Franco La Braca

M.Sc., Physics, Concordia University, Montreal, QC

B.Sc., Physics (Honours), McGill University, Montreal, QC

I obtained my honours bachelor’s degree in physics and minor in computer science from McGill University, throughout which I developed a passion for education. During that time, I have been involved in computer graphics and animation research with Dr. Paul Kry, as well as in research in machine learning (specifically deep neural networks) and early universe cosmology with Dr. Robert Brandenberger. I then went on to pursue my master’s degree in physics at Concordia University, where I did research in physics education (in particular, pertaining to improving physics labs) under the supervision of Dr. Calvin Kalman.

My Master’s research involved investigating labatorials, a conceptually driven, guided inquiry approach to pedagogical lab courses, in comparison to traditional methods in the context of Concordia’s introductory classical mechanics lab course. The project aimed to address the questions of how the student learning experience differs between the lab approaches, as well as in what ways the two approaches each promote the development of conceptual understanding in physics.

Recent paper/presentation

National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) 2020 International Conference

• Comparison of Labatorials with Traditional Physics Laboratories
  • PPT slides
  • Conference program