Redesign Scholars Program
Scholar Biographies
Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science
Joe Benson, University of Alabama
Tristan Denley, University of Mississippi
Ron Henry, Georgia State University
Dennis Pearl, Ohio State University
Phoebe Rouse, Louisiana State University
Candace Thille, Carnegie Mellon University
Kirk Trigsted, University of Idaho
Natural Science
Elizabeth Connor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Malcolm Hill, University of Richmond
Margaret Trim, Central Ohio Technical College
Amiee Wagner, Central Ohio Technical College
Social Science
John Broida, University of Southern Maine
Gordon Hodge, University of New Mexico
Michelle Miller, Northern Arizona University
Mary Jane Pasky, Lorain County Community College
Bill Williams, Eastern Washington University
Humanities
Rob Sanders, Portland State University
Sally Search, Tallahassee Community College
Jim Wohlpart, Florida Gulf Coast University
Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science
Scholar: Joe Benson
Institution: University of Alabama
Redesign Description: Intermediate Algebra
Joe Benson is Senior Associate Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at The University of Alabama where he leads the College’s Learner-Centered College Initiative. He has been involved in course redesign since 1999 and has worked with a committed group of faculty to use technology in the redesign of five mathematics courses to enhance student learning while at the same time reducing costs. He has worked with NCAT's Roadmap to Redesign program to enable new colleges and universities to adopt mathematics redesigns and was a presenter at NCAT’s “Increasing Success for Underserved Students: Redesigning Introductory Courses” symposium. He has given presentations on course redesign for the National Association of System Heads, the Southern Regional Education Board, and at the Conference on College Teaching and Learning. He has also been a participant in a number of course redesign workshops sponsored by Pearson Education. Joe has provided his expertise to a number of institutions involved in redesign of introductory mathematics courses and has served as an external reviewer for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools on course redesign elements of Quality Enhance Plans. He is also a participant in Project Kaleidoscope and the Reinvention Center.
Scholar: Tristan Denley
Institution: University of Mississippi
Redesign Description: College Algebra and Elementary Statistics
Tristan Denley is associate professor and chair of mathematics at the University of Mississippi. He obtained his PhD in Mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge, UK, in 1993 and has held positions at the University of Umeå, Sweden, and the University of Waterloo, Canada. His research is in Graph Theory and Combinatorics in which he has published several papers and a monograph. Tristan led the redesign of College Algebra and Elementary Statistics at Ole Miss. This included constructing the CALM lab, a learning lab space for 80 students, and restructuring the classroom experience for the 1500 students enrolled in these courses. The redesign uses both traditional classroom lectures and computer-aided learning in the lab. Tristan has become deeply invested in the technology available today and on helping others redesign their courses in ways that will best meet their needs and the need of their students.
Scholar: Ron Henry
Institution: Georgia State University
Redesign Description: College Algebra
Ronald J. Henry was a cofounder of the Quality in Undergraduate Education (QUE) project and directed its work throughout the seven years of its existence. He has been provost and vice president for academic affairs at Georgia State University since 1994, and previously served in the same capacity at Miami University of Ohio and Auburn University. At Georgia State, Ron provided leadership in the redesign of the introductory mathematics courses as part of NCAT’s Roadmap to Redesign program. He has also stimulated redesign of an introductory biology sequence for non-majors and of two-semester gateway courses(statistics and methods) for psychology majors. Ron earned degrees in applied mathematics from Queens University in Belfast , Northern Ireland. He received continuous federal funding for his physics research from 1970 through 1993 from the Office of Naval Research, NASA, and the U.S. Department of Energy. The recipient of several foundation grants to improve education, including more than $2 million for the QUE project, Ron is presently co-principal investigator for a multiyear NSF grant of $34,700,000 to develop a Partnership for Reform in Science and Mathematics in Georgia. Current work includes improvement of introductory college courses in science and mathematics through inclusion of activity-based learning; ensuring assessable learning outcomes are developed for each academic program and course learning outcomes are mapped to program learning outcomes; and use of electronic portfolios to document progress towards mastery of learning outcomes.
