Distinguished professorships
Dr. Larry Yore   |  Gerry Ferguson

Educator lauded as pioneer of science learning

by Robie Liscomb

In September, dozens of the world’s top researchers in language and science literacy gathered at Dunsmuir Lodge to network and share research insights. The conference could not have occurred without Dr. Larry Yore—and not just because he was the co-organizer.

Without Yore, there might not be a field of scholarly enquiry studying the role of language in learning science, and many thousands of students around the world might not have benefited from the improvements in science learning that have resulted.

In 1970, when Yore joined UVic’s faculty of education, and for several years thereafter, he was virtually the only researcher in the field. “He’s been a pioneer in this field, establishing the value of using language-oriented strategies to help learners engage successfully in science,” says one of his nominators. “It’s a field for which he’s greatly responsible for establishing.”

“He has produced a sustained, internationally recognized body of exemplary research,” says another nominator, increasing our understanding of “the characteristics of science textbooks that support and inhibit students’ reading, of the difference between boys’ and girls’ reading in science, of how reading and writing ability in science can be assessed,” and on and on.

The language-science connection is now well-established as an international, interdisciplinary field of enquiry, and Yore, with colleagues from Iowa state University and the University of Alberta, is currently writing a survey of the past 25 years of research on the literacy component of science learning.

Yore’s referees consistently praise him as a teacher and mentor. Characteristically, he ensured that the conference at Dunsmuir included young scholars, providing them an opportunity to connect intellectually with established contributors to the field.
“We have to invest in the future of the field,” says Yore. “Without planning for the succession, your area of research loses momentum.”

Yore has taught two generations of science education students and has supervised or sat on the committees of more than 135 graduate students. He’s provided professional development for thousands of teachers of science across Canada and the U.S.

He’s been equally involved in building the UVic community, serving as president of the faculty association, member of the board of governors, chair of the department of social and natural sciences in education, director of education extension activities, and leader of the elementary science education program for the past 32 years.

Yore will use the next five years as distinguished professor to pursue several initiatives in science education. With colleague Dr. John Anderson, Yore is an external evaluator of a five-year, $5.9-million U.S. National Science Foundation project to transform the way children are taught science in rural elementary schools.

He’s also working on a major proposal to establish an international network in cognitive studies in language and science literacy. He’s been invited to serve as associate editor of the new International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education and will continue teaching with a special focus on science and technology literacy.

(Valerie Shore photo)

Scholar widely regarded as Canada’s leading criminal law reformer

by Patty Pitts

Two thick, leather-bound books sitting on law professor Gerry Ferguson’s office desk are just one reason why the soft-spoken faculty member is one of UVic’s inaugural Distinguished Professors.

The two volumes contain the instructions Canada’s judiciary turn to before they charge a jury—instructions that, if given imprecisely, can cause overturned verdicts or mis-trials. Each year, the responsibility for reviewing the books’ 2,200 pages falls to B.C. Supreme Court Justice John Bouck—and Gerry Ferguson.

Ferguson’s national and international reputation as a criminal law scholar, especially regarding Canadian criminal jury instructions, and his influential role in shaping the ongoing evolution of UVic’s law school, have earned him the highest academic honour UVic can bestow on a faculty member.

“He’s probably the leading criminal law reformer in this country and is known throughout the English-speaking world as such,” wrote one nominator. “I also have no doubt that he’s well-recognized around the world, especially in countries sharing our common law tradition,” wrote another.

Raised and educated in Ottawa, Ferguson was offered a graduate fellowship in criminal law from New York University prior to coming to UVic. He joined the faculty in its second year of operation, but soon became involved in shaping a program whose grads regularly rank as the best in the country.

In 1988, Ferguson helped introduce co-op education to UVic law—and the program remains the only law co-op in the country. He participated in developing an academic and cultural support program to make the law faculty more accessible to aboriginal students and was involved in creating the Akitsiraq law program, where Inuit students in Nunavut are earning UVic law degrees. Ferguson spent a chilly spring teaching at the Iqaluit campus.

“We have 14 students who are really engaged in learning law. Most have family responsibilities and complex lives but they’re very keen to take advantage of this opportunity.”

Ferguson was also the author of funding proposals that brought Dr. Michael M’Gonigle, as the Tri-Council Eco-Research Chair, and Jeremy Webber, as the Canada Research Chair in Law and Society, to UVic. He’ll use his distinguished professorship to continue his research into restorative justice.

“He exemplifies what it is to be a committed teacher, an accomplished scholar and a contributor in every way to the university and the larger community it serves,” says law dean Andrew Petter. “This recognition is one that’s not only well-deserved but one that the whole law school can and will join in celebrating for all the work and commitment Gerry has given to us over the years.”

Whether it’s the frozen tundra of Nunuvut or the equatorial campuses of Hong Kong and Malaysia (he’s well-known for his comparative work in Asia Pacific criminal law), Ferguson never passes up the opportunity to get into a classroom. “I continue to enjoy teaching. The students here are really engaged in the learning process. I gain a great deal of satisfaction from that.”

(Valerie Shore photo)