RESEARCH TEAM
JESSICA CHITTUM, PhD, recently joined AAC&U as the Director of Assessment and Pedagogical Innovation in the Office of Curricular and Pedagogical Innovation. Jessica has served as an Associate Editor of the International Journal of ePortfolio (an AAC&U publication) since 2012 and is Project Lead for this open-access ePortfolio research archive, PEARL (eportfolio.aacu.org). She completed a PhD in Educational Psychology at Virginia Tech as well as a BS in Elementary Education (with an ESOL endorsement) and an MA in Exceptional Student Education from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. Prior to AAC&U, Jessica was a special education teacher in a self-contained middle grades classroom and a 5th-grade teacher in an inclusive classroom in Florida, was an Assistant Professor of Elementary Education and Middle Grades Education at East Carolina University, and worked as Senior Scholar at Digication. Her research interests involve ePortfolio, the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and academic motivation (particularly in STEM fields, rural contexts, and higher education). Jessica enjoys spending time with her family (read: chasing her toddler around the house), hiking, yoga, and diving into a good book.
HANNAH SCHNEIDER is a Program Associate in the Office of Curricular and Pedagogical Innovation at AAC&U. After completing her bachelor’s degree in philosophy at Roanoke College, she started working at AAC&U. Hannah had her own ePortfolio all four years of college and is passionate about continuing ePortfolio research. She recently started her master’s degree in Learning, Design, and Technology at Georgetown University in the fall of 2021. Hannah lives in Washington, DC and enjoys running, bluegrass music, and hiking in the Blue Ridge.
JACQUELYN McCARTHY WOODYARD earned her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction: Instructional Design and Technology at Virginia Tech. Her research interests include instructional design, language instruction, autonomous learning, and cultural preferences in relation to choice in the classroom and beliefs regarding education. Her dissertation research was titled “Autonomy Supportive Instruction as it relates to Students’ Motivational Beliefs on an ePortfolio Project: The Moderating Role of Culturally Based Learning Preferences.” Jackie also holds a BS in Human Development-Early Childhood Education, a BA in Spanish, and an MAEd in Curriculum and Instruction with endorsements in PreK-12 Spanish and ESOL education. Before returning to Virginia Tech to pursue a doctoral degree, Jackie taught middle and high-school Spanish and ESOL in Virginia public schools for 5 years. Jackie enjoys spending time with her husband, children, and their Weimaraners.
WEBSITE TEAM
CARRIE BISHOP is a Senior Instructional Technologist at Digication. Carrie is a Triple Dawg, with three degrees from the University of Georgia: an EdS in Learning, Design and Technology; an MEd in Instructional Design and Development; and a BA in English. She has been working in educational technology for over 10 years. Prior to her current role at Digication, Carrie worked at the University of Georgia’s (UGA) Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) as their Coordinator of Learning Technologies. She enjoys exploring new technologies for improving teaching and learning.
COLLABORATORS
The ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES (AAC&U) is kindly supporting our ongoing work on this website, providing an excellent home for this project. In particular, we are collaborating with:
KATE McCONNELL, PhD, Vice President for Curricular and Pedagogical Innovation and Executive Director of VALUE, Office of Curricular and Pedagogical Innovation at AAC&U.
C. EDWARD WATSON, PhD, Associate Vice President for Curricular and Pedagogical Innovation and Chief Information Officer at AAC&U.
Finally, LAUREN BRYANT, PhD, was instrumental during the first years of this project. She is an Assistant Director of Assessment and Evaluation in the Office of Academic Decision Support at Virginia Tech. Lauren was part of the original research team for this project, helping pave the way for the development of this website. She received her PhD in Educational Psychology from Virginia Tech, where she also received her Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees. Lauren lives in Blacksburg with her husband and her dog. She enjoys walking, cooking, microbrews, and Golden Girls reruns.