EDCP faculty

Research Interests

Biography

Samia Khan is an associate professor in the department of Curriculum and Pedagogy. She began her career as a scientist in the fields of biotechnology, immunology, and microbiology. Comparing her experiences as a scientist with traditional schooling led her to think about interesting ways that science could be taught to children. Samia Khan earned a teaching degree and then taught science, biology, and chemistry in urban junior high and secondary schools. During her tenure as a school teacher, she began two initiatives to engage marginalized youth in science. For these efforts, Samia was awarded the Prime Minister’s Award of Canada for Teaching Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Technology.

As a tenured associate professor, Dr. Khan concentrates on the potential of technology-enriched education at all levels of science education. Her international research using quantitative and qualitative methods has resulted in documenting and creating innovative pedagogy.  Several of her publications include case studies on teaching introductory chemistry with computer simulations, mentoring women in organic chemistry, and fostering learning about entomology with computer-mediated communication. When asked, in a recent interview about her research, Dr. Khan stated, “These case studies have demonstrated that, by utilizing digital technologies to promote modeling and other learning processes, teachers can engage science students in meaningful learning experiences in large and small classroom spaces.” In 2003, Dr. Khan was awarded the Inaugural New Scholar Award for her research from the Canadian Society for the Study of Education.

Dr. Khan continues to chart new methods to teach in classrooms and in teacher education programs, and in doing so, often explores the role of emergent computer technologies in fostering understanding and change.  She teaches face to face and online courses on technology in the mathematics and science classroom, teacher education, and case study research. A sample of Dr. Khan's current research inquiries include:

• How can innovative digital technologies generate new understandings of the unobservable? Dr. Khan’s research team is engaged in the creative design and testing of "dynamic digital analogies" in high school classrooms throughout the Lower Mainland in BC.
• What are the impacts of our teacher education program on new science teachers? Dr. Khan has received a large national grant to undertake a unique examination of impacts of special science teacher education courses on future science teacher candidates and the students they teach.
• What forms of social media can bring about social change? Dr. Khan and her interdisciplinary team are researching how knowledge can be mobilized among teachers, other practitioners, community members, and scholars using Social Media Technologies.

To conduct this research, Dr. Khan mentors students from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds. Her graduate students have successfully graduated with related thesis topics, such as: design and testing of computer simulations in high school chemistry classrooms, online learning in chemistry and the integration of technology, women and minorities in post-secondary science, and social capital and social tagging applications. These students have been awarded grants and, travel funds and co-authored publications in prominent journals.

Dr. Khan welcomes future collaborations with people who share a broad interest in teaching and learning science in all settings. A special interest in teacher education and social media are most welcome. For qualified graduate students, research stipends, teaching assistantships, and scholarships are available.

Selected Publications

Last three years only

Khan, S. (2009). What if scenarios for testing student models. In J. K. Gilbert, (Series Ed.), Models and Modeling in Science Education, Volume 2. Netherlands: Springer Publishing, 141-152.

Khan, S. (2009). Co-construction and model evolution in chemistry. In J. K. Gilbert, (Series Ed.), Models and Modeling in Science Education, Volume 2. Netherlands: Springer Publishing, 61-80.

Park, H., Khan, S., & Petrina, S. (2009). ICT in Science Education: A quasi-experimental study of achievement, attitudes toward science, and career aspirations of Korean middle school students. International Journal of Science Education, 1-20.

Khan, S. (2008). Model-based teaching as a source of insight for the design of a viable science simulation. Technology, Instruction, Cognition, and Learning, 6(2),1-16.

Khan, S. (2008, April). The cache of case studies: Learning, knowledge mobilization, and expertise. Ways of Knowing Colloquium, Green College Seminar Series, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.

Khan, S. (2008). Mentorship of college women in science. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 1-26.

Khan, S. & VanWynsberghe, R. (2008). Cultivating the under-mined: Knowledge mobilization through cross-case analysis. Forum: Qualitative Social Research,1-19.

Trey, L. & Khan, S. (2008). How science students can learn about unobservable phenomena using computer-based analogies. Computers and Education, 51(2),519-529.

Khan, S. (2007). Model-based inquiries in chemistry. Science Education, 91(6), 877-905.

VanWynsberghe, R. & Khan, S. (2007). Redefining case study. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 6(2), 1-10.

Khan, S. (2007). The case in case-based design of educational software: A methodological interrogation. Educational Technology Research and Development, 1-25.

VanWynsberghe, R, Carmichael, J. & Khan. S. (2007). Conceptualizing sustainability: Simulating concrete possibilities in an imperfect world. Local Environment, 12(3), 279- 293.

Khan, S. (2007, April). Remote and simulated: The new laboratory in town. BC Campus E-learning Marketplace and Expo Online http://community.bccampus.ca/expo?go=1539865.