Teaching and Curriculum

Nearly 30 years ago as a graduate assistant at the University of Kansas, I taught my first courses in programming languages (e.g FORTRAN and Pascal – wow, I’m really dating myself..). I found I really enjoyed teaching missouri-columbia1and continue to do so today.

In my current academic department the School of Information Science and Learning Technologies, at the University of Missouri, we offer graduate programs in Online Education, Technology in Schools, Learning Systems Design and a PhD in Information Science and Learning Technologies.

Many of our Masters level courses and degrees are offered in a completely online format, allowing students a great deal of flexibility for completing degrees.

I welcome the challenge of creating engaging and welcoming environments in an online format – and in fact a significant part of my research is concerned with developing effective online learning environments.

 

Featured Course:

Designing Games for Learning 6.2016Designing Games For Learning
This course is part of our new certificate in “Games for Learning” where Graduate students and upper division undergraduates you will to …

Learn the basic lingo of digital and analog game design and how games can be used to support  meaningful learning, via hands on gaming experience

Design and prototype analog games

Participate in play-testing of their peers’ analog games

Analyze video games to identify principles of game design to support learning in a discussion forum

Create designs to convert existing digital games to games for learning, using said principles and storyboarding

Learn to use the primary functions of a digital game maker shell (that enables one to make games without being a serious programmer (e.g. Game maker/ Unity/ Greenfoot/ ARIS games.)

Identify art assets that are part of game design and implement assets into an existing game.

Contact me for enrollment and further information.

 

Current and past courses I have taught:

Needs assessment (ISLT 9474): 

Before you can design any kind of learning or user system, you need to understand the users’ needs. This course will help you develop skills to assess those needs via multiple methods such as surveys, focus groups, expert interviews and methods of task analysis.

Intro to Web Development (ISLT 7360):

In this hands-on, project-based course, learn and apply the basics of HTML coding. Knowing a little bit of HTML will allow you to customize sites built using page builders such as Weebly, or Google sites.

Rapid Development (ISLT 7383):

Take this project based course to learn how to create learning modules that can incorporate a variety of rich-media, allow for learner interactivity, or adaptive learning scenarios that tailor content to a learner’s knowledge, without having to learn a complex programming language.

Instructional Systems Design (ISLT 9471):

Learn to design high quality training for a variety of settings, including corporations, educational institutions, healthcare, and military.  Learn to analyze learning needs, determine contextual factors, identify learning outcomes, select appropriate instructional strategies and technologies, assess learning, and evaluate the quality of your work.

Designing Online Learning (ISLT 9485):

In this course you will use a combination of Learning Management System and web based tools to design complete online learning modules that are focused on higher order learning objectives (such as analysis, synthesis, evaluation, problem solving).

Exploring Canvas/ Blackboard/ Moodle (ISLT 7371 – 73):

These one credit, 8 week courses are designed to give students hands on experiences with their own course sites in one of these Learning Management Systems. You don’t learn “ about” the LMS; you get to act as an instructor and use the LMS to create course materials.

Click here for a more exhaustive list of classes offered at SISLT.