Expertise of Project Personnel

A project of the complexity of SMTE demands expert and coordinated leadership. The Project brings together highly regarded leaders with proven materials development and project management success; exceptional research, evaluation, and technical expertise; and a history of collaboration. Longstanding professional relationships among the co-PIs add value to this endeavor by providing for quicker start-up time, lower start-up costs, and philosophical harmony.

Dr. David Burghardt (co-PI) and Michael Hacker (PI/PC) co-direct the Hofstra CTL. They have jointly managed seven large-scale NSF projects. They will serve as pedagogical experts and oversee the Project coordination, field testing, and budget. Burghardt is professor of engineering and teaches in the Schools of Education and Engineering. He has been a driving force in STEM education for over two decades. In his 43 years in education, Hacker was a middle school teacher and chairperson, a university educator and administrator, and NYSED technology education state supervisor. Burghardt and Hacker are authors of several middle school technology education textbook programs and are experienced NSF materials developers.

Drs. Bert Flugman and Deborah Hecht (co-PI) are directors of the Center for Advanced Study in Education at the CUNY Graduate Center. For decades, they have served as researchers and evaluators on large-scale NSF and USDOE projects. They, along with postdoctoral associates and graduate students, will lead the Project’s research and evaluation activities.

Dr. Karl Kapp (co-PI) directs the Institute for Interactive Technologies at Bloomsburg University. He is the author of Gadgets, Games, and Gizmos for Learning: Tools and Techniques for Transferring Know-How from Boomers to Gamers. He will coordinate the development of game play protocols, the creation of characters (avatars), and the visual gaming environment.

Tom Robertson is president and CEO of Kinetics Inc., Chapel Hill, NC. He has 15 years of experience in developing state-of-the-art engineering software and received prestigious awards from General Motors and Airbus Industries for outstanding technology innovations. He is dedicated to the goal of improving education and is innovative in his approach to finding solutions. He will coordinate the development of 3-D simulations and the instructor design interface.

Dr. David Shaw is the director of the Center for Innovation in Engineering Learning at UB. He has directed NSF IMD and ATE projects incorporating media-rich online environments. He will develop the introductory animations (in Flash) that set the stage for students. He will coordinate the development of the integrated Project Web site that will include the animations, instructor design interface, the KSB 3-D simulations, and the game play environment.

Gordon Snyder (co-PI) is the executive director of NCTT, the author of four IT textbook programs, and an expert in communications and network design. He will facilitate the use of new communication technologies in overseeing dissemination through the NSF ATE Center network.