Deborah "Debi" Ash
Owner: Ash Instructional Design & Educational Consultants
Educational solutions based on respect, responsibility & individuality
Who Am I?
-
In 1983, I dropped out of high school to have my son. In 1986, I completed my high school degree with the support and guidance of two great women- Catherine Campbell and my mother, Jackie Osmun Slaughter.
Throughout the years I struggled to find my niche and in 1998 I found myself at Davenport University. The rest is history. In late 2010 I will confer my Ph.D in Education, with a specialization of Instructional Design for Online Learning and a minor in Educational Psychology.
I am eager and determined to move forward to achieve the goals set forth for me. Do not tell me I cannot do something - unless you want me to prove you wrong! My overall goal to ensure that education is what it should be for ALL learners. No one should ever be left behind; either in secondary or post-secondary learning environments.
In my life there have been many great people, without whom I would not have survived; it is time for me to pass that along.
More Information
If you would like more information or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at: Debi Ash
Thank you!
Education
PhD in Education: Instructional Design for Online Learning & Educational Psychology
Capella University -
In Progress (2010)
Masters in Education: Professional Studies: Online Teaching & Training and Adult Education
Capella University - March 2006
Bachelors in Administration: Management & Marketing
Davenport University - October 2003
Favorite Places
America's Promise Alliance (member)
Respect, Responsibility & Individuality in Education
created by Deborah Ash & Linda Kaiser
It is our vision to implement our research findings on intereactivity, engagement, and motivation through alternative secondary education...delivered online; to assist those learners who may not do well in traditional educational settings.
Respect: Through a teamwork concept of course design and development, learners can come to develop a greater sense of respect for the opinions of other people. They can learn to take into consideration the needs and wants of others in a learning environment and then apply those opinions to their own to form a new or altered understanding of the concepts being learned. In this process, learners also gain a greater respect for other cultures and learning styles.
Through community service initiatives, learners can gain respect for others in the social community helping the learners, in turn, to become respected citizens of their local communities.
Responsibility: responsible for their own learning, utilizing participatory design principles, learners have an active role in their learning environment, thus creating intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to engage them in a natural way. Through participation and collaboration with small, focused participatory design teams and professionally trained instructional designers, learners are given the opportunity to design courses for future learners. Through the feedback and input of these learners, Dara-Oak can constantly improve courses and the learning environment to ensure that the needs of this group of learners are always being met. Also, this type of inclusiveness provides the learners with the opportunity to have an active role in the development of their educational environment thus creating both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation leading to better sense of self, greater self-esteem and a greater sense of responsibility for themselves and the educational pursuits of other learners. Focusing on the learner’s sense of self also leads to heightened levels of self-respect.
Individuality: Bernice McCarthy's 4MAT System (curriculum and instructional design model) relates learning to a cycle that takes place naturally and in a variety of ways. The main principles of 4MAT are that each person perceives and processes information in different ways and these ways stem from unique learning styles. With 4MAT, learning styles are recognized and utilized in a way that allows for a learner to use the strengths and weaknesses in each area as supportive techniques for their learning peers. The 4MAT System moves through each “quadrant” in sequence, combining the four combinations of characteristics so that each learner will shine at one point, at different places – thus enabling them to learn from one another. Each learner can embrace their strengths while developing “respect for the uniqueness of others and furthering their ability to learn in alternative modes without the pressure of being wrong” (McCarthy, 1995, p. i).
Current public school institutions group learners by age and force them into a pre-determined grade level based solely on their age alone. This practice does not take into consideration the actual academic level of the learner and sometimes places them into an environment that causes frustration and anxiety resulting in poor academic performance. With individuality being recognized, learners can be grouped by academic level through a pre-assessment phase; which serves to identify the specific level at which a learner is performing and group that learner with those who are academically similar in current level of achievement. Further, learners can be given the opportunity to customize and personalize their learning by allowing them to set their own learning goals and work at a pace which will ensure their personal learning success and achievement. These learning goals are developed through the use of individual and personalized goal portfolios. Giving the learner responsibility for tracking and achieving personal, pre-set learning goals is one of the strengths of the individuality vision.
Please feel free to leave your comments about this vision at our blog: Dara-Oak: A Vision for Alternative Secondary Education
PhD Dissertation Study Overview (In Progress)
A mixed method study to determine the impact participants’ involvement in the instructional design process has on engagement and motivation has been determined to be appropriate in answering the research questions:
What are the motivational and engagement levels of targeted users after completion of a traditionally designed high school lesson?
What course design factors do targeted users deem important to enhance motivation and engagement in the learning process?
How are levels of engagement and motivation affected when design strategies of targeted users are implemented in course design?
The purpose of this study is to assess the extent to which participatory design enhances engagement and motivation in those who have not completed high school. By utilizing the voice of those who have not graduated, this study can provide instructional designers, educators, and administrators with data that may lead to the redesign of current instructional intervention programs in order to enhance motivation and engagement.
School Chair: Dr. Nan Thornton
Dissertation
Chair/Mentor: Dr. Rod Sims
Committee Member: Dr. Cheryl Doran
Committee Member: Dr. Carol Holzberg