Name Steve Joordens | ||
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Born August 14, 1965 (age 59) Canada ( 1965-08-14 ) Known for memory, consciousness, Research Ethics, Peer-Assessment, The Effective Use of Technology for Education, Critical Thinking Notable awards Leadership in Faculty Teaching Award,President's Teaching Award,twice TVO Best Lecturer Finalist,National Technology Innovation Award,Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) Teaching Award Institution University of Toronto Scarborough | ||
Unnatural critical thought as the driver of social change steve joordens at tedxtrondheim
Steve Joordens is Professor of Psychology, University of Toronto Scarborough.
Contents
- Unnatural critical thought as the driver of social change steve joordens at tedxtrondheim
- What my guitar taught me about improving education steve joordens at tedxutsc
- Education and career
- MOOC
- Educational technology innovator
- Activism
- Society memberships
- Teaching awards
- Media appearance
- Interviews
- Articles
- Videos
- Selected publications
- References

Joordens teaches Introductory Psychology and a seminar course on the Scientific Study of Conscious and Unconscious Influences.

Joordens has several research areas including the study of conscious and unconscious influences, memory, and the effective use of technology for education.

What my guitar taught me about improving education steve joordens at tedxutsc
Education and career

Joordens earned his bachelor's degree in Psychology at University of New Brunswick in 1989 and gained his PhD in Psychology at University of Waterloo in 1994 and postdoc at McMaster University on models and empirical studies of human memory. He is also part of the Teaching Academy at the University of Toronto.
Joordens has been a faculty member of the University of Toronto Scarborough since 1995. He is an active researcher in Cognitive Psychology and Educational Psychology. In the field of cognitive psychology, he primarily researches issues related to human memory and consciousness. In the field of Educational Psychology, he primarily researches issues related to peer-assessment, critical thinking, engagement, and the effective use of technology for education.
With his Ph.D. Student Dwayne Pare, he co-developed peerScholar, an internet-based tool to support the development of critical thought and clear communication in any course context. peerScholar won the 2009 National Technology Innovation Award, and is now a commercial product licensed to Pearson Education.
In 2006 CUPE 3902, the trade union representing TAs and sessional lecturers at the UofT, filed a grievance alleging that Joordens was used this programme to create a pool of "cheap labour" as a means of avoiding hiring teaching assistants to grade term work for his introductory Psychology class. In January 2009, an arbitrator upheld the grievance—noting, incidentally, that Joordens was actually looking for "free" labour—and ruled that the University of Toronto needed to set aside $283,000 to compensate the more than 1500 students who had been forced by Joordens to work for free.
MOOC
In 2013, Joordens taught Introduction to Psychology to more than 68,000 registered students on Coursera. This course was developed as part of a $100,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Joordens also teaches Memory and Human Lifespan Course on The Great Courses.
Educational technology innovator
Joordens has been involved in using innovative technology measures to help students with online learning experiences. His online courses offer a wide range of psychology concepts free for students to explore, incorporated with technology measures such as Digital Lab Coat, mTuner, peerScholar and using Wikipedia as an educational tool.
Activism
Joordens is a frequent speaker at professional conferences, where he consistently earns "best in session" honors. He is also a musician, vegetarian and an activist on the ethics of animal research and gang violence.
Society memberships
Teaching awards
2012 – Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations Teaching Award.
2011 – Scarborough Campus Student Union (SCSU) Best Teacher Award.
2010 – President’s Teaching Award, the highest teaching honour at the University of Toronto.
2009/10 – One of Ontario's top 10 post-secondary lecturers as part of Television Ontario's "Best Lecturer" competition
2009 – Joordens and Pare win 2009 National Technology Innovation Award for peerScholar.
2008/9 – One of Ontario's top 20 post-secondary lecturers as part of Television Ontario's "Best Lecturer" competition
Media appearance
Prof. Joordens has made many appearances in the media, including Canadian national TV channels and news publications.