Stephen Petrina is a Professor (MTSE) in the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy at the University of British Columbia. He specializes in Media and Technology Studies (MTS), Science and Technology Studies (STS), Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics education (STEM), Design and Technology Education (D&T), and of course Curriculum Studies. He is a Fellow in the Institute for Public Education BC.
For over a decade, Stephen and an amazing team of colleagues & graduate researchers have been focusing on how we learn media & technology across the lifespan. HWL focuses especially on how children, youth, and adults innovate in classrooms, labs, workshops, makerspaces, virtual spaces, home spaces, and workplaces. As a team of environmental activists, we also research learning by ecodesign and natural spaces.
Stephen has recently published in the Journal of Military History, European Journal of STEM Education, Hacking Education in a Digital Age, Critique in Design and Technology Education, and British Journal of Educational Technology. Forthcoming publications will appear in the Handbook of Mobile Teaching and Learning, An International Perspective on Pedagogy for Technology Education in Secondary Schools, and Vitae Scholasticae: The Journal of Educational Biography.
At this time (October 2019), he is focusing on philosophy of media & technology for children & youth. Stephen’s expertise necessarily includes the philosophy of media & technology and the philosophy of research, as opposed to methodology.
Awarded $2.4m in competitive research grants and contracts to date, three current grants are indicative of funding awards, most of which support graduate research assistants and underwrite infrastructure: (SSHRC IG, “HWL” @ $371,406; SSHRC IDG, “Critique of M&T” @ $40,033; Mitacs, “Smart Learning System” @ $180,000). Stephen is a member of the Cool Tools cluster for climate change education ($1m+).
He has authored or co-authored 120 publications, including 43 Refereed Articles, 14 Refereed Proceedings, 32 Scholarly Responses and Non-Refereed Publications, 2 Books, and 29 Book Chapters, in addition to dozens of technical reports.
Stephen has supervised 140 graduate students, including 13 Ph.D. students, to completion and is current Supervisor of 6 doctoral and masters students. He has also served as Supervisor of 7 Postdoctoral students and mentor to a range of faculty members. Students within and graduating from the Media & Technology Studies program excel in scholarly productivity and career transitions.
Courses include philosophy of media and technology, video ethnography, media studies, design-based learning, doctoral seminars, and research methodologies.
Potential graduate students please note that Professor Petrina will be on Study Leave from 2020-2021.