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SDSU EDTEC Welcomes Two New Faculty Members This Fall semester 2000, the department welcomed two new faculty members. Hired as assistant professors, Vanessa Dennen and Minjuan Wang were selected from a highly qualified pool of over 70 applicants. Minjuan and Vanessa bring the total number of EDTEC faculty to nine.
Prior to her doctoral work, Vanessa completed her masters degree in Instructional Design, Development, and Evaluation at Syracuse University (SU) in 1995. Vanessa was first accepted into the MFA program in Computer Art at SU. However, before attending she decided the program was not the right match for her. In the meantime, a professor of nutrition contacted Vanessa regarding a GA position. She wanted Vanessa to make educational CD-ROMs for a self-study class. So, "we went department shopping based on my interests, and I landed in Instructional Design. I figured a free masters degree wasn't a bad deal in addition to getting the job experience that I needed. About 3 weeks into the first semester things just clicked and the rest is history." Vanessa's research interests center around issues pertaining to design, facilitation and evaluation of online learning. She has worked on studies of problem-based learning activities in online classes, online communities of practice, and student discourse patterns in online courses and currently has multiple research and consulting projects going on in this area. Vanessa is excited by the way SDSU EDTEC faculty members work together and by the array of practical yet intellectually stimulating projects that are underway within the department. This past Fall semester 2000, Vanessa taught Technologies for Course Delivery (EDTEC 572), Project Management (EDTEC 684) and co-taught Evaluation Techniques (ED 791A). During the Spring 2001, she will teach Evaluation Practicum (ED 791C), and will continue to teach EDTEC 684. Originally from the Northeastern US, this is Vanessa's first time living east of Chicago. Not surprisingly, she's adapting to the San Diego lifestyle - training for her first marathon and planning to re-learn how to sail, having initially learned as a teenager.
During the Fall 2000 semester, Minjuan taught Educational Research (ED 690) and Technologies for Teaching (EDTEC 470). She will teach Instructional Design (EDTEC 544) and and continue to teach ED 690 for the Spring 2001 semester. Minjuan states that she is excited about teaching - "I have discovered my passion for teaching at SDSU. I enjoy working with students, and think of myself as a learner and facilitator. I especially like to work with diverse students." Minjuan completed her doctoral studies at the School of Information Science and Learning Technologies, University of Missouri-Columbia. Like many EDTEC people, Minjuan came to the field via other interests. Born in Lingbao, P. R. China, Minjuan attended Peking (Beijing) University, completing her B.A. Chinese literature in 1995. She came to the U.S. initially to study comparative literature at Penn State University. While there, Minjuan taught Chinese and worked on developing CD and Internet-based programs for second language learning with Dr. Mary Ann Lyman-Hager, who introduced her to the field of Educational Technology. Interestingly enough, Dr. Lyman-Hager is now a professor and director of the LARC (Language Acquisition Resource Center) program here at SDSU. Minjuan pursued her newly found interests by enrolling in a doctoral program at the University of Missouri which she recently completed. There, she co-taught classes in Higher Educational Technology and Interface Design. She also worked as an instructional design consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers, and has collaborated with Motorola University in conducting research and evaluation on the Internet-based Expeditions (iExpeditions) program. Minjuan's professional interests lie in computer-supported collaborative learning, technology and teacher education, instructional design, and computer-assisted language learning. Her research has concentrated on technology and teacher education, and Internet-based problem-solving activities with a focus on learner interactions. While these two are still on her research agenda, she hopes to contribute more to the understanding of Internet-mediated work and learning. On another note, Minjuan has been writing novels in Chinese for many years to reflect and meditate on life. She co-authored a literature book, which became a best-seller in 1996. Although she still plans to write, her current priorities are to publish scholarly articles and contribute to the field of EDTEC. |
Vanessa
Dennen arrived
at SDSU EDTEC via Indiana University (IU) and SUNY Buffalo, where she
was a visiting professor last year. She will complete her doctoral studies
in Instructional Systems Technology from IU this Spring semester. While
there, she served as an Associate Instructor for Microcomputers in Education,
receiving both an Outstanding Associate Instructor award for her teaching
and the Kemp Award for the instructional materials she developed for
the course. 
In
deciding to accept the faculty position at SDSU, Minjuan Wang
was attracted to the prestige of the department, the well-known faculty,
and the coastal city of San Diego. Having been here for a semester,
she's been impressed by the good relations among EDTEC faculty, and
by the activity and unity of the students, in particular, SAGE, the
EDTEC student organization.