Previous MILRF Cohorts

Kim Chamberlain is a Residential English Faculty member at GateWay Community College. She has taught English Composition, Reading, and (ESL) English to Speakers of Other Languages since 2006.  

Ms. Chamberlain joined GateWay Community College in 2021 as a Residential English faculty member, where she teaches composition, reading, and literacy courses. Ms. Chamberlain is trained and experienced in curriculum and program design, student-centered teaching practices, and the use of technology in the classroom to facilitate innovative teaching and learning. Because she enjoys conducting action research in the classroom, she's experimented with hyflex teaching and tried grading contracts in entry-level writing courses.  In addition to experimenting in the classroom, she has taken on new roles at GateWay to support the college. She has coordinated the International Education Committee, hosted international film discussions, hosted Phi Theta Kappa induction ceremonies, served as Reading Program Coordinator, and  Phi Theta Kappa Student Advisor.  

In this fellowship, she will research students’ perceptions of the use of  AI (Artificial Intelligence) on their writing in a First Year Composition course. Through this research, she hopes to further discipline knowledge of community college students’ use of AI in writing. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in English, a Master's in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, and continues to work towards a Master's in Rhetoric, Writing and Digital Media Studies. In her free time, she reads, cooks, plays with her daughter, and joins her dogs on walks.

Ann Richardson started her career at Maricopa Community Colleges as a nursing educator and has built a career in clinical practice, nursing education, assessment, and student success. She is currently a residential nursing faculty member at Mesa Community College, teaching in the Associate Degree Nursing program and serving as the Department Assessment Coordinator. With over 30 years of critical care nursing experience. She also has more than eight years of nursing education experience, contributing to program assessment, curriculum evaluation, accreditation efforts, standardized testing, and student learning outcomes.

Richardson is working towards an EdD in Nursing Education at the University of West Georgia. Her dissertation, titled "Supporting Clinical Judgment Development in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Quasi-Experimental Study of Artificial Intelligence Experiential Case Studies," explores how AI-supported experiential case studies can enhance the development of clinical judgment among undergraduate nursing students. Her academic interests include experiential learning, AI in nursing education, diverse learners, assessment, and innovative teaching methods.

As a research fellow, Richardson is dedicated to exploring how artificial intelligence-supported experiential learning can enhance clinical judgment, especially among culturally and linguistically diverse undergraduate nursing students. Through her work, she aims to produce practical and evidence-based insights that will assist nursing educators in creating engaging and equitable learning experiences. Her ongoing commitment reflects a deep passion for preparing future nurses to confidently meet the evolving challenges of today’s complex clinical environments.

Dr. Jeannette Shaffer is an instructional technologist, researcher, and artist. She received her PhD in Instructional Technology from George Mason University, an MS in Computer Education from Shenandoah University, and a BS in Art Education from the University of South Carolina. She holds credentials for an Information Technology Certificate from the University of Virginia and Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals Certification.

Dr. Shaffer currently serves as Faculty Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at South Mountain Community College (SMCC) in Arizona. Before joining SMCC, she worked at the Maricopa County Community College District as a Principal Investigator on a National Science Foundation Grant and as the Instructional Technologist for the Maricopa Center for Learning and Innovation. Before entering higher education, she was a high school instructional technologist and art teacher.

As a research fellow, Dr. Shaffer’s current project examines whether AI-stress-tested assignments produce student artifacts that accurately reflect the reasoning and knowledge transfer the instructor intends. The intended contribution is an evidence-informed process for evaluating and redesigning assignments in response to increasingly effective agentic AI.

Her broader research investigates how uncertainty, professional judgment, and alternative possibilities can be preserved in complex academic decision-making to support deeper sensemaking, futures thinking, and elevated judgement, with AI serving as an assistive rather than determinative tool.

Linda Zehr is a residential economics faculty member at Chandler-Gilbert Community College, where she has taught since 2006.  She has held several leadership positions, including Division Chair of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and currently serves as economics co-lead and political science lead faculty.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Master of Arts in Political Science and Economics from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas.

Professor Zehr’s teaching connects economic principles to real-world decision-making, preparing students to navigate their future professional and personal lives successfully.

