Candidate's Statement
Goals for Scholarship | Teaching | Service | Research Agenda
My overall career goal is to become a well-rounded scholar, which I define as an innovative and respected researcher; an engaging and reflective teacher; and a responsible, compassionate, and dedicated worker in the service of education. I have carefully chosen these adjectives because each encapsulates several specific attributes that I will relate to my philosophies, efforts, and plans throughout this dossier. These are large but, in my estimation, worthwhile goals. I intend to pursue these goals in the context of higher education as a faculty member in a School of Education.
I have been involved in higher education for over twenty years as a student, instructor, and staff member in a series of increasingly technical positions. As Manager of Data Processing in the Student Records Office at Santa Clara University, I led the department’s transition to a new information system in the mid-1980s. As a Technology Specialist in Institutional Research, I designed and built a data mart to store historical data and improve reporting and analysis in support of strategic planning. As the University Webmaster, I led the redesign of the university’s website and trained over 100 faculty, staff, and students to build and maintain websites. I also studied screenwriting and filmmaking and wrote, produced, and/or directed several award-winning short films.
When I first learned about the field of Instructional Systems Technology (IST), I knew that I had found a career path in which I could utilize and expand my knowledge and skills in research, writing, teaching, design, programming, and media production. My original goal while earning a Master’s degree in Instructional Technology was to work with faculty to improve their teaching through the appropriate use of technology. I soon decided, however, that I wanted to develop a deeper understanding of the field’s theories and practices so that I could guide designers and teachers in their journeys toward expertise and also contribute new knowledge to the field. Ultimately I hope that my efforts will contribute to the transformation of our education system into a learner-centered, achievement-based system that better serves the needs of all learners and of society through the appropriate and effective use of technology.
Goals for Scholarship
My idea of an innovative and respected researcher is someone who applies not only his knowledge, skills, and curiosity but also his imagination and creativity to generate new theories, to synthesize information and ideas, and to open new domains of research and practice. Ideally this approach results in respect from his peers as evidenced by citations of his work and invitations to publish, speak, and present his ideas and research.
Through my research I want to advance understanding in IST by designing computer-mediated learning environments (e.g. games/simulations) and tools that apply and test theories, models, and practices relevant to teaching, learning, and design. From a design perspective, I want to explore and document how instructional games/simulations are conceived, created, and improved. I led a team in designing and testing a paper prototype of a simulation for pre-service teachers, and I presented that work at two conferences. I am also first author of a paper based on that work which was presented at the 2009 AECT conference and published in the proceedings. I collaborated with colleagues on a study of gameplay data from the online version of the Diffusion Simulation Game (DSG). Our findings—along with our review of the relevant literature—informed our redesign of the DSG, a project that is providing the context for further design-based research of instructional games/simulations. This study had several limitations which I have undertaken to address in my dissertation research, for which I am proposing to formalize a method for verifying the accuracy of a simulation's computational model.
From an education perspective, I am devising ways to evaluate how effective and efficient games/simulations are in promoting learning. Games and simulations are goal-oriented (i.e. intentional) systems and are therefore appropriate for applying and evaluating systems theories, e.g. General Systems Theory (GST; Bertalanffy, 1950) and Axiomatic Theories of Intentional Systems (ATIS; Thompson, 2006), as well as systems models such as those used in Instructional Systems Design/Development (ISD).
I am particularly interested in studying methods and uses of assessment in games/simulations, and how dynamic analysis of a learner’s interactions with the system’s components (objects, rules, other players and non-player characters, etc.) can be used to provide corrective and supportive feedback, customized learning experiences, and visualizations of relevant data for debriefing and reflection. I am also interested in how analysis of game-play data may be used in formative evaluation of games/simulations. I think that MAPSAT (Map & Analyze Patterns & Structures Across Time) can be used to accomplish this, and I have been working with Dr. Frick and others to develop MAPSAT software to support this kind of research (Frick & Myers, 2010). I am currently working with colleagues to redesign the DSG so that players’ interaction trails are captured and the data are stored in a database designed to facilitate MAPSAT analysis.
