
from my position as Director, Teaching & Learning Centre. I have taken this
time to focus on my writing and research and spend time with my youngest
daughter supporting her athletic pursuits. I have been working on two books,
one with my colleague Zehra Akyol (at printers) as well as with colleagues Norm
Vaughan and Marti Cleveland-Innes (about to be sent to publisher). Both books
are focused on the Community of Inquiry framework and information will be
posted on the communitiesofinquiry.com
website when they become available. Suffice to say at this point that one is an
edited book about a range of research projects using the CoI theoretical
framework and the other is associated with teaching presence in a community of
inquiry.
It was my great pleasure recently to present a research paper
at AERA with my colleague Norm Vaughan. The research was led by Zehra Akyol but
she could not attend the conference. We presented some early findings on the
development of a metacognition questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed
in the context of the CoI theoretical framework and validated qualitatively. The
results of the pilot study did not turn out as we expected but was fortuitous
in that it directed us to consider more explicitly the issue of situated
learning and co-regulation. We intend to revise the questionnaire items and
initiated a full scale study that would validate an instrument that could be an
invaluable tool in exploring metacognition in collaborative and co-regulated
learning environments.
It is interesting that I will be teaching this summer a
course titled “Innovations in Teaching & Learning” after serving as the
director of a teaching and learning unit that had great difficulty sustaining significant
institutional changes. I really look forward to exploring this topic as I think
it is a major challenge in most institutions of higher education. The challenge
in my opinion is the commitment to transformational change on the part of
senior administration and the will to stay with it over time.
Let me end this posting on a personal note. One of the great
benefits of my administrative leave was that I had the time flexibility to
support my daughter in her golf and basketball activities. It was, however, the
golf that was most rewarding. We were able to compete in four junior
tournaments (Future Collegiate World Tour) where she finished first and second
twice. This was remarkable (not surprising to hear this hyperbole coming from a
father) in that we live in a snow bound country that offers no opportunities to
play or practice outside. Yet she was able to compete against players that were
up to two years older and had the advantage to practice and play outside year
round. To complete this indulgence, I have added a couple of pictures.