Scholar: Dennis Pearl
Institution: The Ohio State University
Redesign Description: Introductory Statistical Concepts
Dennis Pearl is a Professor of Statistics at The Ohio State University whose research interests are in statistical phylogenetics, biomarkers of cancer, and statistics education. He lead the team at Ohio State that developed the “statistics buffet” course redesign as part of NCAT’s Program in Course Redesign. He has also worked with NCAT's Roadmap to Redesign program to enable new colleges and universities to adopt introductory statistics redesigns. He is the Director of the Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education (CAUSE), a national organization dedicated to providing professional development opportunities and resources to college statistics teachers and to building and enhancing the statistics education research community. Dennis is also the director of the INitiative for Quantitative Education Research Infrastructure (INQUERI) that is dedicated to establishing a supportive national environment for education research in the STEM disciplines. He is also an associate director of the Mathematical Biosciences Institute at Ohio State, and leads the institute’s innovative summer program for undergraduates integrating a variety of educational research experiences.
Scholar: Phoebe Rouse
Institution: Louisiana State University
Redesign Description: College Algebra
Phoebe Rouse has been an instructor at LSU for twenty-five years. She has taught college algebra, trigonometry, math for pre-service teachers, liberal arts math, business calculus, and teacher-training courses for graduate students, and she has been the College Algebra Course Coordinator for eleven years. In fall 2003, Phoebe led the redesign of LSU’s college algebra course as part of NCAT’s Roadmap to Redesign program, which included constructing learning lab space for 274 students. As the Precalculus Mathematics Coordinator for the last two years, she has expanded the LSU redesign program to include 3500 students in three courses using entirely computer-based assessments. She has contributed material to three successful textbook series, videotaped a commercial business calculus lecture series, and written content for MyMathLab/MathXL software, and she serves as a Faculty Advocate for Pearson Education. Phoebe earned a B.S. in math education with a minor in speech and an M.Ed. with an emphasis in supervision and administration. She has become deeply invested in the technology available today and has already begun helping other universities and high schools redesign their courses in ways that will best meet their needs and the need of their students.
Scholar: Candace Thille
Institution: Carnegie Mellon University
Redesign Description: Introduction to Statistical Reasoning
Candace Thille has been the director of the Open Learning Initiative (OLI) at Carnegie Mellon University since its inception in 2002. OLI is dedicated to the development of freely available “stand-alone” college-level online courses and web-based learning environments informed by the best current research from the cognitive and learning sciences. She has lead teams of faculty content experts, cognitive scientists, human-computer interaction specialists, formative assessment specialists, and programmers to implement and evaluate the redesign of courses in the areas of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mechanical Engineering, Statistics, Formal Logic and Modern Languages. The redesigned courses include intelligent tutoring systems, virtual laboratories, simulations, and student tracking mechanisms that capture rich information about student performance as feedback for the instructor and for the course designers. OLI courses offer students frequent opportunities to practice acquired concepts and skills within relevant and authentic problem-solving contexts, accompanied by immediate and tailored feedback on their performance. The first version of StatTutor, a web-based intelligent tutoring system in the OLI statistics course, was developed as part of NCAT’s Program in Course Redesign. Prior to coming to Carnegie Mellon, she spent 18 years in the private sector at a management-consulting and training firm specializing in collaborative change consulting and workplace-learning solutions.
Scholar: Kirk Trigsted
Institution: University of Idaho
Redesign Description: Pre-Calculus
Kirk Trigsted has been a faculty member in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Idaho since 1996 and the Director of the Polya Mathematics Learning Center since 2001. The Polya Mathematics Learning Center was created in 2001 as part of the NCAT’s Program in Course Redesign and began with the redesign of two large-enrollment introductory math courses, Intermediate Algebra and College Algebra. Kirk oversees a staff of 50 employees including instructors, graduate students and undergraduate students. Kirk has worked with NCAT's Roadmap to Redesign program to enable new colleges and universities to adopt mathematics redesigns, and he is currently a faculty advocate for Pearson Education. Kirk received a B.S. in Mathematics and Education from Lewis Clark State College in 1991 and taught high school in Texas and Idaho for 3 years. He also received an M.S. in Mathematics from the University of Idaho in 1996.
