Patricia A. Young, Professor and Chair
“I do not consider my work to be DEI or A. I just see it as filling niches in the research, and it just so happens that some of the niches involve the disenfranchised, those things forgotten or those cast aside. My research examines culture in Instructional Design & Technology, the history of African American contributions to instructional design and technology and culture-specific information and communication technologies. My latest book Human Specialization in Design and Technology: The Current Wave for Learning, Culture, Industry & Beyond explores two directions. The first path examines emerging trends in learning and training—standardization, personalization, customization, and specialization—with a unique focus on innovations specific to human needs and conditions. The second path provides critical research based commentary that features insights into the future of professors, public schools, equity and access, extended technologies, open educational resources, and more, concluding with a set of concrete solutions. This moves beyond equity work as it is just the work that needs to be done.”