Philip Abrami receives Whitworth Award

Philip C. Abrami, Concordia Research Chair in Education and Director of the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance (CLSP), has been recognized for his contribution to educational research.

He has received the Whitworth Award from the Canadian Education Association, a national group of education, research and policy leaders.

Abrami says his research is driven by a desire to make a difference in the lives children. “I had an epiphany midway in my career that my research was not making enough of an impact in teaching, so I decided to change that,” he says.

Abrami began to explore how to use technology for active and meaningful learning, he continues. “Among these skills, literacy is the key to lifelong success. Nationwide we have a 27.6 percent functional illiteracy rate among students and that is unacceptable.”

Abrami has focused much of his career towards the development of computer programs that can improve teaching and learning. As Co-founder and director of the internationally recognized CLSP, Abrami leads a large cadre of researchers, professionals and students who produce online tools for use in elementary and secondary classrooms.

Over the last decade, CSLP researchers have designed and developed a new resource for schools called the Learning Toolkit, which promotes early literacy and learning skills.

As part of the Learning Toolkit, the CSLP team developed ABRACADABRA: A Balanced Reading Approach for all Canadians Designed to Achieve Best Results for All. The free, interactive web-based literacy program was created for early elementary kids to help battle the alarmingly high percentage of low ability readers.

ABRACADABRA has produced results. Recent findings of a three-year study showed children who were exposed to the program made significant gains in letter-sound knowledge, phonological awareness and in reading words compared to those who didn’t use the program.

On the Web:
•    Canadian Education Association
•    Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance
•    Learning Toolkit
•    ABRACADABRA