Hello everyone,
It’s time to meet our next liaison in our campus liaison
spotlight series. Meet Mamta Shah from Drexel University!
Name: Mamta Shah
Hometown: Mumbai,
India
Current University:
Drexel University, Philadelphia PA
Program: PhD in
Educational Leadership Development and Learning Technologies
Advisor: Dr.
Aroutis Foster
Q. How did you decide
to go to graduate school?
A. After I completed my Masters in Human Development, I knew
I wanted to pursue a PhD. The decision that I had to make was about the area of
concentration. My personal interest in digital technologies naturally led me to
Drexel’s program and a major in Learning Technologies.
Q. What did you do
before going to graduate school?
A. I worked as an Assistant Director at Muktangan, a not-for-profit educational program that
offers alternatives to orthodox educational practices in India. Broadly,
my experiences included: Mentoring
preschool and elementary level teachers in child centered pedagogy;
Facilitating curriculum planning meetings based on teachers’ daily observations
and students’ key experiences; Supporting teachers in developing formative
progress reports for children; Conducting professional development sessions for
teachers; Networking with educational institutions and teacher training
programs; and Assisting Muktangan in its advocacy program.
Q. What do you like
best about your program/school?
A. The encouragement and guidance that I received to build
my proficiency as an emerging scholar in terms of teaching and research
opportunities, presenting at premier conferences and authoring journal
articles, networking with leading scholars and mentoring students.
Q. What are your
current research interests?
A. Currently, my professional work focuses on the integration of immersive and
interdisciplinary digital technologies such as games in educational settings. I
concentrate on developing teacher competence in adopting digital technologies
through situated professional development. In addition, my work focuses on
human cognition and learning through the development of models for technology
use in classrooms and design of transformational educational experiences for
aiding student knowledge construction.
Q. What career do you
want upon graduation (Faculty or other)?
A. As long as I can pursue my interest in learning
technologies, I am open to a career in academia, non-profit sector, or
industry.
Q. If you could
change anything about education, what would it be?
A. I would like to contribute to the effective integration
of learning technologies for teaching, learning, and assessment across the K-Adult
Education spectrum. I have started working towards this goal by developing in-
and pre-service teacher competency in adopting game-based learning. Since I
approach this goal in an ecological manner, I hope to catalyze sustainable
technology integration practices.
Q. What is your
favorite research article and why?
A. Too many to list. However, I like learning about
developments in the fields of situated learning and game-based learning,
Q. What was your
proudest moment or greatest accomplishment?
A. Working towards my professional niche and being recognized
for it through (a) an Excellence in Research Award at Drexel in 2012, (b) AERA
2013 Best Paper nomination in the Technology as an Agent of Change in Teaching
and Learning (TACTL) SIG, (c) and receiving acceptance for my first journal
article.
Thank you for participating, Mamta!
