Teaching Scholars

Wendy Bedrosian

College: Education Health and Human Services

Bio: I have been a full-time NTT at KSU since 1999 (with a short break around 2003 to complete my dissertation in special education with a concentration in early childhood). My 28-year journey to teacher and college professor is an unlikely story. Most of our want-to-be-teachers have known they wanted to be a teacher since Kindergarten and played school in their basements with their dolls & teddy bears and loved almost every day of school and they were all successful, self-motivated students. I hated school. I started pretending to be sick so I could stay home from school in 1st grade. I struggled academically throughout school. I was afraid of my teachers. I knew they didn’t get me. Some of them didn’t like me. I got car sick on the bus. My report cards say things like, “Wendy is talking when she should be listening.” I ran well with scissors. In order to graduate from college, I had to take an Individual Investigation in the last semester of my senior year to pass a math course. I now know that I have ADD and Dyslexia.

All of these undesirable behaviors, unbeknownst to me, started me on a career of studying teachers and wondering why they did the things they did and asked us to do the things they asked us to do. The perfect preparation for the scholarship of teaching and learning! This career of watching and wondering – why can’t I learn it that way - also gave me a profound curiosity for how the brain learns and, therefore, how to teach in brain-compatible ways. That was the title of a key-note address I gave a few years ago.

Research Interests: Neuroscience of Teaching/Learning, Teacher Decision Making

Course Release: Fall 2012

CITI Certification Status: Certified

Diana Stewart

Department: Nursing

College: Nursing

Bio: Since 1975 I have provided medical care to patients in hospitals, clinics and during military service. I completed a Medical Assisting and LPN Program, and then completed an Associate Degree Nursing Program at the Kent East Liverpool Campus in 1980. I completed a Bachelor of Nursing in 1993, a Master of Nursing in 1997 from LaRoche College in Pittsburgh and a Post Master Certificate in Nursing Education in 2007 from Kent State University.

I have enjoyed being a nurse in the clinical setting for over 37 years and with student nurses for past 7 years. Also, I have enjoyed being a part of the United States Army Reserves for the past 26 years. I currently serve in a unit in Columbus, Ohio, the 307th Medical Brigade.

Jakayung Seo

Department: Theatre

College: Arts

Bio: An Assistant Professor of Lighting Design at Kent State University (KSU). Also she had been taught at College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), University of Cincinnati (UC) and California State University at Fresno (CSUF). While teaching, she has worked as a professional lighting designer and assistant lighting designer in regional theatre including Steppenwolf, Congo Square in Chicago, Eye to Soul Theatre Company in New York and Scotland, United of Kingdom and Lodestone Theatre in LA. Ms Seo has numerous professional design credits in South Korea and Japan such as Have Been Thinking, Medusacus, The Can, Spring My Hometown and What We Want, which was awarded the best prize at The International Dance Festival in Saitama, Japan. Ms. Seo received her M.F.A. in Theatre at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and her BA at Kyungsung University.

Jenny Macinkiewicz

Department: Biological Sciences

College: Arts and Science

Bio: I am currently a tenured Associate Professor and have been a faculty member at Kent State since 1995 when I joined the Department of Biological Sciences. I began my research career at the University of Illinois, when a faculty member took an interest in me and encouraged me to join her lab for an undergraduate research project in Reproductive Physiology.  Her enthusiasm for science and education took root, and I went on to complete my PhD in her lab. I still strive to bring that same level of passion to my own research and teaching. Following completion of my PhD, I completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in Reproductive Physiology at the University of Kansas Medical Center prior to coming to KSU. My bench science has continued to focus on female reproductive physiology, particularly topics related to ovarian function. I am very excited to participate in the Teaching Scholars program so that I can begin to gain the skills and knowledge to pursue the scholarship (or science) of teaching and learning.

Moon-Heum Cho

Department: Education Foundations and Special Services

College: Education Health and Human Services

Bio: Dr. Moon-Heum Cho is an Assistant Professor at Kent State University-Stark. Since 2009, he has taught educational technology and educational psychology for undergraduate pre-service and graduate in-service teachers.

Moon-Heum completed his Ph.D. in Learning Technologies from the University of Missouri in 2008 and M.A. in Educational Technology from Andong National University in S. Korea in 2003. He has a broad background in both teaching and instructional design, having taught graduate level online courses in Digital Communications, Using Technology to Enhance Learning, and Learning with the Internet at the University of Missouri. He has worked with faculty to redesign courses and develop curriculum in a variety of disciplines, including biology, engineering, technology, health and education.

Jeanne Smith

Department: English

College: Arts and Science

Bio: Jeanne R. Smith directs the campus writing center, and teaches in the university Writing Program. She teaches College Writing I and II, Introduction to Technical Writing, Advanced Business and Professional Writing, Argumentative Prose, and Expository Prose, as well as various tutor-training courses. She coordinates several service learning experiences, writing center-related internships, individual investigations, and directs composition-related Honors Theses. She is past president of the East Central Writing Centers Association and co-founder of the Northeast Ohio Writing Centers Association. Jeanne’s research interests include writing centers, first-year students, collaborative learning, inquiry-based learning, interdisciplinary collaboration, experiential education, writing across the curriculum, undergraduate and graduate student writing development and learning transfer, writing in the disciplines, writing tutor and instructor professional development, instructional technology, and composition pedagogy.

Becky Parylak

Department: Geography

College: Arts and Science

Bio: Rebecca Kim Parylak (born April 5, 1962 in Reno, Nevada) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at Kent State University since August 2008. Her educational training included a B.S. in Physical and Applied Geography from Southwest Texas State University, a Master of Applied Geography (MAG) at Texas State University, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Geography from Texas State University.  She is the daughter of Air Force retired John Parylak and retired Realtor Marilyn Parylak, who both reside in Stow, Ohio.

Parylak’s research interests include historical precipitation trends using geographic information science (GIS) and statistics, El Nino Southern Oscillation, natural hazards, physical geography, and biogeomorphology. Parylak’s recent work focused on severe and violent tornado climatology in Texas, tornado activity and its relationship to teleconnections in Texas, outdoor sports and climatology studies in the San Antonio area, and annual and seasonal precipitation trends in Texas.  She teaches courses in Physical Geography (both in-class and online), Biogeomorphology, Physical Geography in Film with a focus on natural hazards, and Statistical Methods in Geography (both in-class and online for RN to BSN students).