The CSLP’s mission
The CSLP aims to have a positive social impact through research on teaching and learning processes, working especially to develop educational tools and strategies. Pursuing these goals, the centre carries out research at the intersection of cognitive science, instructional design, educational technologies and social pedagogy.
“Among other things, we are devoted to helping answer pressing questions about how to best prepare teachers to tackle sensitive issues in the classroom,” explains Vivek Venkatesh, director of the CSLP.
Venkatesh is a professor of inclusive practices in visual arts in Concordia’s Department of Art Education. He is also a UNESCO Co-Chair in the Prevention of Radicalisation and Violent Extremism.
“We want to figure out how to ensure that minority communities’ voices are best represented in times of public crises. We also want to create opportunities for the public to shape our research agendas.”
Together, the funding co-applicants form a cohort of 38 researchers from several Quebec research institutions. Collaborators will also include more than a dozen professional staff and several hundred students.
In their activities, the group will collaborate with community organizations, NGOs, school boards, policy-making bodies and mental and social health service providers, as well as public safety organizations.
The first major axis of the centre’s focus concerns curriculum and didactic pedagogy. They investigate how curricula should be structured and how, in teaching, one can draw upon learners’ existing experiences and knowledge.
“This part of our research focuses on intellectual and affective dimensions of learning,” Venkatesh says. “What do learners actually experience? How do they acquire knowledge? What are the outcomes of their learning?”
The second axis of the CSLP’s research is more technical, focusing on tools and learning platforms for literacy, numeracy, scientific knowledge and digital literacy.
The CSLP has several recent and ongoing projects. One is investigating how information and communication technology can be employed for postsecondary students with disabilities.
Another monitors how the use of ABRACADABRA and other web-based tools has helped with the development of literacy and numeracy skills in Kenyan primary school classes.
Another research group investigates online hate speech and violent extremism with the objective of building community resilience and sustainable prevention models in pedagogical contexts.
David Waddington, professor of education in the Faculty of Arts and Science and CSLP associate director, emphasizes the impact of the centre’s work.
“Our members are not only making waves in academic circles but we are also now key members of policy-making bodies nationally and internationally — at UNESCO in Paris, and with key federal and provincial government partners in Canada,” he says.
“Our research-creation experts have been performing at internationally renowned festivals. They have been creating multimedia installations with youth participants and showcasing their provocative art across North America, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa,” Waddington adds.
“Our literacy and numeracy software tools are being deployed in China and Kenya, with newer projects being established in Rwanda and Bangladesh.”