As a research unit within the University of Hawai‘i, CRDG is home to a talented group of graduate assistants (GAs) who advance their education while contributing in significant ways to CRDG’s work. The graduate students featured here study in departments throughout the university, and they share their talents in ways that greatly enhance the learning community at CRDG.
Maryam Abhari
Maryam’s work in the Doctorate of Architecture program focuses on experience-rich architectural design and on the new design approaches to enhancing users’ environmental experience. At CRDG she has worked on graphic design, illustration, and web development for the mathematics program A Modeling Approach to Algebra and has assisted with data entry and analysis for implementation research. She has also supported the Math Teachers’ Circle of Hawai‘i (MaTCH) project with management, data entry, and web design.
Susanne DeVore
Susanne is a master’s student in the Department of East Asian Languages whose studies focus on Chinese language. At CRDG, she is part of the editorial staff, bringing her experience as a newspaper editor in Taiwan to such CRDG projects as a new curriculum on the modern history of Korea, a revision of the popular Hawai‘i Nature Study program, and CRDG’s recent publication about World War II, Reflections of Honor.
Stephanie Capen
A PhD student in the Department of Educational Foundations, Stephanie is working on the mathematics program A Modeling Approach to Algebra by supporting the development of its digital platform using the PublishView feature of the TI-Nspire’s Teacher Edition software. Stephanie has also worked on other CRDG Mathematics projects supporting data entry and analysis and assisting with professional development. Inspired by her work as a mathematics teacher at the University Laboratory School and her work at CRDG, Stephanie plans to conduct her dissertation research on teacher identity.
Darienne Dey
Darienne is a PhD student in Curriculum Studies, specializing in mathematics and science education with an emphasis on indigenous education. At CRDG she supports the Math Teachers’ Circle of Hawai’i (MaTCH) project, assisting with its workshops and helping to manage the project’s data, media, and communications. She also serves as a faculty mentor for the College of Education’s Ethnomathematics & STEM Institute and as a crewmember for the Polynesian Voyaging Society.
David Lin
David is a PhD candidate in the Department of Biology where his work focuses on food web dynamics in marine soft-sediment communities. David is part of the TSI Aquatic project at CRDG where he works as a curriculum developer.
Frank Jumawan
A PhD student in the Department of Educational Technology, Frank is on the grant-funded Teaching Science as Inquire (TSI) Aquatic project. He works collaboratively with the college’s Distance Course Design & Consulting group to assist in the design and development of online courses and collaborative communities of the TSI Aquatic professional development institutes in aquatic sciences.
Lauren Mark
A PhD student in the Department of Educational Psychology, Lauren has been an integral part of the School Internet Safety Initiative, contributing original research and disseminating information through journal articles and conference presentations. Her research for this project focuses on cyber safety education and family-school-community partnerships.
Lisa Vallin
Lisa is a PhD student in the Department of Educational Psychology where her dissertation work examines the use of metacognition as a pedagogical model. As a part of Paul Brandon’s evaluation team, Lisa has contributed to the evaluation of CRDG’s TSI Aquatic and ACE21 and Runbook projects. She has also worked on instrument development, data collection, and analyses for the College of Education’s Ethnomathematics and STEM Institute.
Matt Lurie
Matt is a PhD candidate in the Department of Botany at UH Mānoa where his research focuses on mechanisms that allow non-native plant species to become successful invaders. At CRDG Matt is a member of the TSI Aquatic project where he works as a curriculum developer for the Exploring Our Fluid Earth program.
Brian Lawton
Brian is a PhD candidate in the Department of Educational Psychology. At CRDG he applies his work on validity and fidelity of implementation to study the implementation of the TSI Aquatic as well as the ACE21 and Runbook projects.
Lisa Takeuchi
Lisa is a master’s student in the Department of Public Health Sciences in the John A. Burns School of Medicine at UH Mānoa where her studies focus on epidemiology. As a GA, she helps to coordinate the administration and reporting of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) and Youth Tobacco Survey (YTS) in public middle and high schools across the state.
Fan Yang
As a PhD student in the Department of Educational Technology, Fan’s work focuses on online education, computer supported collaborative learning, and adult learning. At CRDG she works on the TSI Aquatic project where she maintains and updates content for the Exploring Our Fluid Earth marine science curriculum website.