I have recently completed my Ph.D. research at Banded Peak School in Bragg Creek. The objective of this research project, entitled Reader Response Pedagogy in the Information Age: Reading, Writing and Responding On-line, was to explore the applicability of computer technologies in reader response-based literature instruction. I explored the forum network-based computer environments offer for students to engage in social construction of literary understanding.

I have also conducted personal research projects as components of my course work. This research includes both primary and secondary research, some of which has lead to the publications listed above. My research abilities lie in the area of qualitative research, in particular classroom observational studies of an ethnographic nature. My MA thesis chronicles the results of one of these studies. This study investigated storybook reading events and the nature of students' aesthetic responses to text during these events. I was awarded the The Sharon Aikenhead Waugh Memorial Scholarship for my work on this thesis.

Between 1995 and 1997, I was a member of the research team for a Social Science and Humanities Research Council sponsored research project at the University of Calgary. This research group is lead by Dr. David Watt in collaboration with Dr. Margaret Hunsberger and Dr. George Labercane. The group has been investigating reader response-based instructional initiatives in a Grade 4-6 classroom. During this period, I was involved in all facets of the research process. In the field I observed and recorded the classroom events, collected artifacts from student’s written and spoken responses, and conducted interviews with students. I also played a role in the interpretation and analysis component of the study - reporting findings and developing teaching strategies. Once the data collection was completed, I worked on preparation of a manuscript that synthesized our research findings.

In 1997-98 I was a research assistant in a collaborative project conducted under the University of Calgary Learning Enhancement Envelope Program under the direction of Dr. Murray Maitland from the Faculty of Kinesiology. The study investigated the development and implementation of computerised anatomy instruction via the World Wide Web as an integral component of the undergraduate curriculum. The project team was multidisciplinary including members from the medical, nursing and kineseology faculties.

Under the supervision of Dr. Bryant Griffith and Dr. George Labercane I conducted secondary research in the area of high school students' attitudes to racism. This research formed one component of the results reported in A Survey of High School Student's Attitudes Towards Racism in Canada.