Research
I am an interdisciplinary teacher-scholar at Washington and Jefferson College. My areas of research surround computing education and cross-disciplinary uses of technology. From a research perspective, I am interested in knowing more about how people learn through computing approaches; and how user interactions, interface design, and computer graphics impact user understandings of content.
Computing
My work includes explorations of technical development, learning science, visual interpretation, and interface design. My production activities in web and mobile development as well as digital media are paramount to my academic work.
Theoretically, I'm concerned with the the actual learning experience and what it brings to our ability to understand concepts. My current considerations of learning science focus on Problem-based Learning (PBL). I am interested in the application of such pedagogical approaches to interdisciplinary approaches toward Computing Education, and this work in reflected in a forthcoming volume on the topic – New Directions for Computing Education: Embedding Computing Across Disciplines.
Prior to this book project, I recently completed two grant-funded projects focused on mobile application production and dynamic web development. In addition to the production of software, these projects are also studied the effectiveness of data collection for both research and education in various scientific fields.
Interdisciplinary Work
Although my primary fields of expertise involve computing and education, I possess a multidisciplinary background with academic preparation in archaeology as well as computing. My initial fieldwork and study revolved around the Korinthia in Greece. More recently, funding and interest have driven me toward research questions regarding the ancestral puebloans of the southwest U.S.
Beyond my own research interests in archaeology however resides a deep commitment to making various fields of inquiry accessible to non-professionals. This motivation drives much of my technology production and development work. Such activity has provided many classroom experiences and numerous opportunities for student research throughout my career; and it provides circumstances for solving problems that are rooted in many other fields and not solely the purview of a computing project.
More recently these endeavors have culminated in collaborations with colleagues in Biology and Environmental science. However my mobile application development and research in the American Southwest remains ongoing.