Social Science
Scholar: John Broida
Institution: University of Southern Maine
Redesign Description: Introductory Psychology
John Broida is a physiological psychologist by training, earning his Ph. D. in 1985 from the University at Albany. He is now focused on teaching teachers how to use technology effectively and efficiently in their classes. After participating in the redesign of the introductory psychology course at the University of Southern Maine as part of the NCAT’s Program in Course Redesign, he has introduced effective and efficient use of technology in the classroom to many institutions and individuals. The basic model that John uses is based on web-based mastery quizzes, which students use to learn what they need to study. Requiring students to complete their quizzes on a chapter before the class where those concepts are discussed makes lectures much more useful to the student and enables the instructor to feel free to discuss things that are not in the text. Further, he promotes the use of classroom response systems to convert passive note-taking into an exercise in active learning and to require students to be in class at the assigned time. John has also pioneered ways to teaching at a distance based on mastery learning. John has worked with NCAT's Roadmap to Redesign program to enable new colleges and universities to adopt introductory psychology redesigns.
Scholar: Gordon Hodge
Institution: University of New Mexico
Redesign Description: General Psychology
Gordon Hodge is Presidential Teaching Fellow and Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of New Mexico. He received his Ph.D. from UCLA and has been at UNM since 1976. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and a Past-President of the Southwestern Psychological Association. He has served as an Associate Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences and the Chairperson of the university’s Teaching Enhancement Committee. Over the last 10 years his research has focused on ways of enhancing teaching and learning for which he has received university, regional, and national recognition. Honors and awards include the National Institute for the Teaching of Psychology's Frank Costin Award, the University of New Mexico 's College of Arts and Sciences Gunter Starkey Award for Teaching, and UNM's Teacher of the Year Award. He has developed interactive CD-ROMs and PowerPoint slide sets to accompany introductory psychology texts published by various companies, including Harcourt, Prentice-Hall, and Wadsworth/Thomson. For the last several years he has been implementing a redesign of the Introductory Psychology course, which was funded by NCAT’s Program in Course Redesign, and he has worked with NCAT's Roadmap to Redesign program to enable new colleges and universities to adopt introductory psychology redesigns. Currently, he continues to evaluate ways to enhance undergraduate psychology learning through grants from the Department of Education and Worth Publishers.
Scholar: Michelle Miller
Institution: Northern Arizona University
Redesign Description: Introduction to Psychology
Michelle D. Miller completed a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1997 and completed postdoctoral work at Rice University . Since 1999, she has taught at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff , Arizona, where she is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology. At NAU, she has redesigned the Introduction to Psychology course, enhancing the student learning experience in 200-student sections through technological and organizational innovations and freeing up sufficient resources to offer a small (25-person) honors section. Michelle’s research interests include the impact of traditional and technologically-enhanced pedagogical techniques on student memory and learning. Her teaching experience includes introductory psychology, research methods, writing in psychology, psycholinguistics, and cognitive psychology.
Scholar: Mary Jane Pasky
Institution: Lorain County Community College
Redesign Description: Macroeconomics and Microeconomics
Mary Jane Pasky has been the Coordinator of Distance Learning at Lorain County Community College (LCCC) in Elyria, OH for the past six years. LCCC is recognized as one of the leading community colleges in Ohio, currently ranking as the third highest producer of distance learning courses in the state. She also serves as LCCC’s Catalog Coordinator for the Ohio Learning Network (OLN) and has served on several OLN committees, including the Academic Outreach Committee. Prior to this, she was the Project Coordinator for the Vice President of Academic Affairs and Student Services. Her responsibilities included supporting new course development across all academic areas, ensuring that they met all criteria of both the College and the Ohio Board of Regents. Mary Jane has also served as principal investigator on several grants including the redesign of Macroeconomics and Microeconomics as part of NCAT’s collaborative program with the Ohio Learning Network. At LCCC she has taken a leadership role for the course design of these two courses and served as a technical assistant and/or course designer to faculty for two additional course redesigns. She will continue these roles for six other redesigns currently under development. Mary Jane was able to incorporate the use of video streaming and/or podcasting through Apple’s iTunes U into these course redesigns. She has presented her course redesign results at conferences for the League for Innovation, the Ohio Digital Commons for Education and the OLN Information Summit. Mary Jane holds a bachelor’s degree from Governor’s State University completed via distance learning.
Scholar: Bill Williams
Institution: Eastern Washington University
Redesign Description: Introductory Psychology
Bill Williams is professor of psychology and department chair at Eastern Washington University (EWU). Bill was the lead instructor in the redesign of EWU’s redesign of the introductory psychology course as part of NCAT’s Roadmap to Redesign program. He attended a variety of colleges and universities-–Bucknell, Pitt and Yale-–before completing a BA and MS degrees in psychology while serving in the Air Force near Spokane, Washington. His first professional position was at the Boeing Company in Seattle, where he was a human factors engineer assigned to the project investigating 727 night landing disasters. Bill later taught psychology at Gonzaga University and enjoyed teaching so much that he decided to complete a Ph. D. at the University of Utah in experimental psychology with emphasis in human learning. He did post-doctoral research in learning and psychophysiology for four more years before accepting an academic position at his alma mater, Eastern Washington University, where he has spent most of his academic career.
