News/Research

Kiera Chase

17 Mar, 2015

Kiera Chase

Research

I am in my 5th year of my PhD in Special Education with a designated emphasis in New Media. I am interested in exploring how the tools and technologies that are used in education influence learning, math learning (specifically algebra) with an emphasis on discovery-based approaches, and the overlap between these two areas of scholarship. Using a design-based research approach I am currently exploring alternative approaches to introducing learners to important aspects of algebraic cognition. My dissertation focuses on how technology-based learning activities can facilitate emergent algebraic understanding that is subjectively transparent, and proposes a new pedagogical approach called reverse scaffolding.

About Kiera

Kiera was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. After finishing high school, she spent two years working and going to college in Scotland. She worked and lived at a residential school for students with multiple and severe disabilities and was part of a cohort of ten attending classes at the University of Aberdeen. Then Kiera moved to Montreal where she completed her B.A. in Fine Arts and Education. Once she drove back to San Francisco, Kiera began working on her Masters at SFSU in Special Education and worked for a number of charter schools. Her vision is to provide access to general education curriculum for diverse learners through differentiation and strong instructional design. This developed into her current job, which is designing Blended Learning programs that prioritize the integration of technology to serve all students. Kiera has been a Graduate Student Researcher at San Francisco State University for Respect RX, at UC Berkeley's Center for New Media and the Graduate School for Education on projects such as the On The Same Page's Turing Test Tournament. She is the Project Director of Giant Steps 4 Algebra for the Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program as a part of her dissertation project. The story of her work can be followed at blendmylearning.com.