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John R. Kirby, PhD
Professor
Cognitive Studies
Faculty of Education
Queen's University
Kingston, Ontario
Canada, K7L 3N6
Tel: 613-533-6000
Extension 77231
john.kirby@queensu.ca
Publications
Research Grants
Professional Activities
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Academic Biography
John Kirby earned an Honours degree
in Psychology at McGill University (1972) and a PhD in Educational Psychology
at the University of Alberta (1976). He taught in Australia for eleven
years in the Faculty of Education at the University of Newcastle. In 1987
he returned to Canada to Queen's University where he is a Professor of
Educational Psychology in the Faculty of Education, cross-appointed
to the Department of Psychology, and a member of the Centre for Neuroscience Studies. He is a member of the Cognitive Studies
group and a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science.
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| Teaching and Administration
John teaches in the Educational Psychology/Cognitive Studies area.
At the graduate level, his courses include Cognitive Studies, Psychological
Foundations of Learning, Psychology of Reading and Psychology of Learning
Disabilities, as well as Quantitative Research Methods. John advises and
supervises students at both the Master's and Doctoral levels. His students
have a strong record of completion and success, and have won thesis prizes.
At the undergraduate level he teaches Psychological Processes of Reading, and Psychology of Learning Problems.
In the Faculty of Education, John has served as Chair of Faculty Board, Coordinator of Graduate
Studies and Research, Coordinator of the Educational Psychology/Cognitive
Studies group, and Coordinator of the Literacy Centre. He is a former
President of the Canadian Association for Education Psychology.
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Research Interests
John's research concerns the applications of cognitive
psychology to educational issues and has three major
thrusts:
- Cognitive processes underlying successful reading. Processes such
as phonological awareness, naming speed, orthographic processing, and
morphological awareness are examined in learning to read. Other research
concerns reading to learn, addressing comprehension processes and instructional
conditions. This research has been supported by grants from the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council and has involved numerous graduate
students.
- Conceptions of learning. This research explores
students' and workers' understanding of learning, for
instance with regard to deep and surface learning,
lifelong learning, and self-regulated learning, and the
effects these conceptions have on the quality of learning
in school and the workplace. Current topics include
continuing professional education, and the use of
information technology in learning.
- Spatial cognition. This research investigates how
students learn to use and think about maps, graphs and
three-dimensional visual displays.
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