- As I type this it's hard for me to believe that I've been teaching and working in the field of education for more tha... moreAs I type this it's hard for me to believe that I've been teaching and working in the field of education for more than 25 years! I earned my B.S. in English Secondary Education from Millersville University of Pennsylvania, my M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Secondary Gifted Education from Southeastern Louisiana University, and my Ph.D. in Special Education from The University of Southern Mississippi.
I was born and raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania...if you've never had the pleasure of visiting the area, watch the movie Witness with Harrison Ford. Quite a bit of it was shot in my hometown. Of course, like many people, I did not appreciate the uniqueness of my upbringing while growing up there, and I moved away as quickly as possible to the place I considered to be the exact opposite -- New Orleans, Louisiana (the French Quarter, to be exact)! I did most of my middle school and high school teaching in southern Louisiana while earning my graduate degrees. I also made the transition from K-12 to higher education in Louisiana while returning to teach at Southeastern Louisiana University. A marriage moved me to Sierra Vista, Arizona in 2002, where I taught at Cochise College, the University of Phoenix (on ground in Tucson and online) and the University of Arizona South.
After a divorce and subsequent remarriage, I found myself relocating to Charlottesville, Virginia, where I taught at the University of Virginia while directing the Saturday and Summer Enrichment Programs (SEP). A move across the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia brought me to my next position at Mary Baldwin College, where I directed a program for gifted girls who made the choice to skip high school and go directly to college. There I got to utilize many of my skill sets in one fell swoop while being an administrator, facilitator, publicist, teacher, counselor, and in loco parentis for over 70 gifted, young women ages 12 - 17 who have been radically accelerated to college.
I recently began a new chapter in my career by moving to Hobbs, New Mexico, where I am Dean of Applied Sciences and Learning Technology at a public junior college. I live with my husband, Bruce. I love the outdoors, but I am most content with my books and my writing. My professional research interests include moral development, integrating the affective domain in curricula, effective teaching strategies, and effective online instruction. I'm hoping to be able to focus on doing some scholarly writing this academic year dealing with (1) using bibliotherapy and cinematherapy in the classroom and (2) effective online teaching practices.edit
The first year of the doctoral program is critical to the preparedness and retention of students. Although the number of students who have completed their earned doctoral degrees has recently increased, the attrition rate for doctoral... more
The first year of the doctoral program is critical to the preparedness and retention of students. Although the number of students who have completed their earned doctoral degrees has recently increased, the attrition rate for doctoral students demonstrates that between 50 and 80 percent of students still do not complete their doctoral degree programs. Researchers have discovered myriad of reasons as to why doctoral student abandon their studies. Included in these reasons is the result of insufficient preparation within students’ first few courses, a lack of clarity and expectation of course knowledge and skills related to the fundamental aspects of doctoral study, and poor connections between career preparation and doctoral course work. Preparing students’ doctoral demeanor and critical writing, creativity, thinking, and researching skills has been found to be crucial for success in doctoral programs. To support development of these core skills, a cohesive doctoral faculty feedback ...
Research Interests:
Both prospective and seasoned authors can improve their publishing success by increasing their knowledge of the journals in their field. This article provides current editorial information on publications in the field of gifted education... more
Both prospective and seasoned authors can improve their publishing success by increasing their knowledge of the journals in their field. This article provides current editorial information on publications in the field of gifted education in the hope of helping writers improve their publishing success, increasing the number and quality of manuscripts submitted for consideration, and broadening the spectrum of authorship
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
... (1983). War games [Motion pic-ture]. United States: MGM. Scott, J. (Producer), & Hicks, S. (Director). (1996).Shine[Motion picture]. Australia: Film Victoria. Starkey, S. (Producer), & Zemekis, R. (Director). (1997).... more
... (1983). War games [Motion pic-ture]. United States: MGM. Scott, J. (Producer), & Hicks, S. (Director). (1996).Shine[Motion picture]. Australia: Film Victoria. Starkey, S. (Producer), & Zemekis, R. (Director). (1997). Contact[Motion picture]. United States: Warner Brothers. ...
