We are accepting new graduate students for Fall 2027!

Welcome to the TLC Lab!

Thank you for your interest in joining the Technology, Learning, & Cognition (TLC) Lab at McGill University! We are always excited to meet curious, motivated, and creative students who want to understand how people learn and how technology can be used to improve education.

Our lab brings together students with diverse backgrounds in psychology, education, learning sciences, technology, and research methods. We are looking for students who want to ask important questions, develop strong research skills, and contribute to work that makes a difference for children, teachers, and families.

The TLC Lab is currently accepting applications from prospective M.A. and Ph.D. students interested in joining our research team.

What do we study?

At the TLC Lab, we investigate how technology affects learning, cognition, motivation, and engagement. Our work is guided by learning theory and rigorous empirical research, with a particular focus on understanding not just whether educational technologies work, but how, why, and for whom they work.

Our research spans educational games, learning apps, artificial intelligence, digital literacy, and emerging technologies. We collaborate with schools, educators, researchers, and technology companies to conduct research that informs the design, evaluation, and use of educational technology.

Some of our current research opportunities include:

Educational games and learning apps. We work with educational technology companies, including Alloprof and Tokidos, to investigate how children interact with and learn from educational games. Our research with Alloprof examines educational games supporting language and literacy learning, while our work with Tokidos investigates children's engagement and learning through screen-free, hands-on digital games. These projects provide opportunities to study game design, learning processes, motivation, and behaviour using experimental and learning analytics approaches.

The Multimodal Evidence Hub (MEH). Our new $930,000 Canada Foundation for Innovation-funded research facility provides exciting opportunities to study learning as it happens. With 20 digital learning stations, eye-tracking systems, physiological sensors, video analysis, and interaction data, students can investigate how learners attend to, engage with, and respond to educational technologies. A major focus of the Hub is developing independent, evidence-based evaluations of educational apps and games to help educators and families make informed decisions.

Artificial intelligence and learning. We investigate how children understand and learn from AI, how teachers and parents evaluate and select AI technologies, and how generative AI influences learning and education. Our research includes children's Theory of Artificial Minds, teachers' adoption and selection of GenAI tools, and the cognitive and educational implications of AI-supported learning.

Learning sciences and educational technology. Across these projects, we explore fundamental questions about how people learn, including the roles of cognitive load, motivation, feedback, scaffolding, self-regulation, and learner–technology interaction. We are particularly interested in research that connects strong theoretical foundations with innovative empirical methods and meaningful educational outcomes.

You can learn more about our work by exploring our research projects, publications, and TLC Lab news.

Why join the TLC Lab?

Joining the TLC Lab means becoming part of a collaborative research team working on important questions at the intersection of learning, technology, and society.

Our students have opportunities to develop expertise in experimental research, quantitative and qualitative methods, multimodal measurement, learning analytics, and advanced statistical analysis. They also gain experience collaborating with educational technology companies, working with schools and educators, publishing research, and presenting findings at international conferences.

We are particularly proud of our students' success in securing competitive scholarships and research funding. Our students have an excellent track record of receiving prestigious awards, including scholarships from SSHRC, FRQ, and McGill University. All of our current graduate students are funded through combinations of scholarships, fellowships, and research support. These successes reflect the exceptional quality and hard work of our students, as well as the support we provide in developing competitive funding applications.

We want our students to leave the TLC Lab not only with a graduate degree, but with the knowledge, research experience, publications, and professional connections to pursue successful careers in academia, educational research, industry, and beyond.

How to apply to the TLC Lab

If you are interested in joining us, I would love to learn more about your research interests and how they might connect with our ongoing projects.

Each year, I receive many inquiries from prospective students. To ensure that everyone has a fair and equitable opportunity to demonstrate their interests and abilities, I ask all prospective students to submit the same two documents:

1. Your academic CV, describing your educational background, research experience, publications, awards, and relevant skills.
2. A two-page research proposal, outlining a research project you would be interested in pursuing in the TLC Lab.

Please email both documents to Dr. Adam Dubé at [email protected], ideally before submitting your formal application to McGill's Learning Sciences graduate program.

Preparing your two-page, single-space, research proposal

Your proposal is an opportunity to demonstrate your research interests, critical thinking, understanding of research methods, and ability to connect learning theory with meaningful research questions.

The proposal should introduce your background and relevant research experience, explain why your proposed topic is important, and demonstrate how your interests align with the TLC Lab's current research.

Proposals longer than 2 pages will be deleted, along with the application.

Please organize your proposal around the following sections:

1. Background and context: What topic do you want to investigate? Why is it important, how does it connect to your previous experience, and how does it align with the TLC Lab?
2. Theory: What learning or psychological theory guides your proposed research? How does it help explain the phenomenon you want to study?
3. Research problem: What specific gap, problem, or unanswered question would your research address?
4. Research questions and hypotheses: What do you want to investigate, and what outcomes would you predict based on theory and previous research?
5. Research design: Describe a study you would conduct, including the research design, participants, procedures, and measures you would use.
6. Analysis plan: How would you analyze your data to answer your research questions? Identify appropriate quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method approaches.
7. Potential implications and outcomes: What might we learn from this research, and how could the findings contribute to learning theory, educational practice, or technology design?

The proposal does not need to be a fully developed thesis or dissertation plan. Your project and research questions will naturally evolve through graduate study. Instead, I want to see that you can identify an interesting research problem, think critically about theory and evidence, and propose a reasonable approach to investigating it.

Taking the time to develop a strong proposal will help you prepare not only for an application to the TLC Lab, but also for other graduate programs and competitive scholarship applications.

A note on generative AI

Because our lab studies generative AI and its implications for learning, we take a particular interest in how students use these tools in their academic work.

Please do not use generative AI to write your entire proposal. I want to read your ideas, understand your thinking, and see how you communicate and develop a research argument.

If you use generative AI while preparing your proposal, please include a brief disclosure statement identifying how you used it. This should specify whether AI assisted with brainstorming, developing research questions, selecting methods, planning analyses, drafting text, editing, or providing feedback.

Using AI thoughtfully and transparently is different from outsourcing the intellectual work of developing a research proposal. We value original thinking, intellectual curiosity, and the ability to critically evaluate ideas.

Funding and scholarships

Funding is an important consideration when deciding to pursue graduate studies, particularly given the cost of living in Montréal.

Although current TLC Lab graduate students are funded, admission to the Learning Sciences program does not guarantee funding.

Our students have been very successful in securing competitive external scholarships and university fellowships, and I actively support students in developing strong scholarship applications. However, research grants alone cannot provide sufficient funding to cover every student's tuition and living expenses.

For this reason, prospective students are strongly encouraged to investigate and apply for external scholarships, including provincial, federal, international, and other funding opportunities for which they are eligible.

Securing graduate funding requires planning, preparation, and hard work. We have an excellent record of success, and helping students develop competitive research and scholarship applications is an important part of our lab's research culture.

Ready to join us?

If you are passionate about understanding learning, curious about emerging technologies, and excited by the opportunity to conduct meaningful research, we encourage you to apply!

Email your CV and two-page research proposal to:

Dr. Adam Dubé
Associate Professor, Learning Sciences
Director, Technology, Learning, & Cognition Lab
McGill University
[email protected]

For students planning to begin in Fall 2027, the Learning Sciences graduate application deadline is December 1, 2026.

You are also welcome to email me with questions about the TLC Lab, our research projects, or the Learning Sciences program.

We look forward to hearing your ideas and welcoming the next generation of TLC researchers!