Instructional Architect
OUR PEOPLE
Mimi Recker
Mimi Recker is a Professor in the Department of Instructional Technology at Utah State University, in the beautiful mountains of Northern Utah. In two current NSDL grants, her research group is developing software tools, professional development programs, and sustainable dissemination strategies so that teachers and learners can make better use of online learning resources to help improve learning.
She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and held academic positions at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
Jim Dorward
Jim is a Professor in the Department of Elementary Education at Utah State University. He specializes in Program Evaluation, Research Methods, Mathematics Education, and attending meetings. Dr. Dorward has published occasionally in mathematics education and evaluation journals and been principal investigator and project evaluator on several large-scale national projects.
Jim enjoys all outdoor pursuits and spent 15 seasons a climbing ranger in Grand Teton National Park. He is also a private pilot with a host of excuses for flying in the mountains and deserts of the West.
Andy Walker
Andy Walker is an assistant professor in the department of Instructional Technology at Utah State University. Like all assistant professors he's mildly neurotic about tenure--but enjoys his job immensely. His research interests are in problem-based learning and in collaborative filtering (recommender systems) for educational purposes. Also like all assistant professors he loves to hear himself talk (you can "listen in" at his blog).
Andy is a recovering geek, having worked on the project as a doctoral student back in the day he took a faculty position at Lehigh University for three years before coming back to USU. For the past couple of years he's been working on a meta-analysis of problem-based learning most recently with his fabulous RA Heather. When finished he plans on yelling "We're going to Disneyland!" (they'll be presenting at AECT in Anaheim Fall 07).
Brooke Robertshaw
Brooke Robertshaw is a second year PhD student in Instructional Technology here at Utah State University. Her interests include reuse of digital resources, the interplay of culture and reuse of open educational resources, and how these resources can be used to help empower those most disempowered here in the United States. She works with the IA team as a research assistant.
Brooke came to Utah State from Eugene, Oregon where she was a community organizer in the peace and human justice communities. Among the variety of different causes she worked with her most proud accomplishments include being a founding board member of the Justice Not War Coalition and being the Assistant Manager of the Andrea Ortiz for City Council campaign, which lead to the successful election of the first Latina to the Eugene City Council. During her last year in Eugene she was the technical coordinator for LEAD (Leadership, Education, Adventure and Direction), a program that gives at-risk teens the skills to change the world. She got her Master's degree in Instructional Technology from the University of Georgia (1998) and her B.A. in Elementary Education (1995) from Oglethorpe University.
When not working Brooke enjoys biking, cooking, personal growth work, and knitting the occasional hat.
Heather Leary
Heather Leary is a second-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Instructional Technology at Utah State University (USU). Her research interests include problem-based learning, digital libraries, and open education. She is involved in Instructional Architect (IA) as a research assistant.
Heather received a Master of Education (2005) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (2000) from Utah State University. During that time she worked for the University with faculty, staff, and students in various capacities as a Projectionist, Photographer, Graphic Designer, Cataloging Assistant, and Digital Library Assistant.
Heather enjoys spending her free time with her husband and two daughters camping, hiking, cooking, reading, snow skiing, and watching movies.
Beijie Xu
Beijie Xu is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Instructional Technology & Learning Sciences at Utah State University. Her research interests are intelligent tutoring, web metrics, educational data mining. Her IA job will start on Spring 2009 as a research assistant.
Beijie received a BA degree in English/Science and a BS degree in Computer Science Application in 2003 from the University of Science & Technology of China. She started to work on a master program in Computer Science since 2006. She likes to jump between different fields. That's why she is doing a concurrent degree ... again.
Beijie likes swimming to keep fit, but she doesn't like hiking, just to avoid sunburn. Now she is addicted to pingpong and billiards.
Jeffrey Olsen
Jeffrey Olsen is a PhD student in Instructional Technology at Utah State University. Previously he earned a Master of Science degree in Instructional Design and Technology from Western Illinois University, a Master of Arts in Education with emphasis in Secondary Social Studies Education from Pacific Lutheran University, and a Bachelor of Arts in History with a minor in English from Brigham Young University. He has taught at all three levels of public education teaching reading, history, English, theater, and technical theater. He also worked as a Regional Education/Training Specialist for Franciscan Health Systems before continuing his studies at Utah State. His research interests include, international education, problem-based learning models, and technology integration in secondary social studies classrooms. When Jeffrey completes his degree he will carry on a family legacy as a third generation aggie alumnist.
Linda Sellers
Linda is a graduate student in the Department of Instructional Technology & Learning Sciences at Utah State University. She works with the IA as a research assistant. Her current interest is in finding efficient ways for K-12 teachers to use the Internet and thinks the IA is a great software tool for teachers.
Linda earned her BS in American Studies at Utah State University and an Elementary Education Certificate from Brigham Young University, in 1999. She has worked in Utah's K-12 public education system for almost 9 years. She taught 2nd and 5th grades in Jordan district and was an ESL teacher in Logan district. For the past four years, Linda taught 3rd and 4th graders at Edith Bowen Laboratory School, which is located on USU's beautiful campus.