November 2, 2009 - Dr. Bonnie Shapiro, a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Calgary, has just won the Alberta Teachers' Association's 2009 Educational Research Award.

The ATA presents the Educational Research Award, valued at $5000, to a faculty member or sessional lecturer at an Alberta university, whose research is deemed to be of strong practical benefit to classroom teachers.

Dr. Shapiro's work certainly fits that bill. She set out to understand why some students readily ask for help to grasp ideas in science when needed, while others hesitate. What she discovered is that the act of asking for help is far more complex than we might expect. The research involves graduate students in a large scale survey of students' ideas about help-seeking across grade levels and classroom observations to understand the nature of helping environments and help-seeking and help-giving acts. The work identifies excellent practices and practical ways teachers may more effectively create social and physical environments that encourage students to take more active roles in their own learning.

"We're extremely proud that Bonnie’s research is being honoured by the ATA", says Dr. Dennis Sumara, Dean of the Faculty of Education. "Bonnie has focused on a fundamental key to education-providing an environment that supports all students when they need it most".