
Aisel Akhmedova
Cohort: 2022/On Campus
Kimberly Alberts

Kimberly Alberts
Email: albertsk@msu.edu
Cohort: 2017/On Campus
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Bio:
Kimberly came to the EPET program after teaching psychology and theory of knowledge at an international school in Quito, Ecuador. She has a B.S. in psychology and history from Central Michigan University and an M.A. in Educational studies from the University of Michigan. She is interested broadly in understanding the relationship between students’ actual experiences and their remembered experiences and how this affects their motivation.
Madison C. Allen Kuyenga

Madison C. Allen Kuyenga
Email: allenm72@msu.edu
Cohort: 2019/On Campus
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Bio:
Madison’s current research interests are in culturally responsive and sustaining computing. She is currently working on culturally relevant and sustaining design strategies for educational technology and implementations to help all teachers in creating greater experiences of equity in CS education. This includes drawing on the ways of knowing, being, and doing from BIPOC, rural, and low-income communities and providing pathways for including those ways in the CS classroom. Madison has a background in African American Studies and Social Psychology that inform her current research trajectories.
William Nicholas Bork Rodriguez

William Bork
Email: borkwill@msu.edu
Cohort: 2018/On Campus
Bio:
William Bork is a researcher and educator interested in data science, international education, and teacher professional practice. Licensed as a P-12 school building principal. Former K-12 teacher with intercultural work experience in the USA, Mexico, and Taiwan. Multilingual in English and Spanish.
Utku Caybas

Utku Caybas
Email: caybasiz@msu.edu
Cohort: 2022/On Campus
Pronouns: he/him/his
Bio:
Utku is broadly interested in how social and contextual factors influence students’ motivation. Specifically, he works to understand how different levels of peer relations, such as peer interactions, friendships, and peer groups, play a role in students’ motivation. He is also interested in how students’ perceptions of economic inequalities shape their motivation.
Goun Choi
Cohort: 2019/On Campus
Ian Marshall Clemente

Ian Marshall Clemente
Email: cleme185@msu.edu
Cohort: 2015/On Campus
Pronouns: he/him/his
Bio:
Use of digital technologies for multi-dimensional growth (including for students with special needs), incorporating cognitive flexibility into formal and informal learning environments, using adaptive teaching strategies (including use of Web-based platforms) to facilitate students’ navigation of ill-structured situations, and development of curriculum and resources designed to support students with dyslexia and other reading difficulties
Shawn Daley

Shawn Daley
Email: daleysha@msu.edu
Cohort: 2016/Hybrid
Bio:
Shawn is fascinated by the way in which informal learning transpires in social media, and wants to examine if mapping those learning networks can be leveraged to improve traditional educational experiences. He is also intrigued by the opportunities presented by new technological tools such as mixed and augmented reality. Shawn presently serves as the Executive Vice President for Innovation at Concordia University in Portland, Oregon, where he also is an associate professor of teacher education.
Matthew Drazin

Matthew Drazin
Email: drazinma@msu.edu
Cohort: 2018/On Campus
Bio:
Matt Drazin is a doctoral student in the Educational Psychology and Educational Technology (EPET) program at Michigan State University. His current research interests lie in the realm between community, technology, and education. Having an undergraduate degree in computer science from Michigan State University he looks forward to being able to leverage those experiences into this new area.
Keywords:
community, games, technology
Kyle Dunbar

Kyle Dunbar
Email: dunbark3@msu.edu
Cohort: 2018/Hybrid
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Bio:
As an educational technology coach in a middle school Kyle is interested in the intersection of equity, technology and project-based learning. She is interested in how students can use technology to create authentic products that solve a problem in their community and the results a learning experience of this nature have on students. She is particularly interested in how equity plays a role in the extent to which student-centered learning is enacted in schools and how to support teachers by using teaching practices that will benefit all students.
Sarah Dysart
Cohort: 2014/Hybrid
Elvin Fortuna

Elvin Fortuna
Email: fortun29@gmail.com
Cohort: 2022/Hybrid
Pronouns: he/him/his
Bio:
Elvin is interested in the development of expertise and adaptability in technology-mediated environments for use in complex and ill-structured domains. He is particularly interested in instructional design principles to prepare learners for realistic and ill-structured problems.
Keywords: Expertise, Adaptability, Technology, Complexity, Ill-structured
Aric Gaunt

Aric Gaunt
Email: gauntari@msu.edu
Cohort: 2016/On Campus
Pronouns: he/him/his
Bio:
I am a Grand Rapids, MI native and come to MSU from The University of Michigan where I received a Bachelor’s in Psychology. My academic career before graduate studies included work in developmental and educational psychology laboratories where I investigated educational implications of research regarding topics such as cellphone distractions and first impressions.
Keywords:
social presence, impression management, online education, teaching psychology
Briana Green
Briana Green
Email: green209@msu.edu
Cohort: 2019/On Campus
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Bio:
Briana’s research interest focus on the sense of belonging and career development of Black students and educators.
Megan Harris

