I am a PHD candidate in the School of Information Systems And Technology (SISAT). I am also a lecturerin the department of Information Systems and Decision Sciences at Cal State Fullerton. I was the recipient of the 2008 Outstanding Part-Time Faculty for Excellence in Teaching and Service for the College of Business and Economics at Cal State Fullerton.

My goal is to make valuable contributions in teaching and research, to be team player, and to work hard to improve teaching and learning. I strongly believe in the mission of “learning is preeminent” and simply that there is no teaching if there is no learning. Optimizing and enriching the student’s learning experience are core values that I hold dearly close.

Whether studying or working, having a nurturing environment that delivers superb education under a climate of cooperation for both teaching and research is a highly valued principle. The climate of mutual trust, respect, and support at SISAT is a source of great joy.

It is elating to be a member in SL^2 that enables me to conduct research about social learning. I am very interested in using IT to improve the learning and performance of the students in the course. In this day and age, the instructor is not the only source of information, students can benefit greatly from their own interactions with each other through sharing of information and knowledge.

To provide a suitable medium for discussions, I am using asynchronous discussion boards, because the asynchronous nature of discussions allows for all students to participate, no one is “left out of a fast moving conversation” (Collison et. al, 2000). My motive is to improve the focus, understanding, and retention of the subject matter, so that students would perform better in the course. To this end, I am conducting this research using “anchored” asynchronous online discussions.

This research is very rewarding and offers mutual benefits to both students and myself. It is a wonderful opportunity that allows me to work on something I actually enjoy and that would further my academic endeavors. I hope to become a tenure-track professor of Information Systems and Decision Sciences.

Basketball, deep-sea fishing, Playing with my children, soccer, travel