As a Maricopa Institute for Learning Research Fellow, she will investigate how students perceive their career paths amid rapid advances in artificial intelligence.  Her study will assess students’ initial career perceptions and examine how those perspectives evolve following targeted instruction on AI applications and the emerging skills required in the modern workforce.
 

Julie Lazzara began her career within the Maricopa Community College District in 2006 as an adjunct faculty member, teaching courses within counseling and psychology. This led her to pursue a full-time residential faculty position in psychology, in which she has served since 2014. She holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from Grand Canyon University, where her dissertation explored the connection between course materials and teaching approaches. Prior to her doctoral work, she earned a Master of Counseling and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, both from Arizona State University. Her scholarly contributions are evident in peer-reviewed articles on topics such as renewable assignments, teaching approaches, and the use of social annotation in psychology courses, in addition to significant contributions to Open Educational Resources.

As a research fellow, Dr. Lazzara's current project is designed to investigate the varying levels of intrinsic motivation students exhibit for diverse course activities. By comparing these motivational levels, the ultimate goal is to provide valuable insights that will directly inform instructors in making more effective decisions regarding course design. This work builds upon her deep understanding of pedagogical strategies and her commitment to enhancing student learning outcomes.

Dr. Kimberly Mauldin is a residential faculty at South Mountain Community College where she teaches English and currently serves as Language Arts Division Chair. Dr. Mauldin earned a Bachelor of Arts (History) at Arizona State University, a Master of Arts (Linguistics) at the University of Hawaii, Manoa where she was an East-West Center Fellow investigating the acquisition of language and culture in Southeast Asian Languages, and an Ed.D. from Argosy University in Instructional Leadership where she analyzed the relationship between language and student learning outcomes. 

This preliminary investigation explores the effects of integrating bilingual/ transnational topics into first-year composition classes on students' success and retention. SMCC’s student population has many bilingual and transnational students who frequently encounter intersecting challenges such as language barriers, unfamiliar academic discourse, economic stress, immigration challenges, cultural dissonance, discrimination, and imposter syndrome. By embedded bilingual/ transnational components into assignments and scaffolding metacognition about those concepts into writing assignments, these students may increase their sense of empathy, self-efficacy, and belonging in college, resulting in improved outcomes for all students.

Roja Najafi is an art historian, translator, educator, and curator. She received her PhD in art history from the University of Texas at Austin in 2016, an MA in Art History and Criticism from Brooklyn College, CUNY, and a filmmaking degree from the Art University in Tehran. In a global context, her research explores materiality, evaluates the fluidity between abstraction and figuration in postwar and contemporary studio practices, and concentrates on the reception of avant-garde and counter-cultural practices in Iran and the United States. 

Dr. Najafi currently leads the Art History program and serves as a curator at Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGCC) in Arizona. Before joining CGCC, Roja was a curator at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art and, prior to that, the 2013-2014 Vivian L. Smith Foundation Fellow at the Menil Collection in Houston. In 2022-23, she was a Samuel H. Kress Teaching Fellow at the Archives of American Art. Additionally, she serves on the SECAC Board as the at-large Director representing Region 2 (West).

Her current research through the Maricopa Institute for Learning Research Fellowship examines how shorter, audience-focused assignments in Writing-Certified Art History courses can enhance student writing proficiency, engagement with course content, and confidence. By shifting toward concise, visually rich tasks designed for general audiences, the project aims to foster critical thinking, creativity, and clear communication, equipping students with transferable skills for both academic and professional success. The study evaluates the effectiveness of these assignments in helping students articulate ideas, master course content, and write confidently for diverse audiences.

Dr. Keziah Tinkle-Williams, an award-winning instructor, creative technologist, and phenomenological researcher, has a long history of supporting students in higher education through a variety of team-based, gamified courses in First-Year Composition, Technical Writing, Literature, Mythology, and Humanities. Tinkle-Williams began her career at Eastern Washington University, earning a BA in Literary Studies and an MA in Rhetoric, Composition, and Technical Communications before relocating to Arizona in 2008.

