Dr. Valerie Irvine's graduate students

Rich McCue (MA Candidate)

Rich is pursuing a Masters of Arts in Education with Dr. Valerie Irvine, while working full time as a Systems Administrator in the University of Victoria Libraries system.  His Masters thesis will be a mixed methods study to explore the relative effectiveness of a blended classroom / project based pedagogy compared to a lecture based pedagogy for information literacy instruction. Rich is part of the UVic Speakers Bureau, and has presented at a number of higher education technology conferences across North america over the years. In 2008 he founded an open source project called OpenExpert.org which is a web based expert system to help guide individuals through complex procedural tasks. Rich also has significant web and mobile web app development experience using linux, apache, mysql, php, python, and javascript. In his spare time he coaches youth soccer, enjoys playing soccer himself and making things with his kids.  Some of his other research interests include, blended learning, open education, personalized project based learning, learning analytics, & gamification. To learning more about him, visit his blog at Rich McCue's Blog 

Janet Symmons (PhD Candidate) 

Janet is a doctoral student in the Curriculum and Instruction department of the Faculty of Education at UVic. Her three-paper dissertation focuses on the intersection of instructional design, open educational resources, and social network use in higher education. Other research interests include motivation and barriers to educational technology, personal learning networks, and social connectedness in online learning environments. Janet’s passion for education began as a sessional instructor at Seneca College. Over eight years she taught in a variety of certificate, diploma, and post-diploma programs while earning a B.Ed. in adult education. An M.Ed. in teaching, learning and development, also from Brock University, followed where her mixed-methods thesis explored professors’ use of Twitter. She has presented her research at conferences across Canada, including three times at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences.  While pursuing her Ph.D. Janet has taught several face-to-face, blended, and eLearning educational technology courses at UVic in addition to facilitating an online course at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. Janet sits on the organizing committee of UVic’s Association of Graduate Education Students, which puts on a number of events including the annual research conference.  Connect with Janet on Twitter

Tanya Little (PhD Candidate)

In 2008, Tanya became a registered nurse and has worked in various practice settings: acute care, community, and extended care. She has also taught in the BScN program at Thompson Rivers University since January 2009, dividing her time between clinical practice and nursing education. In 2013, Tanya taught for TRU Open Learning. She holds two degrees in nursing, but BScN was completed through Thompson Rivers University in 2008 and her MSN was completed through the University of British Columbia in 2011. Currently, Tanya is working on her doctoral degree through the University of Victory in the area of Curriculum and Instruction. Her focus area of research is multi-access in education. This approach to education offers an expanse to university curricula that supports making education more accessible, by supporting the physical university campus while integrating the benefits of educational technology.

Yue Dong (MA Candidate)

Yue Dong is a graduate student working on her Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction at University of Victoria. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Guangxi University in 2013. After passing through the qualifying test in her freshman year, Yue took the position of English teacher of the 1st grade outstanding students training class in Guangxi University affiliated middle school. During this one-semester-long teaching practice, Yue explored the possibility of using film dubbing project to facilitate EFL learning and her interest of applying drama in EFL teaching took root and sprouted. In order to further develop her teaching skills, Yue grasped an intern opportunity in Jinkuihua Education Consulting Service Co. Ltd. in 2010. As an English teacher, Yue was responsible for offering differentiated instruction for the low-achieving students. After this company went bankrupt, Yue decided it was a time for change. Then she got a job in Guangxi Tingyi Foreign Language Training institution and was responsible for teaching English to young children aged 5-8. Her passion also lays in exploring the feasibility of improving students’ learning proficiency by applying technology to curriculum design.