Megan Harris
Email: harrimeg@msu.edu
Cohort: 2022/On Campus
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Bio:
I am interested in finding ways to enhance educational technology skills in early elementary to support differentiation and equitable access to content. I am currently teaching 1st grade in Ann Arbor Public Schools.
Education prior to EPET: University of Michigan, 2021 M.A in Educational Leadership and Policy University of Michigan, 2017 Michigan Provisional Elementary Certificate Elementary: K-5 All Subjects, K-8 All Subjects Self Contained Classroom Language Arts: K-8, Mathematics: K-8.
Anne Drew Hu

Anne Drew Hu
Email: annedrew@msu.edu
Cohort: 2020/On Campus
Pronouns: they/them
Keywords:
CS Ethics Education, K-12 CS Education
Ying Hu

Ying Hu
Email: huying2@msu.edu
Grad Year: 2016/Hybrid
Bio:
Ying is a PhD student in Educational Psychology and Educational Technology at Michigan State University, a lecturer of Chinese at the University of Vermont, and sometimes, a robot on MSU campus. Originally from China, Ying got her Master’s degree in Second Language Studies at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, where she was actively engaged in language learning in 3D virtual worlds.
Keywords:
Cognitive Flexibility, Adaptive Expertise, Instructional Technology, Multilingual Education
Saki Inoue
Email: skinoue@msu.edu
Cohort: 2022/On Campus
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Bio:
Relation of intercultural experience and self-efficacy among preservice teachers, international comparison of teacher education
Larissa Jakubow
Cohort: 2020/Hybrid
John Keane
Cohort: 2020/On Campus
Eun Ha Kim
Eun Ha Kim
Email: kimeun31@msu.edu
Cohort: 2019/On Campus
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Bio:
Eun Ha’s research interests are in promoting adolescents’ academic achievement, classroom engagement, emotional well-being, and high school completion, especially for those students from historically marginalized backgrounds. Specifically, Eun ha is interested in examining how achievement motivation, teacher-student relationships, and resilience relate to these adolescents’ educational outcomes and in developing interventions that increase their motivation, achievement, and academic resilience.
Alexandra Lee

Alexandra Lee
Email: leeale13@msu.edu
Cohort: 2018/On Campus
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Bio:
As a former K-12 educator, I am focused on conducting research that provides actionable insights as to how we can ensure every student succeeds. To this end, my research is centered on understanding how we can design learning environments that support student and teacher motivation. I integrate across several motivational theories (i.e., achievement goal theory, expectancy-value theory, self-determination theory), use mixed methods (including advanced statistical techniques), and work with school and community partners to study achievement motivation across two lines of research: (1) investigation of the complex and dynamic ways that achievement contexts shape students’ motivational beliefs and goals and (2) designing and developing educational interventions to help teachers more effectively support student motivation.
Garam Lee
Cohort: 2019/On Campus
Tingting Li

Tingting Li
Email: litingt1@msu.edu
Cohort: 2020/On Campus
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Bio:
Tingting Li is from China. Her research interests center on the theory-driven design of learning environments to support all K-12 students’ deep science learning. She employs cutting-edge technologies (e.g., Artificial Intelligence) and considers psychological factors (e.g., engagement, social and emotional learning) when designing the learning environments.
Qiyang Lin

Qiyang Lin
Email: linqiyan@msu.edu
Cohort: 2021/On Campus
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Bio:
Qiyang (Minnie) Lin is interested in (1) how can we improve motivation to learn, in part through research on new ways to improve skills in self-regulated learning? (2) how does self-identity affect our learning outcomes and achieve our life goals? (3) What are the cognitive processes of learning that promote the ability to adapt knowledge to varying and novel real-world situations? (4) how can multimedia learning facilitate learning processes in online instruction and in virtual environments?
Tommy Lister

Tommy Lister
Email: listerth@msu.edu
Cohort: 2018/Hybrid
Bio:
Based in Southern California, his research is centered on faculty engagement and its relationship with student learning and engagement. His work and research also focuses on the efficacy of active learning in alternative learning modalities.
Keywords:
Online Learning, Hybrid Teaching, Teacher Development, Faculty Engagement
Eileen Lynch (Mooney)

Eileen Lynch (Mooney)
Email: mooneyei@msu.edu
Cohort: 2016/Hybrid
Bio:
Eileen has been teaching mathematics for 12 years, and has also taught art. She has a BA in Philosophy, an MFA in Painting, and an ALM in Mathematics for Teaching. She is interested in creating and facilitating learning experience that promote deeper understanding in the domain of mathematics–specifically through discourse. Certain affordances and constraints of face-to-face discourse have led her to explore the use of dynamic mathematics software and Google docs as a venue through which students can target their understanding, by increasing the demand on their language acquisition in synchronous, online discourse.
Sheza Mansoor

Sheza Mansoor
Email: shezam@msu.edu
Cohort: 2022/Hybrid
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Bio:
Sheza Mansoor is currently a Ph.D. student of Educational Psychology and Educational Technology at Michigan State University. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor and her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Teaching from Boston University. Her research interests have to do with understanding the psychological and motivational processes that young children undergo during learning. She is passionate about learning how mindsets can boost children’s literacy skills and engagement from the lens of cognitive neuroscience and development. She is also interested in how students of color and English Language Learners’ experiences are shaped in the classrooms.
Sukanya Moudgalya

