CIRTL Researcher Spotlight: Joan Kwako

Joan Kwako

Joan Kwako was part of CIRTL and the Delta Program in Research, Teaching, and Learning from 2003 through 2005.  Joan was instrumental to the development of the Teaching Science and Engineering: The College Classroom (CC) course offered through Delta.  The following interview with Joan discusses her experiences working with CIRTL. 

How did you get involved with CIRTL?
My own research on math students’ assessment and evaluations prompted me to join the CIRTL team.  I came across information about CIRTL on the WCER (Wisconsin Center for Education Research) website and contacted Bob Mathieu (CIRTL Director) to set up a meeting.  From that first meeting, I knew that my own professional goals and philosophies were in accord with the goals of CIRTL.

What have you been most involved with while working at CIRTL?
I have been closely involved with the College Classroom course.  Sandy Courter, Cliff Conrad, and I designed the course in 2003 and Delta has been offering it ever since.   I have taught the course, trained other faculty to teach it, and been involved with the managerial side of the course.  The work I’ve done with my fellow CIRTL colleagues has culminated in the creation of College Classroom Course: A Guidebook.  The guidebook is intended to provide others with the necessary tools for teaching their own college classroom style course.  It’s like if you’ve never made red sauce before, you go to a recipe, but then you change it as you see fit.  The guidebook is full of “recipes” that can be changed or added to for different classroom purposes.

What does the future hold for you?
I just received my Ph.D. in Mathematics Education and Curriculum and Instruction from UW in May 2005 and will be teaching at the University of Minnesota-Duluth in January 2006.  I plan on continuing my assessment research with a focus on collaborative teaching as a learning tool and use the knowledge and skills that I gained while working with the CIRTL program.  The most powerful thing I’ll take with me is the interdisciplinary approach CIRTL stresses.  CIRTL has helped broaden my horizons and taught me how to better use a variety of recourses in my own teaching. 

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