In addition to teaching at Chandler-Gilbert Community College, Tinkle-Williams has presented interactive workshops at various conference venues concerning AI Literacy and AI and Ethical Bias. These presentations allowed Dr. Tinkle-Williams to blend her study of rhetoric while completing her master's degree with the knowledge gained studying cognition and machine learning as part of her PhD in General Psychology, with an emphasis in Cognition and Instruction. To earn this title, Tinkle-Williams completed a descriptive phenomenological study of group dynamics in team-based, gamified courses. 

In addition to conducting phenomenological research on student retention within MCCCD, Dr. Tinkle-Williams is a consultant for two national Multiple Sclerosis organizations as a cognitive psychologist. In the role of 4DX Champion, Dr. Tinkle-Williams designed and implemented faculty onboarding to the district-wide program, thus supporting the district’s collective efforts to increase the retention of students across the district. As Phi Theta Kappa advisor, she has earned numerous awards, including the Advisor Paragon Award for the Arizona region, in addition to 10 chapter rewards related to student-research and college-wide projects.

After earning his B.A. from Oberlin College, Keith Anderson went on to get an M.F.A. in Creative Writing at the University of Alabama and a Ph.D. in Comparative Cultural and Literary Studies at the University of Arizona. While working on his dissertation, he taught full-time for six years on the Navajo Reservation for Navajo Community College (since renamed Diné College). 

Dr. Anderson first joined the ranks of the Full-Time Residential Faculty in Maricopa in August 2000. For the past 18 years, he has taught face-to-face, hybrid, and asynchronous online classes in First-Year Composition, English, and Humanities. He made a brief foray into faculty governance by serving on the Faculty Senate and as President in the 2010-2011 Academic Year. In the years hence, he turned his focus more towards curriculum development, culminating in specializations and corresponding courses in Game Studies and Disability Studies. 

His study on the Research Fellowship tests the impact the infusion of humor and integration of play activities has on class retention, both in terms of students’ learning and their staying enrolled. His commitment to lifelong learning has carried over into more extracurricular personal pursuits, such as playing a variety of stringed folk instruments, and thrice participating in National Endowment of the Humanities Summer Institutes. Currently, he is about two hundred pages into a novel and is designing and developing a serious, place-based game based on actual events that took place in Phoenix and the surrounding area. 

Rhonda Barrett is a dedicated educator who is currently serving as a Residential Faculty member in the Reading and English department at Phoenix College. With over 20 years of experience in education, Rhonda has worked across various educational levels, from early childhood to higher education, in both instructional and administrative roles. She specializes in teaching in high-poverty classrooms, Title 1 schools, and supporting minorities and students of color, and her interventions have led to significant academic improvements in struggling institutions. Rhonda holds four degrees in education, communication, and literacy, and she strongly believes in education as the key to success. She is a passionate advocate for equal opportunities for all children, irrespective of their backgrounds.

 Currently, Rhonda is studying the impact of Whole Brain Thinking, focusing on methods to engage students and implement knowledge effectively in writing courses. Through this research, Rhonda hopes that by implementing Whole Brain Thinking Model into a college-level writing course(ENG101) would enhance student engagement, comprehension, and competency in writing skills at the college level. By engaging multiple cognitive functions of the brain to engage students and to maximize their confidence in their writing ability. Students should leave class feeling confident that they have engaged in the material and can confidently apply it.

While participating in the MILRF program, Shakira Pipher will be conducting a mixed-methods research study to evaluate how high-impact practices(HIPs) impact social work education at Mesa Community College. The project seeks to answer the following questions: How do HIPs enhance social work education? and How do they prepare students for careers in social work? The information from the study can be used to inform future social work curriculum and how it impacts the effective development of future social workers. 

Mrs. Pipher has served the Maricopa Community College District for over 10 years. She served eight years as an adjunct faculty member and one year as an OYO. Currently, she is a residential social work faculty member at MCC. Shakira teaches a variety of social work classes (SWU 171, SWU 183, SWU 291, and SWU 295). Her goals are to: 1. recruit new social work students to MCC, 2. support current students, and 3. advocate for students as they graduate from MCC and/or transfer to their next educational journey.  She views social work as a versatile career field that focuses on facilitating positive change. In Fall 2024, Shakira will take on the role of the director of the social work program at MCC. 

