This past year, policymakers and educators have scrambled to put online learning and radically altered classroom learning protocols in place. How have parents, students, and educators been impacted by these changes? What lessons can we find to guide long-term adaptations for a safe school year? Social science and humanities researchers across the country are seeking answers to these questions and more.

Professor Emma Duerden, the scientific lead of the Developing Brain research program at the University of Western Ontario, is an expert in child cognitive development. Since COVID-19, her research team has pivoted to studying optimal online learning methods for primary school children in Ontario and the impacts of changing school environments on parents’ stress and children’s behaviour.

The first phase of the project investigated children’s shifting behaviours and screen time use during the pandemic. By surveying parents, the researchers have learned that:

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While cases of COVID-19 continue to mount around the world, many communities face an additional, more insidious threat: "the virus of racism." Researchers across Canada have been examining the nature of race-based discrimination and its impacts, particularly on East Asian communities in Canada, throughout the pandemic.

Based in academic fields as diverse as administrative studies, sociology, social work, and English and cultural studies, scholars are working alongside Chinese diaspora communities to discover how to best support their physical and mental health, and sense of belonging, during this pandemic and in public health crises to come.

Tracking the experiences of East Asian seniors

Dr. Christine Ann Walsh, Professor of Social Work at the University of Calgary, alongside graduate researchers Qianyun Wang and Jacky Ka Kei Liu sought to learn about the specific experiences of older immigrants within Alberta's Chinese diaspora community....