Natural Science
Scholar: Elizabeth Connor
Institution: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Redesign Description: Introductory Biology
Elizabeth Connor is a neurobiologist in the Biology Department of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where she is currently the Associate Chair for Education in Biology. She initiated the use of an active learning format in large classroom teaching in the Biology Department. She has been a Lilly Teaching Fellow, was awarded the College Outstanding Teacher Award and has been nominated for the University Distinguished Teaching Award. During her career, Elizabeth has served as coordinator of Introductory Biology, Research Experience for Undergraduates Programs in Neuroscience, the Beckman Scholars Program, the Junior Fellows in the Life Sciences Program, Mentoring Teaching Assistants in Life Sciences Program, Project Leader for the redesign of Introductory Biology in NCAT’s Program in Course Redesign, and Graduate Program Director for the Neuroscience and Behavior Graduate Program. She has also served as a mentor in the Lilly Teaching Fellows program and on the NSF review panel for Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowships. Elizabeth is currently Program Director of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Science Education award to the University of Massachusetts.
Scholar: Malcolm Hill
Institution: University of Richmond
Redesign Description: General Biology at Fairfield University
Malcolm Hill, is a marine evolutionary ecologist in the Biology Department at the University of Richmond. He has taught courses at six universities over the past 15 years. He gained substantial experience in large-scale course redesign as the project leader of the revision of Fairfield University’s General Biology introductory sequence in NCAT’s Program in Course Redesign. In that capacity, he helped implement a student-centered, active-learning instructional approach in large lecture classrooms by creating modules . Through the design of a wireless classroom, he and his team incorporated inquiry-based modules that relied on strong in-class peer-tutoring. He has also served in a number of advisory roles at regional and national levels. He was an invited speaker at the 2004 American Society for Microbiology meeting (“Innovations in Education: Using the web to improve your teaching”) and has been a plenary/keynote speaker at redesign conferences (e.g., “Academic Efficiencies Workshop for Mathematics and Ecology Faculty” sponsored by the Oklahoma Board of Regents, Oklahoma City, OK and “Biology Course Redesign” at the Northeast Conference on Incorporating IT in Curricular Redesign, Seton Hall University). More recently, he has explored the utility and cost-effectiveness of iPod technology as an instructional tool and is working with colleagues at the University of Richmond to redesign the introductory sequence of courses to match institutional and pedagogical goals.
Scholar: Margaret Trim
Institution: Central Ohio Technical College
Redesign Description: Human Anatomy and Physiology
Margaret Trim is Assistant Professor at Central Ohio Technical College (COTC) for the Biological and Physical Sciences Department. An alumnus of The Ohio State University, Margaret earned a BS in Zoology and an MS in Entomology and is a recent graduate of the Academy for Leadership and Development. Margaret began her teaching career in 1997 as an adjunct science lecturer for Ohio State’s branch campus sites and for Columbus State Community College. In her faculty role at COTC, she became involved with projects to improve student learning through the use of multi-media delivery methods, distance education and inquiry-based learning. In 2004–2005, Margaret provided leadership, support and assistance in the redesign of Human Anatomy and Physiology as part of NCAT’s collaborative program with the Ohio Learning Network. Additionally, she assisted in the redesign of other science courses following the NCAT model and has seen significant improvement with student success as a result of curriculum redesign. Margaret also takes part in other college activities such as mentoring adjunct faculty, student advising, developing adjunct faculty, as well as serving on the curriculum committee, accreditation steering committee and chairing the scholarship committee. Margaret also serves as an advisory member for several COTC program boards including: Forensic Science, Emergency Medical Service, Nursing, and General Education.
