Jason Matthew Harley (PhD)
- Associate Professor of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University
- Scientist, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC)
- Director of Research, Steinberg Centre for Simulation and Interactive Learning, McGill University
- Associate Member, Institute for Health Sciences Education, McGill University
- Associate Member, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, Faculty of Education, McGill University
BA, MA, PhD
Currently supervising students
Currently, they are conducting the following research projects in their SAILS Lab:
- Developing and evaluating high-fidelity simulation scenarios for medical residents to practice combatting harassment and support psychological safety.
- Advancing scientific understanding and best practice concerning the individual and collaborative regulation of emotions and cognitive processes in team-based health professions simulation training.
- Implementing and evaluating virtual simulation and haptic robotic technology in dental students’ training at McGill.
- Investigating connections between astronauts’ stress, coping strategies, meaningful work, and transcendental emotions on the International Space Station.
Prof. Harley’s research aims to enhance surgical and health professions education and support health care workers by reducing adverse events and inefficiencies, especially those associated with the incidence of undesirable and unregulated emotions, burnout, and harassment. We apply psychological and educational theories using interdisciplinary research methods and leverage a wide range of technologies, including virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI), to support the development of health professions competencies with novel technology-enhanced educational interventions and simulations. Our interdisciplinary research draws on mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) that include both objective (e.g., skin conductance, facial recognition software, eyetracking) and subjective (self-report instruments, semi-structured interviews) measures of emotion and cognition that help us assess a variety of surgical and medical competencies.
Surgical education, simulations, emotion regulation, burnout, medical technology, team training (e.g., communication, collaboration, leadership).
EXSU 603
Professor Jason M. Harley, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor (tenured) in the Department of Surgery, Director of the Simulation, Affect, Innovation, Learning, and Surgery (SAILS) Lab, Director of Research of the Steinberg Centre for Simulation and Interactive Learning, Associate Member of the Institute of Health Sciences Education, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Associate Member of the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, Faculty of Education, McGill University, and Scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre.
Prof. Harley’s research has been internationally and nationally recognized by several awards and honors, including induction into The Society for Simulation in Healthcare’s (SSH) ASCEND Leadership Network, The Canadian Association of Medical Education (CAME) Certificate of Merit Award, and The Outstanding Early Career Researcher Award from the Technology, Instruction, Cognition, and Learning (TICL) SIG of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Professor Harley is an Associate Editor for the British Journal of Educational Psychology and a member of the editorial boards of other leading education, psychology, and health professions journals, including Learning & Instruction and Simulation in Healthcare. They are a member of the SSH’s Research Committee.
They completed their FRQSC and SSHRC CGS-funded Ph.D. in Educational Psychology at McGill University in 2014 and held an FRQSC-funded postdoctoral position in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Montréal from 2014-2015. Prior to moving into health professionals’ education, they were an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Alberta from 2016-2019.
Prof. Harley’s research critically advances knowledge of emotional and cognitive processes and their individual and team-based regulation, especially in healthcare simulation, technology-rich learning environments, and most recently the International Space Station. Prof. Harley is an international expert in the use of physiological sensors and video coding in ecological learning environments and amongst the first in the world to leverage healthcare simulation to equip trainees with tools to de-escalate simulated harassment. As Principal Investigator (PI), their research has been consistently supported by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada since 2016. Their current research is also funded by The Montreal General Hospital Foundation, The Canadian Foundation for Innovation, and The Canadian Space Agency, amongst others. Prof. Harley's research has led to dozens of broadcast and print interviews in venues such as The Guardian and CBC News.