Sukanya Moudgalya
Email: moudgal1@msu.edu
Cohort: 2017/On Campus
Bio:
Sukanya is primarily interested in active-learning strategies and instructor-facilitated student cooperation in engineering education. She is also interested in peer and social interactions and feedback reliability on social media. Her background is in engineering and educational technology.
Samuela Mouzaoir

Samuela Mouzaoir
Email: mouzaoir@msu.edu
Cohort: 2020/On Camups
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Bio:
Samuela is interested in understanding how students respond to academic challenges. Specifically, she works to identify which obstacles students routinely face and how they understand and engage with the process of “bouncing back” from those challenges. She is also interested in how students’ racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds impact their experiences of adversity and resilience in the classroom.
Olamide Ogungbemi
Olamide Ogungbemi
Email: Ogungbe1@msu.edu
Cohort: 2022/On Campus
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Bio:
Olamide is interested in integrating computational thinking in K-12 education and teachers’ professional development, as well as cultural responsive computing.
Zachary Opps
Cohort: 2018/Hybird
Vicky Phun

Vicky Phun
Email: phunvick@msu.edu
Grad Year: 2018/On Campus
Bio:
From California to Michigan, Vicky is interested in shaping students’ interest and experience in STEM through designing an engaging and effective learning environment. She earned a B.A. in Psychology and during her undergraduate years, she was involved in understanding the motivating factors of students pursuing STEM. Her connection to teachers and professors inspires her to be an educator and to keep on growing as a student.
Keywords:
student engagement, STEM, motivation
Megan Ray
Cohort: 2022/Hybrid
Sarah Reiley
Cohort: 2022/Hybrid
Anna Sansone

Anna Sansone
Email: sansonea@msu.edu
Cohort: 2016/Hybrid
Bio:
Anna is interested in how participation in certain technology-driven activities impacts student motivation and achievement in science classes. Specifically, she would like to learn how connecting with other students in geographically disparate locations enhances student learning over shared but separate experiences. She has a BA in environmental science, an MAT in secondary science teaching, an MS in instructional design and technology, and teaches math, science, and social studies for the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS) overseas.
Stephanie Shin

Stephanie Shin
Email: sshin@msu.edu
Cohort: 2019/On Campus
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Bio:
My primary areas of research interest relate to student engagement (in particular agentic engagement) and how it contributes to students’ academic motivation like self-efficacy and enriched learning environment and interpersonal relationships.
Michelle Smith Ware

Michelle Ware
Cohort: 2014/Hybrid
Bio:
Michelle Ware joined EPET Hybrid Cohort with 10 years of experience in higher education. Since earning her Masters in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Athletic Counseling in 2004, she has worked in diverse educational settings ranging from high schools to nationally ranked research institutions. She is currently Co-Director of the Balfour-Hesburgh Scholars Program in the First Year of Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Through her research, she hopes to examine identity development, persistence and motivation of underrepresented and first generation students in highly selective educational environments. She is also interested in assessing the effectiveness of using eportfolios as a tool to improve student engagement, achievement and resilience of underrepresented and first generation students.
Jessica Sprick

Jessica Sprick
Email: jessicasprick@gmail.com
Grad Year: 2017/On Campus
Bio:
Jessica Sprick is an educational consultant who works with schools and districts to develop and implement multi-tiered prevention and intervention approaches to address behavioral and attendance concerns in K–12 settings. She is a former special education teacher for students with severe emotional and behavioral difficulties and Dean of Students at the middle school level. Jessica’s research interest is focused on the prevalence and impacts of student absenteeism on students who are identified for special education. She is also interested in exploring how educational technology can be utilized for a variety of interventions with students who have chronic attendance concerns.
Brooke Starks

Brooke Starks
Email: starksb4@msu.edu
Cohort: 2022/Hybrid
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Bio:
I am interested in Adult Basic Education (K-12 curriculum for students who are 18 or older), and the use of technology to increase student engagement and help students to gain employability skills.
Jennifer Sutcliffe

Jennifer Sutcliffe
Email: sutclif9@msu.edu
Cohort: 2022/Hybrid
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Bio:
Game studies, game-based learning, social media, online learning communities, informal learning, electracy
Brooke Harris-Thomas

Brooke Thomas
Email: thom1722@msu.edu
Grad Year: 2018/On Campus
Bio:
Brooke is currently an Educational Psychology and Educational Technology (EPET) Ph.D. student at Michigan State University. Her undergraduate degree is in special education, while my master’s is in Educational Leadership. Her teaching experiences have been predominately in low-income, urban educational settings, which has driven my curiosity about what makes for a successful and positive experience in those settings. She is interested in educational research topics that promote a greater experience of justice and equity in the classroom, with a particular interest in studying the impact of social interdependence and cooperative learning on students of colors as it pertains to interest in mathematics.
Keywords:
Belonging, Black girlhood, motivation in middle school, and community-engaged research
Mengdi Zhu
Cohort: 2017/On Campus