Goals for Teaching
I envision an engaging and reflective teacher as one who motivates learners by providing learning opportunities that are authentic, relevant, and optimally challenging for each learner, an approach that is consistent with Merrill's (2002) first principles of instruction. This requires understanding each learner’s needs and goals, acknowledging and activating her prior knowledge, and providing instructional activities that are just challenging enough without being too frustrating (i.e. in what Vygotsky, 1978, described as the learner’s zone of proximal development). An engaged learner is likely to spend more time on tasks related to learning and to be more successful. When we are young, play is an important vehicle for learning (see Piaget, 1962, on the relationship between symbolic play and representational intelligence), and I believe that a ludic approach to education is more natural and more humane than sober, regimented instruction.
I first taught in higher education 25 years ago. As an instructor in English, I tried to make composition and rhetoric more interesting for my students by encouraging them to write about topics that were interesting and meaningful to them. Through my subsequent studies in IST, I have been exposed to a variety of strategies and methods for making instruction more engaging. I am by nature somewhat reclusive, so when I’m teaching I sometimes feel as though I’m adopting a persona to be the kind of teacher I want to be. After observing me in the classroom for the first time, one of my early mentor teachers suggested that I should give acting lessons to the other instructors. Since then I’ve thought of teaching as a performing art, and I try to make every performance engaging as well as enlightening. In other words, my goal is to make instruction a learning experience (as Dewey, 1938/1997, described it): a purposeful progression of doing and undergoing that leads to fulfillment.
My research and teaching intersect in my work on a simulation for pre-service teachers that will give them practice in individualizing instruction through the selection of well-designed activities and the use of appropriate technologies. Teaching pre-service teachers in W301 has given me a deeper understanding of their pedagogical and technological knowledge, which will inform my on-going design decisions for the simulation. Ultimately I would like to draw from my research and teaching experience to design games/simulations to be used in IST programs, and I would like to teach instructional design students how to design effective instructional games/simulations.
Goals for Service
All of my career goals coalesce in my desire to be a responsible, compassionate, and dedicated worker in the service of education. As a young adult, I chose education as a career because I thought it would be the best way for me to have a positive impact on society. I believe that education can be a great equalizer by opening new possibilities and opportunities for people through their development of knowledge, skills, beliefs, and social relationships. With the exception of two years working as a Web designer in Silicon Valley during the first “dotcom boom,” I have dedicated myself to supporting and improving higher education, both as a teacher and as a technologist. In 1995 my employer, Santa Clara University, recognized my efforts by awarding me the “Staff Outstanding Service and Achievement Award.”
Ultimately I would like to serve as editor of a scholarly publication, which is related to my goal of becoming a respected researcher. Traditionally this might entail editing a peer-reviewed journal or a book with chapters written by various authors; however, I am also open to new forms of publication made possible by advances in technology. No matter what the form, I would like to contribute my knowledge and skills to assist in the dissemination of theories, ideas, and the results of research.
Given my years of experience in various facets of higher education, I think that I could also be effective in an administrative capacity, perhaps by serving as a committee chair, a program coordinator, a department chair, or even higher in the hierarchy of administration.
It has been my experience that many faculty are reluctant to serve in these ways, and some even treat these positions with disdain because they are seen as bureaucratic and subordinate to the primary purposes of the institution. However, from a systems perspective the administration serves a necessary function which, when done well, can have a significant impact on the environment and the well-being of the people affiliated with the institution. I have had the good fortune to work with several professors who were exemplary administrators, and at some point in my career I might seek the opportunity to serve my institution as an administrator.
