candidate statement

FOCUS AREA

Carl Rogers, an American psychologist, was a founder of the humanistic approach. In psychology, this perspective emphasizes assessing the uniqueness of the whole individual with the premise that everyone has free will and has the self-efficacy to achieve their potential and self-actualization (McLeod, 2020). According to Dey and Chakraborthy, an interdependence exists between education and psychology. My primary focus area is improving opportunities for those already in the workforce through professional development. The use of intelligent learning in instructional design modeling can address the unique training needs of the worker. Incorporating intelligent tutoring, personalized learning materials, and experiential learning approaches into a professional development approach will help the learner learn how to learn. 

Intelligent learning is an approach that personalizes learning through pedagogy, analytics, and technology (Truckle, 2020). The format also provides collaborative and hybrid learning opportunities (Zhang et al., 2022). An intelligent learning space uses information technology to create a learner-centered environment that integrates formal and informal learning (Wang et al., 2022). Such a framework typically consists of the learner, pedagogy, and domain models. The learner model focuses on the analytics of the learner (i.e. student preferences, behavior, challenges, etc.). Pedagogy refers to the learning strategies implemented (i.e. microlearning, collaborative, etc.). Finally, domain refers to the learning being addressed (i.e., subject matter, concept, etc.). The current learning environment is full of opportunities for creating intelligent learning environments. New and more accessible technologies such as ChatGPT, virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence will become more relevant in designing learning.

The use of intelligent tutoring has been present in medicine and technology to teach surgical techniques (Hayward, 2022) and in learning programming languages such as C and Python (Wang et al., 2020). Evidence of this methodology combined with experiential learning as a standard component of professional development is limited. My specific experience in intelligent learning is limited and basic but growing; however, I have been engaged with various forms of personalized and experiential learning. The following are how I have begun to work in this area of interest: 

• AECT Graduate Student Association (GSA) Systems Thinking and Change Division representative
  • Member of Professional Development Committee for Professional Development on ChatGPT
• Becoming a member of the Emerging Learning Technologies group of AECT
• Becoming a member of the Division of Organizational Training and Performance of AECT 
• Submitted a practitioner article for peer review in the Tech Trends Special Edition: Division of Organizational Training and Performance entitled "Stopping the Brain Drain: Creating a Knowledge Base Using a SharePoint Site Created by Hospitality Undergraduate Students" 
• Developed several interactive, self-assessing artifacts for accounting courses currently being taught at the University of Houston
• Developed experiential learning opportunities for students by applying for the Cougar Initiative to Engage (CITE) grant and working with four teams of students
• Combined personalized and experiential learning with undergraduate students in a project management class who will work with a software firm to develop a hotel pre-opening checklist in a project management course 
• Hodges, J., Ramirez, A., and DeFranco, A. (2021, January). Can machine learning yield a more accurate hotel breakeven? Annual Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism in Houston, Texas. Virtual 

My second area of interest is incorporating more open education resources (OER) into higher education and professional development programs. The University of Houston began offering grants for faculty to develop courses without textbooks in 2018. A colleague and I collaborated and created OER resources for three accounting and finance courses. Transitioning to courses that only use OER resources developed a sense of freedom in presenting materials to learners. Indirectly the interest in OER is linked to intelligent learning in my first area of interest, as they both identify new ways to engage the learner. Both approaches give some freedom to the individual and guide them towards achieving  self-actualization. Using OER materials allows me, as the educator, to modify how concepts are presented based on the audience's needs without going through an arduous process. More research is being offered on how intelligent learning can be incorporated into the development of OER (Tang, 2020), which will only provide more equitable options to address the learner's individual needs. 

My experience in OER has been as follows:  

• Ramirez, A., Hebert, W. (2022, April 8). Accessibility/universal design & open education resources. 2022 TxDLA Conference, Virtual
• Ramirez, A., Hebert, W. (2022, January 11). Who said there is no free lunch: Adding OER to your content menu learning. 2022 R4 Digital Learning Conference in Houston, Texas. 
• Ramirez, A., Hebert, W. (2021, November). Using open education resources: The sharing economy of learning. 2021 Association for Educational Communications & Technology International Convention in Chicago, Illinois & Virtual 
• UH Alternative Textbook Incentive Program Award for HRMA 4343, 2020 (Co-Investigator), Funding: $2,500  
• UH Alternative Textbook Incentive Program Award for HRMA 3341, 2019 (Co-Investigator), Funding: $2,000 
• UH Alternative Textbook Incentive Program Award for HRMA 1340, 2018 (Co-Investigator), Funding: $1,000 

Future plans in this area will include working on research projects that incorporate explicitly intelligent learning, OER, and professional development in the hospitality industry.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE

When first entering the classroom, learning was a trial-by-fire experience. Reaching far into the recesses of my psyche, I attempted to channel those professors who had made an impact on my education in hopes of having the same effect on my learners. I wanted to be successful in this field as I had been in hospitality, and I needed more, so the exploration began. Additional education was necessary, but what would be the ideal fit in my unique situation?

Technology in the classroom has been something that has never been intimidating. The opposite was true; it was a necessary teaching aide for me. When my teaching career began, I used Excel for a practice set, had students in a non-technology lab use Quick Books for their accounting projects, and incorporated Top Hat (a new learning application). A more interactive teaching environment was simulated by providing video and Zoom (pre-pandemic) to bring guest speakers from around the world to my classes and innovated its use to provide students with a remote class environment in unusual circumstances, like the unpredictable Houston weather. Whatever path I chose needed to include this essential component.

Success in the field of ISDT and in the context of owning a firm providing professional development solutions will require the following skillset:

• strong acumen in learning design
• ability to identify the technology and pedagogy which best addresses the needs of individual learners
• excellent written and verbal communication skills
• understanding of adult learning theories
• continual professional development to be aware of innovations in the field
• research skills to continually question and investigate methodologies to find new and innovative ways to enhance learning

Most recently, I have created and developed a curriculum for high school teachers in hospitality education. Our college would like to not only provide professional development opportunities to these educators but also bring awareness of the resources and programs available at the Hilton College for prospective students interested in this field of study. The course will be delivered entirely online and was designed to run off existing resources, not the university LMS, and to collaborate among the various faculty of the college. I am developing this curriculum, and one of the modules that will be used allowed for the application of the many concepts presented in the ISDT doctoral program.

Developing competence in these areas has also led me to submit a paper for publication on the rebranding of the field and a literature review that considers a digital learner-centric approach to professional development, specifically onboarding. Both opportunities have allowed me further to investigate these areas of interest and their practical application. I have also found speaking opportunities to discuss this topic for professional hospitality organizations' educational programs.

As an instructional assistant professor teaching various courses, from highly structured to more subjective topics, there are many opportunities to incorporate my focus areas. The dossier provides examples that support my efforts and how they will impact my future success in the field of ISDT.