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Chris Whittaker

Physics faculty, Enriched Science co-coordinator & Active Learning Community co-coordinator
Dawson College

Chris Whittaker completed a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Engineering Physics from Queen’s University, a M.S.W. (master’s degree in social work) from The University of Toronto, and he is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Faculty of Education Sciences at the University of Montreal. Chris has been teaching physics at Dawson College since 1999 and in that time, he has also served multiple terms as Physics Department Chairperson, Science Program Coordinator and Dawson College Senator. He is currently co-coordinator of the Enriched Science Program[1] and the co-coordinator of the Dawson Active Learning Community[2].

In the last ten years, Chris has also been active in Physics Education Research[3] (PER) and is the driving force behind the design and development of an array of Active Learning Classrooms[4] (ALCs) at Dawson - including several technology-rich classrooms that incorporate innovative table design and student dedicated Interactive White Boards for collaborative student-centred learning. As a teacher, classroom designer, and leader, Chris’ sustained creativity was the focus of a chapter in a PhD thesis[5] in the department of Integrated Studies in Education at McGill, and he has won several awards at the institutional, provincial, and national levels, including: 

  • The Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) 2015 College Sector Educator Award; 
  • C21 Canada 2013 Shifting Minds National Award
  • The Canadian Association of Physicists 2013 High School/CEGEP Physics Teaching Award for Quebec; 
  • The Dawson College 2013 Teaching Excellence Award, and;
  •  L’Association Québécois de la Pédagogie Collégiale (AQPC) Mention d’Honneur 2012.

As a consultant, speaker and workshop leader on Active Learning and student centred classroom design, Chris has worked locally (Vanier College, Marianopolis College, LaSalle College, McGill, École de Technologie Supérieure), nationally (Assiniboine Community College, University of New Brunswick, and University of Toronto Schools), as well as internationally (Department of Education and Knowledge in the United Arab Emirates, and Tufts University in Boston). 

Prior to turning his attention to a full-time teaching career, Chris worked and volunteered in a variety of capacities with youth in difficulty, including survivors of childhood sexual abuse and marginalized youth – experiences which led him to his MSW. As a Social Worker, he worked in Emergency Mental Health in the downtown core of Montreal, as an intake worker at a CLSC, and he helped families of youth in difficulty on a contractual basis. Chris has also worked as a freelance writer and broadcaster with the CBC Radio documentary program IDEAS where he created two hour-long documentaries entitled: Size Matters: How Size Matters in Living Things (air date: Oct.21, 2002), and Pitching the Academy: Universities and the Dollar Spin (air dates: Oct.9, 1997 and June 16, 1998).

 


[1] https://www.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/enriched-science/

[2] https://www.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/active-learning/dawson-active-learning-community-dalc/

[3] https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=MiagshMAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

[4] https://www.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/active-learning/dawson-active-learning-classrooms/

[5] https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/concern/theses/wd375z74f?locale=en