Shamila Janakiraman

Research Overview

As a lifelong learner and passionate educator I believe that quality education should be accessible to everyone. Sametime education does not mean reading books, listening to lectures, doing homework, and writing exams. Learners have to be actively engaged in their learning and they should be motivated to learn even beyond the classroom. My research focuses on exploring the use of emerging technologies like Virtual Reality, Augmented reality, and Game-based learning to attract, engage, and motivate learners to learn and retain their learning. Extending this a step further I also explore the affordances of these technologies in changing the attitudes and ultimately the behaviors of learners regarding socio-scientific topics like environmental sustainability, cyberbullying, healthy food habits, and human trafficking. Another strand of my research explores the effectiveness of instructional design and teaching strategies that not only teaches the knowledge and skills but also the dispositions that learners need to thrive in the workplace. To that end, I  study the implementation of a competency-based approach that allows students to practice what they are learning within the course itself. For example, through service learning that involves active collaboration with a community partner. This real-world experience provides students with problem-solving, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration skills.