I completed my Ph.D. in the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy at the University of British Columbia in 2009. At VIU I teach Principles of Teaching and Learning in the Post Baccalaureate program and Research Methods in the Master of Educational Leadership program. I’ve recently been appointed the Chair of Graduate Studies in the Faculty of Education. I have taught physics, junior science and math in high schools, physics at the post-secondary level, and am very active in local science teacher associations. I have been on the executive board of the BC Association of Physics Teachers for nine years, two as president, and have organized and presented at numerous teacher professional development conferences.
I have always been an active member of science outreach organizations such as Let’s Talk Science, amusement park physics, science competitions and summer physics camps and have won several awards for my participation in community outreach. My PhD thesis research examined the role of student emotions in learning while participating in science outreach programs. Current research activities include teaching physics in real world contexts, new technologies in education and employing complexity thinking in educational research. I’ve received a two year research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (2011-2013) to lead a collaboration between Canada, Sweden and Australia. The project aims to explore how students and teachers are employing social media to learn and to teach physics and allows for frequent trips to Sweden to partake in Fika (coffee and cake). I received an Australian Endeavour Executive Award to spend June-August 2012 in Australia exploring how new technologies are being used in schools. I am actively looking for research assistants to help with this work.
Some recent publications and research activities are listed below. I can also be found on twitter @rfmoll.
Moll, R. F., Nielsen, W., & Linder, C. (2015). Physics students’ social media behaviours and connectedness. International Journal of Digital Literacy and Digital Competence,
6(2), 16-34.
Moll, R.F., & Nielsen, W. (2015, June). Development and validation of a social media and science learning survey. A paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education, Ottawa, ON. [CSSE paper May 31 final pdf]
Moll, R.F., Nielsen, W., & Linder, C. (2015, April). Physics students’ social media behaviours and connectedness. A paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching, Chicago, USA. [NARST 2015 presentation pdf] [NARST 2015 paper pdf]
Forsman, J., Moll, R., & Linder, C. (2014). Extending the theoretical framing for PER:
An illustrative application of complexity science. Physical Review Special Topics – Physics Education Research, 10. DOI:1103/PhysRevSTPER.10.020122
Forsman, J., Linder, C., Moll, R., Fraser, D., & Andersson, S. (2014). A new approach to modelling student retention through an application of complexity thinking. Studies in Higher Education, 39(1), 68-86. doi:10.1080/03075079.2011.
Nielsen, W., Moll, R., Farrell, T., McDaid, N., & Hoban, G. (2013). Social media use among pre-service primary teachers. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 10(8), 3-12. [available online]
Moll, R., McDaid, N., Farrell, T., Nielsen, W., & Linder, C. (2013, June). Physics students’ social media learning behaviours. A poster presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education, Victoria, Canada. [CSSE 2015 poster pdf]
Exploring the use of Social Media to support Teaching and Learning in Science. A talk for Interdisciplinary Education Research Institute (IERI) Seminar, University of Wollongong, August 21st, 2012. [pdf of powerpoint] [listen to the talk mp3]
Moll, R.F., Nielsen, W.S, Hoban, G., & Linder, C. (2012, June). Learning and Teaching in the 21st Century: Realities and Possibilities of Social Media. A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Australasian Science Education Research Association, Sippy Downs, Queensland, Australia. [ASERA presentation pdf] [ASERA paper pdf]
Moll, R.F., McDaid, N., & Linder, C. (2012, May). Googling Physics: Social Media and Science Learning. A poster presented at the Learning and the Brain: Web Connected Minds conference, Arlington, Virginia. [Learning and Brain Poster pdf]
Moll. R.F., & Hengstler, J. (2012, April). Educating with social media: Policy and
practice in British Columbia. A paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Vancouver, Canada. [AERA presentation google doc] [AERA Paper pdf]
Moll, R.F. (2011). Affective learning in playful learning environments: Physics outreach
challenges. Children, Youth and Environments, 21(2), 256-270.
Moll, R.F. (2011, July). Exploring the use of social media to support teaching and
learning physics. A workshop presented at the Western Conference of Science Education, London, ON.