Shakira Pipher received her master’s degree in social work from Arizona State University.  Shakira is a licensed master social worker (LMSW) issued by the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners. She has spent the last 23 years working in the human/social services, mental/behavioral health, community development, and education fields. 

Kaitlin Southerly is a residential faculty member in the English division at Paradise Valley Community College. Kaitlin earned her B.A. in English from the University of San Diego and then continued her work in  English at Arizona State University, where she earned her M.A. and Ph.D. Her research centered around the intersections of literature and science in the long nineteenth century. She studied how science influenced literature and how literature influenced the development of science and the cultural perception of “the scientist” throughout the Romantic and Victorian periods. Kaitlin started as an adjunct faculty at South Mountain in 2011 and continued there throughout her doctoral studies. After a brief three-year stint teaching at St. Charles Community College and St. Louis University High in St. Louis, Missouri, Kaitlin moved back home to the valley. She joined Paradise Valley as a residential faculty member in 2018.  

Currently, Kaitlin is working to create innovative educational practices that integrate technology and cross-disciplinary approaches for active, engaged, and inclusive learning that reflect current neuroscience and education studies. With the onset of AI in every aspect of education, Kaitlin hopes to develop a way to integrate AI technology in English literature and composition courses that encourages engagement and critical thinking rather than replacing them. Her research will focus on ways to incorporate AI technologies as tools in an English course that can enhance the students’ work without replacing the necessary development of skills and rigor required for future success.

Dr. Lily Davidov is the Faculty Chair for  Accounting, Entrepreneurship, Risk Management & Insurance, and Small Business at Rio Salado College. She is credited with over 20 years of expertise in entrepreneurship, college instruction, executive administration, accounting and finance, strategic planning, curriculum development, and facilitation.  Dr. Davidov comes from a long heritage of international entrepreneurs and is fluent in Russian. 

She is currently studying the effectiveness of incorporating 21st Century Skills micro-credential (badges) into courses as a co-curricular (optional/non-graded) and (mandated/graded) learning activity. Incorporating badge earning into courses may translate into higher retention, completion, and job-ready graduates. In addition to the established curriculum in business studies, online students will have the opportunity to demonstrate skills and competencies in real time. Furthermore, students may better understand the most in-demand skills that are transferable across multiple industries, which may drive student engagement and create relevance to career opportunities.

Jason Farrington is a residential faculty member in the mathematics department at Paradise Valley Community College. He earned a B.A. in political science from Southern Utah University in 1999 and a J.D. in 2002 from the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. After practicing law for 12 years as a corporate bankruptcy attorney, he became a math teacher at Higley High School in Gilbert, Arizona in 2014 and joined the faculty at PVCC in 2021. He earned his M.Ed in secondary education from Arizona State University in 2016 and his M.S. in mathematics from Grand Canyon University in 2019. He is now in his fourth year of a Ph.D. program in mathematics education at ASU, where his research broadly involves making mathematics accessible to all students and is currently focused on retrieval practice in undergraduate mathematics.

Jason’s research project is focused on further developing a learning tool that he calls a “learning inventory.” Learning inventories ask students to recall from memory and reflect upon at least two things that they learned in a previous lesson. Prior research suggests that low-stakes retrieval practice activities like learning inventories can improve the retention of mathematical knowledge as well as the transfer of mathematical reasoning from one context to another. The goal of this research fellowship is to explore ways to improve student engagement with learning inventories in both in-person and online modalities.

Dr. Amanda Hundley is a nursing faculty member at Estrella Mountain Community College. She has been a nurse for 23 years. She started teaching nursing students in 2010. Her practice experience is in cardiovascular intensive care and emergency trauma. Dr. Hundley has extensive experience in simulation and clinical learning. 

She is conducting a mixed-methods research study to evaluate how experiential learning impacts clinical judgment in nursing students. The information from the study can be used to inform nurse educators how experiential learning in the classroom impacts students' clinical judgment.

Dr. Krysten Pampel has been a residential faculty member in the mathematics department at Glendale Community College (GCC) since 2017. She is an alumnus of GCC, earned her master's degree in adult education and training from the University of Phoenix, and earned her Ph.D. in undergraduate mathematics education at Arizona State University. She began her career in education in 2009 as a dual enrollment high school math teacher in the Tolleson Union High School District and began teaching college courses in Fall 2012 for Paradise Valley Community College. 