Scholar: Amiee Wagner
Institution: Central Ohio Technical College
Redesign Description: Human Anatomy and Physiology
Amiee Wagner earned an M.S. in Molecular Biophysics from The Ohio State University in 1999. For the last eight years, Amiee has served as a chemistry instructor for Columbus State Community College, a physics instructor for Otterbein College and a human biology/anatomy instructor for Central Ohio Technical College (COTC). She has been involved in large-scale course redesign projects at all three of these institutions in each of the three science disciplines. Most recently, she served as both the primary investigator and course designer in the redesign of Human Anatomy and Physiology as part of NCAT’s collaborative program with the Ohio Learning Network. Amiee has presented the results of the project at the 2006 Ohio Digital Commons for Education conference, an audioconference for the Instructional Technology Council, and at the Ohio Learning Network Information Summit. She has met with faculty members from more than 50 institutions at these presentations and stays in contact with many of them to support their efforts in improving learning through innovative use of educational technologies.
Humanities
Scholar: Rob Sanders
Institution: Portland State University
Redesign Description: Introductory Spanish
Rob Sanders received his doctorate from the University of Arizona in 2001. He is an Assistant Professor of Spanish and the Coordinator of the First-Year Spanish program at Portland State University. His publications on course and program design are available in CALICO Journal, Foreign Language Annals and Hispania. His redesign of Introductory Spanish as part of NCAT’s Program in Course Redesign received an international WebCT Exemplary Course Award—one of six such awards given in 2003. In addition to leading the redesign of his own Spanish courses, Rob has mentored, advised, and promoted course redesign among other Spanish faculty at Portland State, among other disciplines at Portland State, and among Spanish faculty at other universities, colleges, and school districts in Portland and nationwide. He was an invited panelist on the McGraw-Hill World Languages Telecast in 2006. He has also worked with NCAT's Roadmap to Redesign program to enable new colleges and universities to adopt introductory Spanish redesigns. Rob’s interests include designing courses around and assessing specific learning outcomes, individualizing instruction, integrating internet technology and internationalizing Spanish curricula at all levels.
Scholar: Sally Search
Institution: Tallahassee Community College
Redesign Description: College Composition
Sally Search is a professor of mathematics at Tallahassee Community College. She began her post-secondary education as a returning student at Piedmont Virginia Community College and has a deep commitment to the mission of the community college. She holds a BA and MS in Mathematics Education and a Ph.D. in Instructional Systems from Florida State University. Since joining the TCC faculty in 1987, Sally has been involved in a variety of projects related to improving student learning and student success. These include special programs for high risk students, redesigning developmental mathematics to integrate multi-media and alternative delivery methods, several projects related to distance learning, as well as a college-wide retention study and student success initiative. In 2001 – 2002, Sally provided leadership and assistance in the redesign of college composition as part of NCAT’s Program in Course Redesign. She serves as the Accreditation Liaison for the college and in 2003 – 2004 had primary responsibility for overseeing the reaffirmation process and developing the college’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). Following the reaffirmation process, Sally served as the Interim Director for Center Teaching Excellence where she began several new programs to meet the needs of full-time and adjunct faculty. She currently serves as the QEP Coordinator, the New Faculty Facilitator, and the lead faculty member on the redesign of TCC’s developmental studies program, which includes English, reading, math and College Success.
Scholar: Jim Wohlpart
Institution: Florida Gulf Coast University
Redesign Description: Understanding the Visual and Performing Arts
Jim Wohlpart is Professor of English and Associate Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU). He is a founding member of the faculty at FGCU, which has an emphasis on technology and on sustainability. Jim has worked on large-scale course redesign since 2001 beginning with the redesign of Understanding the Visual and Performing Arts at FGCU as part of the NCAT’s Program in Course Redesign. Jim received his master’s from Colorado State University in 1988 and his doctorate from the University of Tennessee in 1993. He has taught courses in nineteenth-century United States Literature and Culture and in Environmental Literature at the University of Tennessee (1989-1994) and FGCU (1994 to present). He has also received funds and grants to support several readings and workshops on campus, including grants from the Florida Humanities Council. He has presented at a wide variety of international, national, and regional conferences as well as at symposiums and workshops on course redesign, including the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association Meeting; the Course Redesign Symposium at Seton Hall (keynote address); the World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education; the Conference on College Composition and Communication; and the Creative Online Course Design and Teaching Conference. In addition, he served as the moderator for the Dallas TeleLearning Professional Development Seminar on Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century. Finally, he has published one article on the redesign, co-authored with colleagues at FGCU, entitled “Online Education in the Visual and Performing Arts: Strategies for Increasing Learning and Reducing Costs” in the January 2006 Journal of Educators Online.
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