Research Interests
Dr Kalloo's main research interest is in innovative approaches to Science education, where she has been facilitating Inquiry-based Science Education (IBSE) in teacher training. She has been the chief developer and facilitator for a series of IBSE/STEM programmes with primary teachers in the Caribbean since 2015, which were hosted by the Caribbean Academy of Science and Caribbean Science Foundation and involved her teamworking with educators in science, technology and engineering from across the Caribbean and the Diaspora. This work is an outgrowth of her work at the former Valsayn Teachers' College for at least 14 years where she worked as a Science educator, and in the UTT B.Ed, for 6 years where she coordinated and co-developed the national primary science programme with a heavy emphasis on IBSE. Dr Kalloo has also framed her interest in IBSE in order to promote inclusive education.
As a game developer, Dr Kalloo is also interested in research that looks at an innovative method of engaging primary students in science education using games. This interest is demonstrated in her work as part of a STEM team which is investigating Games-based Learning (GBL) in Math and Science. Two of the games used in the pilot were developed by Dr Kalloo and have been used extensively with her undergraduate students at UTT.
Dr Kalloo also has a keen interest in researching conservation of the environment. She has used local knowledge of the environment (in the case of birds) to develop science curricula and has both implemented and measured its impact on motivation and attitudes to the environment. An extension to this type of work is her researching indigenous environmental knowledge (IEK) and its integration into science education, for which she has worked closely with the members of the Santa Rosa First People's Community in Trinidad.
Dr Kalloo's research demonstrates a keen interest in qualitative methodologies and the ways in which these aid in deepening understanding of complex educational phenomenon, in particular classroom interaction and school culture.
Selected Publications
- Kalloo, R. C., Mitchell, B. & Kamalodeen, V. J. (2020). Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in Trinidad and Tobago: Challenges and opportunities for teacher education, Journal of Education for Teaching, DOI: 10.1080/02607476.2020.1800407
- Kalloo, R. (2014). Birds in the Schoolyard: The Impact of an Inquiry Action Project of a Local Bird Ecology on the Environmental Attitude and Knowledge of Grade 4 Trinidadian Students. Caribbean Journal of Education 36(1&2): 67-95.
Selected Presentations
- Kalloo, R. (2017). Can inquiry based science education meet the needs of diverse students? Translating the rhetoric of “science for all” into classroom practice. Paper presented at the: Inclusive Education Conference 2017 - Achieving Education For All: Resolving challenges of learning difference, learner diversity, and ‘at-risk children and youth’; UWI, St Augustine: 15-18th Feb 2017.
- Kalloo, R. (2017) BINGO! An exploratory mixed methods pilot study into the effects of game based learning on Trinidad primary students’ achievement and motivation in Science. Paper developed for Mixed Methods Research Regional Conference in the Caribbean: “ Looking Backward & Forward: The Evolution of Mixed Methods Research Communities Mixed methods; Montego Bay Jamaica, March 15- 17th 2017.
- Kalloo, R. (lead author), Barrow, D., Abdul Majied (conference presenter), S., & Figaro, S. (2016). “Awesome!!!”: A preliminary analysis of Caribbean primary teachers’ evaluation of inquiry based science education workshops. Presented at the International Council on Education for Teaching (ICET), 60th World Assembly: Kingston, Jamaica 18-21st July 2016.
- Kalloo, R. (2016), Tales of/on Ms Wigum’s class - An ethnographic perspective of Grade 4 student resistance. Presented at the 12th International Congress of Qualitative Research, University of Illinois – Urbana- Champaign: 21/5/20616
- Kalloo, R. (2013). Birds in the school yard: the impact of a science inquiry unit on local bird ecology on the environmental attitude and knowledge of Standard 4 Trinidadian students. Paper presented at the Biennial Conference of the UWI School of Education: April 23-25 2013
- Kalloo, R. (2011). An analysis of a teacher’s perception of her role as a primary teacher, and the implications of such understandings for re-visioning the primary education system of Trinidad and Tobago. Paper presented at the Education Conference, Maximizing the Role of Education in a Changing Society, University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine Campus, Jan 21st. 2011
- Kalloo, R. (2011). Science and Technology Education: Fundamental Literacies for the 21st Century. Paper presented at the Symposium in Primary Education, Valsayn Campus,University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT), 19th July 2011
- Kalloo, R. (2010). The Supervisory Experience – Paper presented at the DPR/UTT conference – “Massa Day Done”, Valsayn Campus,University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT), July 2010.