She is currently studying the effectiveness of oral examinations on entry-level STEM students from MAT151: College Algebra classes. She hopes to show how having students prepare and take an oral examination for each chapter will assist them in creating a deeper understanding of the concepts which will, in turn, show that the students score higher overall on exams. The project seeks to answer the following question: What effect do oral examinations have on students’ retention of mathematical concepts?

Vanessa Sandoval is a residential faculty member at Chandler-Gilbert Community College, where she has taught COM100 Introduction to Communication, COM110 Interpersonal Communication, COM225 Public Speaking, COM230 Small Group Communication, COM263 Intercultural Communication, and COM282AC Volunteerism for Speech Communication: A Service-Learning Experience. Most of her teaching has been in the classroom (in-person), although she has also taught hybrid, online, and live online. For over twenty years, Vanessa has enjoyed teaching a variety of classes in different modalities, with ten years of team teaching in learning communities and over twenty years of incorporating service-learning into her classes. 

Accessibility has been an overall focus of her work at CGCC, which she channeled into promoting and scheduling hybrid and online offerings over 15 years ago and then utilizing a free public speaking textbook in the fall of 2015. More recently, she worked with CGCC OER representatives and found an OER textbook for COM100 Introduction to Communication. COM225 and COM100 are CGCC’s largest offerings in Communication, so the OER impact has large financial savings as well as making the materials accessible from day one.  In addition, an OER text was adopted for COM110 Interpersonal Communication just last year. Her research goal is to understand how inclusivity impacts CGCC students’ perceptions and preferences when understanding and utilizing textbook chapters and materials. Specifically, she is interested in OER Communication materials and how the visual representation in those materials makes a difference to students.

Her educational background consists of a Bachelor of Arts with a Communication Major and a Mexican American Studies Minor from the University of Arizona; a Master of Education from Northern Arizona University; and a Master of Arts in Applied Communication from Northern Arizona University.

Danielle Cowan is a library faculty member at Scottsdale Community College with primary responsibility for collection development. She has over 15 years of experience in librarianship, with an emphasis on information literacy instruction in the health and life sciences. She teaches information studies courses and partners with instruction faculty to embed contextualized information literacy into their curriculum. Recently Danielle founded the Maricopa Native Seed Library which provides free seeds of Sonoran desert plants to the community as well as education on how to establish native plant gardens that support pollinators.

She is currently working on a research study to understand how today’s community college students are using print library collections. Through surveys and analysis of library usage data, she is seeking to better understand the context in which students turn to library print collections. Is usage primarily driven by assignments, or are students using the collection to take deeper dives into their subject area or for personal interest? Do students prefer print or electronic books and what factors might influence such preferences? What percentage of students are considered non-library users, why are they not using the library and how can we encourage the use of library resources? What patterns can be found by analyzing library usage data and how can these patterns better inform our selections of print material?

Roxanna S. Dewey has served as Residential English Faculty at Glendale Community College since 2012. She received a B.A. in English Literature and a B.A. in Spanish from Miami University of Ohio in 1999. Both her M.Ed. with an emphasis in English (2001) and a portion of her doctoral coursework in Higher Educational Leadership were completed at Northern Arizona University. Prior to GCC, she taught high school English, and in her 23rd year as an educator of diverse student populations, she teaches college level composition and research, and literature courses in varying modalities and lengths. Currently, she serves on the Curriculum Committee, as the English Faculty Representative for Guided Pathways Applied Technology Field of Interest, as a volunteer in the Writing Center, and as a Scholarship Reviewer for the Maricopa Community Colleges Foundation. As a member of TYCA and NCTE, she is currently serving on a National Taskforce to Study the Impact of 2020 on Two Year College English. Her passion for teaching and student success drives her career. A determined advocate for her students and their success, Roxanna's interests include the connections between literature and students' lives, formative assessment, executive function, understanding learning differences in adult populations, and the relationship between the affective domain and the writing process in the community college classroom. She integrates a multitude of student-centered, active learning strategies and multimodal instruction to optimize student retention and persistence. Outside of the classroom, Roxanna enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, practicing yoga, mastering cooking, and anything to do with music. 

