News and Events

Shervey Scholarship for the Bachelor of Education program

October 2012

Brittany Holt and Saralyn Winston are the first receiptents of the Shervey Scholarship for the Bachelor of Education - Elementary program.  Read More

To Teach is to Learn Twice (Joubert, 1842)
September 2012

Dan McWilliam, the Professional Development and Collaboration Coordinator for the Calgary Science School, and a group of his grade 8 students provided an orientation to Google Applications for the new Education students. Using their school Connect Blog they discussed how these technologies can be used as a catalyst for an inquiry-based approach to learning by getting parents and the wider community involved in their education. They clearly demonstrated the concept of “we-learning” and the idea that it “takes a village to raise a child”.

Bachelor of Education Orientation for New Students
September 2012

Nicole Rusnak and Ben Koch , the Co-Presidents of the Education Undergraduate Society welcomed our new students to the Mount Royal Bachelor of Education program. Dr. Irene Naested then provided an overview and an introduction to the B.Ed. faculty and program via a series of PowerPoint slides. Next, Dr. Stefan Sikora engaged the students in a discussion about how previous significant learning experiences in their lives have shaped their perspectives as educators. Key themes were summarized in a Google Doc and Wordle. The orientation session concluded with a group activity that was facilitated by Dr. Jodi Nickel. The focus of the activity was on having the students Illustrate the type of teacher they would like to become through the use of tableau movements, skits, logos, and posters. Each of the group presentations were video recorded.

North Island College, British Columbia
August 2012

Dr. Norman Vaughan had the opportunity to visit North Island College (NIC) in Comox, British Columbia to facilitate a keynote session and workshop on student engagement and blended learning. No other college in British Columbia serves a region as vast and diverse as NIC. Their region includes northern British Columbia from Ucluelet to Cape Scott, and the BC mainland coast from Desolation Sound to Klemtu. NIC is very interested in using digital technologies and a blended approach to learning to expand and diversify their program delivery.

Exploring the Math & Art Connection
August 2012

Dr. Irene Naested started writing this book more than ten years ago. Irene wanted to research, understand, write, illustrate, and share with teachers and students the art and math connection. She wanted to focus on the natural connection between art and math, which our present society has divorced the two. Being an art educator and artist, Irene felt she needed to collaborate with a math educator to make sure her theories and learning experiences were valid for the math curriculum. About six years ago she met Dr. Daniel Jarvis from Nipissing University at a conference session he was leading. Irene asked him if he would like to co-author the textbook with her. He agreed and over the next year or so they developed a manuscript outline and sample chapters and set out to find a publisher. They signed a contract with a publisher about three years ago and completed the manuscript along with colour images. Almost ready to be sent to the printer the publishing company was sold and the new owners wished to make major changes to the book, partly to reduce printing costs. This took another year. The textbook has now been printed and is also available as an e-book.

Through innovative teaching strategies and more than 300 rich learning experiences, Naested and Jarvis give teachers a wealth of engaging tools to explore the math/art connection with their students. This connection is established through examination of natural and human-designed objects, from how pine cones scales spiral out in an Fibonacci sequence to how geometric shapes combine in architecture to form structures.

2012 International Conference on ICT in Teaching and Learning
July 2012

Dr. Norm Vaughan travelled to Hong Kong in July to facilitate a pre-conference workshop and the opening keynote session for the 2012 International Conference on ICT in Teaching and Learning. The conference was hosted by the Open University of Hong Kong and St.. Paul’s Convent School. The focus of the conference was on engaging learners through emerging technologies. Norm is also helping the Open University of Hong Kong’s Business School redesign their programs for a blended approach to teaching and learning and has posted several pictures from the trip to his personal web site.

World Association for Educational Research (WAER) Conference
June, 2012

Dr. Jodi Nickel attended the 17th Conference for World Association for Educational Research in Reims, France from June 3-8, 2012. Reims is in north-eastern France and is famous for its champagne and this 800 year old cathedral that was heavily damaged during WWI. Her invited presentation was part of a symposium on reaching students in their zone of proximal development, particularly through self-assessment of reflective portfolios. This trilingual conference hosted nearly 600 participants from 40 different countries!

Canadian Society for the Studies in Education (CSSE) Conference
May 2012

During the last week of May, all faculty members in the Department of Education, along with the Dean of the Faculty of Teaching and Learning, travelled to Wilfred Laurier in Waterloo, Ontario to facilitate a total of 5 research presentations at the Canadian Society for Studies in Education (CSSE) annual conference.. Dr. Jodi Nickel is the principal investigator on a study that is investigating the Emergence of Professional Identity in Early Teacher Education. Dr. Irene Naested is coordinating a study on the Visual Arts and the i-Generation and Dr. Stefan Sikora hasd been conducting a self-study on  ’Thinking Outside the Box’ Box: Reflections on Zen, Jazz, and the Nature of Creativity. In addition, Dr. Norm Vaughan is helping to coordinate a MRU B.Ed. Elementary Program study and an investigation into the The Role of Mobile Devices in Pre-Service Teacher Education Programs. 

Department of Education & Schooling Faculty Members
Recognized as Full Professors
May 2012

On May 7th, Dr. Irene Naested and Dr. Norm Vaughan were members of the first group of faculty at Mount Royal University to be recognized as Full Professors. Photos from the event can be accessed from the Full Professor Web Gallery. 

New Zealand Trip
March 2012

During the last week of March, Dr. Irene Naested and Dr. Norm Vaughan travelled to the North Island of New Zealand with Mount Royal University’s President, Provost, and Dean of the Faculty of Teaching & Learning, Dr. Jim Zimmer. The purpose of our visit was to establish student exchanges and faculty research partnerships with the New Zealand tertiary such as Unitec in Auckland, Wintec in Hamilton, and Massey University in Palmerston North. We traveled by van from Auckland to Palmerston North to visit each of these institutions and we were very fortunate to enjoy some wonderful late summer weather, which we have attempted to capture in the following photos.

A formal memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed with Massey University for future student exchanges and future research opportunities, which was highlighted in a University news article. Faculty members from the Massey College of Education shared their ePortfolio and capstone course resource material with us while in return Jim and Norm facilitated a session on Student Engagement and Blended Learning. Norm has been invited to return to Massey University in November to follow-up on blended learning research opportunities and to present a keynote session at the Australasian Society for Computers in Tertiary Education Conference in Wellington.