Biography
Teresa is a PhD candidate in the Doctor of Philosophy, Curriculum and Pedagogy program at OISE. She is also pursuing the collaborative program with the Information School in Knowledge Media and Design. Teresa’s undergraduate work was at the University of Waterloo, Renison College in Social Development Studies with a specialization in Education.
Teresa is currently interested in online education, particularly aspects of online discussion and collaboration which can incite critical thinking. She wants to find a way to create that ‘aha’ moment online that great teachers create in classrooms…and she is looking at learner personalities, teacher pedagogy’s and even the design of the learning environment as each contributes to an effective classroom experience.
Her master’s thesis (2018), Teacher Presence and Pedagogy, a thematic interview discussion about online learning was a bounded case study examining the drivers of online instruction methods through thematic open-ended interviews with 10 graduate-level faculty, active in online and blended learning courses at OISE. Her research question was: How do online instructors describe the processes and activities they try to nurture in online courses, and what sort of decisions and methods do they use?
Teresa returned to school after living and working in the West Indies—Antigua for almost 17 years. In Antigua she directed a housing shelter for women and families in crisis which included programs for learning childcare, life skills, entrepreneurship, and addressing addiction behaviours. She also worked closely with Gender Affairs, Ministry of Education and Antigua Boys Home in various initiatives. Her fundraising and publicity international events raised awareness and an unprecedented amount of funds for continuing these vital programs. Teresa also started and acted as principal and teacher in a K-12 school which merged local curriculum with Ontario curriculum standards and courses. All of the schools’ graduates entered their p