The purpose of her project is to begin to understand how students with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are best supported in higher education. The goal of Roxanna's fellowship project is to determine perceptions community college ENG faculty hold of students with ASDs and to gain an understanding of students with ASDs’ experience as community college students and what accommodations are preferred in composition classes. In addition to researching existing best instructional practices and strategies to successfully support students with an ASD in the community college composition classroom, ENG faculty will be surveyed to understand current faculty understanding and perceptions of ASDs and students with ASDs, and students with ASDs will be surveyed to better understand their experience as community college students and preferred accommodations in composition classes.  An implication of this study is to better inform challenges and solutions within the faculty experience and provide a foundation to build from for more effective, proactive professional development as faculty continue to work with increasing neurodiverse student populations.

Christine Raack is a residential faculty at South Mountain Community College (SMCC) where she teaches English and English as a Second Language (ESL). In addition, she currently serves as the SMCC Honors Program Coordinator and Curriculum Development Facilitator. Born and raised in Germany, Christine moved to Phoenix, Arizona in pursuit of higher education at Arizona State University (ASU) where she received a Bachelor of Arts (Anthropology), a Master of Arts (Linguistics), and is currently in the process of finishing a Ph.D. in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics. Her research interests include multilingual learners, intercultural competence, as well as linguistic justice for language minorities in higher education. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, camping, bike rides, and hiking.

This study will focus on constructed out-of-class learning-spaces and their impact on English Language Learners (ELLs) within the community college setting. Research supports that constructed learning-spaces such as through service-learning can provide effective environments for students to build stronger connections with their peers and faculty, can significantly enhance learning and student engagement, and therefore potentially increase student success, retention, and completion rates. This project will examine possible and measurable outcomes regarding the educational impact on ELL students who are participating in a service-learning experience. Research questions include: How does this experience impact the second language (L2) learning process? How does it support educational principles of language learning and teaching? How does it impact affective factors of L2 acquisition, retention, and transition into degree programs? 

Bob Gibney grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, and earned his Bachelor’s Degree at the University of Arizona, his Master’s Degree at Northern Arizona University, and his Doctorate Degree at The University of Nebraska--Lincoln.  He serves Phoenix College as a residential English Faculty, as ENG101 Lead, and as co-chair of the Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity Committee during the 2020-2021 school year.  He continually strives to put Equity and Inclusion at the center of every decision he makes in his research and teaching.

This project will explore the ways that students experience a Threshold Concepts approach to an online, asynchronous ENG101 course at Phoenix College.  It will seek to answer these 3 questions: How does students' writing improve? What shifts do students experience in mindsets toward writing and themselves as writers within the context of a Threshold Concepts curriculum? To what do the students attribute these shifts?

A Threshold Concepts approach centers on student experiences, student voices, self-reflection, personalized processes, social connectedness, and disciplinary knowledge.  At the same time, it decenters a single, dominant standard for judging writing success.

Lynn F Clark, CPA is in her 4th year as a Residential Faculty at Paradise Valley Community College where she teaches a variety of Accounting courses and is the Online Learning Coordinator.  Lynn has a BBA in Accounting from Adelphi University and an MS in Accounting from Grand Canyon University.  She began her career at the New York office of Ernst & Young, and currently is a member of the Arizona Society of CPAs where she has held many leadership positions and is a member of the American Accounting Association.  Currently, Lynn is the Business and Technology/DECA advisor, serves on the Business Instructional Council, and is the Accounting Program lead.  Lynn enjoys spending her free time with her 2 daughters (both PVCC graduates), gardening, practicing yoga, and hiking.  

The goal of her fellowship project is to update ACC111 - Accounting Principles I ("ACC111") to intentionally incorporate Universal Design for Learning principles.  ACC111 is the gateway course into the Associate in Business Degree, and for many students, this is the first truly challenging course that they experience.  Universal Design for Learning ("UDL") is a method of teaching and learning that is based on neuroscience; it is shown to increase student learning.  UDL is a proactive approach that designs instruction to remove barriers for all students and give them an equal opportunity to succeed.  The goal of the project is to see higher success rates in ACC111 which results in higher retention of our students and completion of an Associate in Business Degree. 