Research Interests:
Both prospective and seasoned authors can improve their publishing success by increasing their knowledge of the journals in their field. This article provides current editorial information on publications in the field of gifted education... more
Both prospective and seasoned authors can improve their publishing success by increasing their knowledge of the journals in their field. This article provides current editorial information on publications in the field of gifted education in the hope of helping writers improve their publishing success, increasing the number and quality of manuscripts submitted for consideration, and broadening the spectrum of authorship
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Perfectionism, the compulsive striving for unrealistic and unattainable goals, is not limited to gifted individuals. However, research shows that gifted children and adults are at least as susceptible to perfectionistic tendencies as the... more
Perfectionism, the compulsive striving for unrealistic and unattainable goals, is not limited to gifted individuals. However, research shows that gifted children and adults are at least as susceptible to perfectionistic tendencies as the population at large. Due to their heightened sensitivity, awareness, and abilities, gifted children require affective counseling in order to learn coping skills to help them break the cycle of disabling perfectionism. Teacher of the gifted may use various techniques with which to address these affective needs. Bibliotherapy, group therapeutic discussion, and art activities are all methods through which the negative manifestations of perfectionism – eating disorders, depression, underachievement, substance abuse, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, and suicide – may be addressed.
Research Interests:
Much has been written about the use of popular film clips for cine-matherapy with gifted students. However, the use of this media has not been addressed in terms of educating preservice teachers, in-service teachers, and graduate students... more
Much has been written about the use of popular film clips for cine-matherapy with gifted students. However, the use of this media has not been addressed in terms of educating preservice teachers, in-service teachers, and graduate students about the characteristics, stereotypes, social-emotional needs, diverse populations, parenting issues, and characteristics of teachers of the gifted. Strategies and sample film clips are described for preservice, in-service, and graduate use. Suggestions , cautions, and future considerations are also presented. A listing of possible films and suggested topical applications is included.
Research Interests:
The first year of the doctoral program is critical to the preparedness and retention of students. Although the number of students who have completed their earned doctoral degrees has recently increased, the attrition rate for doctoral... more
The first year of the doctoral program is critical to the preparedness and retention of students. Although the number of students who have completed their earned doctoral degrees has recently increased, the attrition rate for doctoral students demonstrates that between 50 and 80 percent of students still do not complete their doctoral degree programs. Researchers have discovered myriad of reasons as to why doctoral student abandon their studies. Included in these reasons is
the result of insufficient preparation within students’ first few courses, a lack of clarity and expectation of course knowledge and skills related to the fundamental aspects of doctoral study, and poor connections between career preparation and doctoral course work. Preparing students’ doctoral demeanor and critical writing, creativity, thinking, and researching skills has been found to be crucial for success in doctoral programs. To support development of these core skills, a cohesive doctoral faculty feedback calibration cycle can be implemented to support faculty feedback within the core programmatic student learning areas. This framework of faculty professional development is based on Dewey’s Constructivist Learning Theory and Tinto’s Persistence Theory in Higher Education. Use of this cycle in an online doctoral program has
resulted in a 20% increase in student retention during the first year of the program.
the result of insufficient preparation within students’ first few courses, a lack of clarity and expectation of course knowledge and skills related to the fundamental aspects of doctoral study, and poor connections between career preparation and doctoral course work. Preparing students’ doctoral demeanor and critical writing, creativity, thinking, and researching skills has been found to be crucial for success in doctoral programs. To support development of these core skills, a cohesive doctoral faculty feedback calibration cycle can be implemented to support faculty feedback within the core programmatic student learning areas. This framework of faculty professional development is based on Dewey’s Constructivist Learning Theory and Tinto’s Persistence Theory in Higher Education. Use of this cycle in an online doctoral program has
resulted in a 20% increase in student retention during the first year of the program.