Primary Focus Area and Research Agenda
Within the traditional domains of instructional technology, my primary focus is on design and development. I have many years of experience working as a designer (in the broadest sense of the word) of film and animation, games and puzzles, computer software, databases, websites and applications, and instruction that utilizes all of those media and more. It seems to me a natural progression at this point of my life to research the nature, theories, methods, and processes of instructional design and to guide others in gaining the knowledge and skills they need to become designers, teachers, and scholars.
I am particularly interested in improving education through the design and use of games, simulations, and virtual environments. I have found through my participation in conferences and through my review of the literature that there is significant and increasing interest in games and simulations for learning. Through my research I am trying to advance understanding in IST by designing games/simulations and related tools that apply and test theories, models, and practices relevant to teaching, learning, and design. From a design perspective, I am exploring and documenting how instructional games/simulations are conceived, created, and improved. From an education perspective, I intend to devise ways of evaluating how effective and efficient games/simulations are in promoting learning.
I am currently focusing in particular on how games and simulations can be designed so that they effectively promote learning while remaining engaging and motivating. Some of the broad questions I hope to answer are:
- How can games be designed to assess a learner’s prior knowledge, skills, and attitudes?
- How can games be designed to provide individualized, optimally challenging learning experiences?
- How can game-based learning be measured and assessed?
- How can features of games be used to improve learning?
This type of inquiry—which goes under various names, including design-based research (Barab & Squire, 2004; Wang & Hannafin, 2005), design and development research (Richey and Klein, 2007), and formative research (Reigeluth & Frick, 1999)—combines qualitative and quantitative methods and contributes to both theory and practice. The result should be a desired change in the world as well as a better understanding of how that change was accomplished and how it can be adapted for other situations.
Games and simulations are goal-oriented (i.e. intentional) systems and are therefore appropriate for applying and evaluating systems theories, e.g. General Systems Theory (GST) and Axiomatic Theories of Intentional Systems (ATIS), as well as systems models such as those used in Instructional Systems Design/Development (ISD). I am particularly interested in studying methods and uses of assessment in games/simulations, and how dynamic analysis of a learner’s interactions with the system’s components (objects, rules, other players and non-player characters, etc.) can be used to provide corrective and supportive feedback, customized learning experiences, and visualizations of relevant data for debriefing and reflection.
I am also interested in how analysis of game-play data may be used in formative evaluation of games/simulations. My current research involves utilizing MAPSAT’s Analysis of Patterns in Time (APT) methodology to analyze game-play data from the Diffusion Simulation Game. I intend to demonstrate the applicability of APT as a design tool and to a method to facilitate the use of APT by designers of instructional software.
References
Barab, S. A., & Squire, K. (2004). Design-based research: Putting a stake in the ground. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 13(1), 1-14.
Bertalanffy, L. (1950). An outline of general systems theory. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 1(2).
Dewey, J. (1997). Experience and education. New York: Touchstone. (Original work published 1938).
Frick, T., & Myers, R. (2010). Map and analyze patterns and structures across time (MAPSAT): Theoretical foundations for observing systemic change. Paper presented at the annual convention of the Association for Educational Communications & Technology, Anaheim, CA.
Merrill, M. D. (2002). First principles of instruction. Educational Technology Research and Development, 50(3), 43-59.
Piaget, J. (1962). Play, dreams and imitation in childhood (C. Gattegno & F. M. Hodgson, Trans.). New York: W. W. Norton.
Reigeluth, C. M., & Frick, T. W. (1999). Formative research: A methodology for creating and improving design theories. In C. M. Reigeluth (Ed.), Instructional design theories and models: A new paradigm of instructional theory (Vol. II, pp. 633-651). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Richey, R. C., & Klein, J. D. (2007). Design and development research. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Thompson, K. (2006). "General system" defined for predictive technologies of A-GSBT (Axiomatic-General Systems Behavioral Theory). Scientific Inquiry, 7(1), 1-11.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wang, F., & Hannafin, M. J. (2005). Design-based research and technology-enhanced learning environments. Educational Technology Research and Development, 53(4), 5-23.