Anthony Griffith is in his  8th year as a residential faculty member at Mesa Community College (MCC) and currently teaches Developmental Reading (RDG100) and Critical Reading and Critical Thinking (CRE101) courses. Dr. Griffith earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice and Planning from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He worked as a Correction Officer with the New York City Department of Corrections at Rikers Island where he served on the Hostage Negotiation Unit and Gang Intelligence Unit before attaining his Master of Science degree in Elementary Education from Hofstra University. He commenced his teaching career in the Elmont Elementary School District briefly before relocating to Phoenix, Arizona, where he taught in the Phoenix Elementary and Alhambra School Districts. In his leisure time, Anthony enjoys a variety of fitness activities, in addition to reading, writing, spending time with his family, and traveling. Anthony has traveled frequently throughout the United States, Asia, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

The purpose of his fellowship project is to facilitate student learning through a contextualized online Developmental Reading course to improve student success rates and outcomes. The goals include enhancing the reading skills of students, increasing student engagement, and fostering peer collaboration. Research supports contextualization as an effective approach associated with the completion of developmental courses, improved academic performance, successful completion of college-level courses, and students' commitment to their schoolwork. Consequently, the goal of this fellowship project is to help students learn in a way that makes sense to them, enhances their understanding of concepts, and makes them more relatable by using purposeful contexts, learning activities, and literature to help them analyze, conceptualize, and synthesize information grounded in real-world situations.

Mickey is in her fourth year as a residential faculty member of Chandler-Gilbert Community College’s (CGCC) Composition, Creative Writing and Literature Department and holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of New Mexico. Before CGCC, Mickey was an Associate Professor of English and Division Chair of English and Humanities at the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos. During that time, her projects included developing the First-Year Experience Program, participating on the New Mexico Higher Education Department’s General Education Steering Committee, and hosting Educators and students from Russia through the Los Alamos-Sarov Sister City Initiative. Currently, Mickey serves as a Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Committee member at CGCC. She was also awarded a Council for Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) and spent January 2020 in Jordan for the faculty development seminar, “Jordan: On the Margins of Sustainability.” From that experience, she has brought in virtual exchange programs between her first-year students and students in MENA (Middle Eastern and North African) countries through the Soliya Connect Program and the IREX Global Solutions Business Sustainability Challenge. Outside of the classroom, Mickey loves to spend time with her family, traveling, and volunteering at Paz de Cristo. She is currently learning Arabic to enhance her virtual exchange communications with colleagues from Jordan and will participate in a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute on the visual culture of the Civil War.

The goal of Mickey’s project is to support the development of virtual exchange programs by providing data to evaluate the effectiveness of virtual exchange on attaining ENG 101: First-Year Composition student learning outcomes. For the project, Mickey will participate in a COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) exchange with an English composition class from the Universidad de la Sabana in Chia, Columbia. She will obtain the data through multiple measures using current general education student learning outcomes on Rhetorical Knowledge and Critical Thinking using past ENG 101 assessment data of critical thinking and synthesis indicators as possible benchmarks as well as VALUE rubrics from AACU (Association of American Colleges and Universities) rubric in global learning, intercultural awareness, written communication, and inquiry and communication.

Shannon McGrath is in her eighth year as residential faculty at GateWay Community College where she teaches English and English as a Second Language (ESL).  She currently serves as the Language, Literacy, and Literature Division Chair, International Education Committee Chair, and as a member of the ESL Instructional Council.  Before becoming a residential faculty at GateWay, Shannon taught international graduate students at Cornell University.  In her free time, she enjoys hiking, doing DIY projects, and taking classes.

This project will examine the relationship between the use of ePortfolios and a student's sense of belonging in college.  The Association of American Colleges and Universities designates ePortfolios as a high-impact educational practice because they enable students to create a portable and shareable collection of work that connects their educational experiences with their academic, personal, and professional pursuits.  By implementing ePortfolios in Developmental English and ESL courses, I hope to encourage students to showcase their unique voices and perspectives as well as foster their sense of belonging in college, which has been identified as a key factor in success and persistence.