Awards

We encourage and invite applications for the following two awards: The Network of the Learning Sciences in Canada PhD Dissertation Award for Excellence and The Network of the Learning Sciences in Canada MA Thesis Award for Excellence.


Please submit these materials in pdf format to Professor Doug Clark: douglas.clark@ucalgary.ca


Award Creation and Adjudication Committee: Professors Doug Clark, Beaumie Kim, and Jennifer Vadeboncoeur

The Network of the Learning Sciences in Canada PhD Dissertation Award for Excellence


  • Criteria: Excellence in Scholarly and Practical Impacts

  • Application Package Due: November 30, 2022

  • Eligibility: Graduated during the 2021-22 academic year, confirmed by Supervisor’s letter, with active participation and contribution to the Network of the Learning Sciences in Canada.


This award offers honour and recognition; there are no funds attached.




The Network of the Learning Sciences in Canada MA Thesis Award for Excellence

Criteria: Excellence in Scholarly and Practical Impacts

Application Package Due: November 30, 2022

Eligibility: Graduated during 2021-22 academic year, confirmed by Supervisor’s letter, with active participation and contribution to the Network of the Learning Sciences in Canada.

This award offers honor and recognition; there are no funds attached.

Requirements:

1) A 2 page, single spaced, expanded abstract of the complete dissertation or thesis.


2) A Curriculum Vitae


3) A letter of support from an academic supervisor: A one page letter that evaluates the significance of the nominee’s academic accomplishments, describes their contribution to the Network of the Learning Sciences in Canada, and confirms the date of graduation.



Award Recipients

Here you will find information about winners of recent awards for the year 2021-2022.

Canadian Learning Sciences Graduate Student Leadership and Research Award

Stephanie Hladik

Dr. Stephanie Hladik (she/her) conducts qualitative and design-based research into STEM education in a variety of settings including K-12 schools, post-secondary institutions, museums, library makerspaces, and after-school technology clubs. This work may include co-designing and implementing new educational activities with educators and learners, investigating the complexity of educators’ interactions with learners, and uncovering how STEM identity can be developed across space and time. She is particularly interested in critical research that challenges historical and existing inequities in STEM education. Stephanie is currently an Assistant Professor in the Centre for Engineering Professional Practice and Engineering Education, Price Faculty of Engineering, University of Manitoba.

Canadian Learning Sciences Graduate Student Engagement Award

Paula Waatainen

Dr. Paula Waatainen graduated from the University of Calgary with her Ed D in May, 2022. Her doctoral research was a design-based research study entitled

Designing an Authentic Assessment of Elementary Citizenship Competency Through Real-World Democratic Deliberation. Paula is a professor in the Faculty of Education at

Vancouver Island University. She teaches Social Studies Methods, chairs her faculty Assessment Literacy committee, and is supervising her first two M Ed students. She was awarded a 2022 VIU Engage Grant to continue her dissertation DBR study with second cycle of design, collaborating this time with a grade 12 teacher. She began knowledge mobilization from her research in the summer, designing a course on designing authentic assessments of competency, which she taught as an adjunct professor at UBC Okanagan's Summer Institute of Education. She's looking forward to attending conferences in the next year and getting some writing done (while keeping an eye on her mischievous Labrador Retriever puppy, Stella.