Internet Learning Volume 3, Number 2, Fall 2014 | Page 67

Internet Learning
About the Authors
Julie Schell is the Director of OnRamps
and Strategic Initiatives at The University
of Texas at Austin’s (UT-Austin) Center for
Teaching and Learning where she leads signature,
dual-credit curricular innovations
that extend the reach of the University. In
2014, she was identified by Teachers College,
Columbia university as an Early Riser
in Higher Education for her contributions
to the field. She is also a Clinical Assistant
Professor at UT-Austin’s top ranked College
of Education, where she teaches a new graduate
course, Technology and Innovation in
Higher Education. With UT, she currently
holds a dual appointment as an associate in
the Mazur Group at the School of Engineering
and Applied Sciences at Harvard University,
where she generates and tests ideas
for scaling innovative teaching methods.
She completed a three-year postdoctoral
fellowship under Eric Mazur at Harvard
University. She has over 15 years of experience
in higher education, has written and
presented widely on Peer Instruction, and
has held positions at the nation’s top research
universities including Stanford, Yale,
Columbia, Harvard and most recently The
University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Schell is
an expert in educational innovation and a
recipient of a Longhorn Innovation Fund
for Technology award in 2013. She was
awarded the Dissertation of the Year from
the American Educational Research Association,
Postsecondary Education Division in
2010. She holds a doctorate in Higher and
Postsecondary Education from Teachers
College, Columbia University and an M.S.
in Counseling and Educational Psychology,
with an emphasis in instructional technology,
from the University of Nevada, Reno.
Brian Lukoff is an educator, technology
designer, and engineer with a passion for
assessment and innovation. I am Program
Director for Learning Catalytics at Pearson
Education. In 2013, Pearson acquired
Learning Catalytics, a company that I
founded with Eric Mazur and Gary King
that produced a cloud-based educational
assessment and engagement platform.
Learning Catalytics grew out of research
work I engaged in as a Postdoctoral Fellow
in Technology and Education at the
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
at Harvard University. Previously, I was a
software engineer at adap.tv, a video advertising
startup in Silicon Valley. I received a
Ph.D. from the Stanford University School
of Education where I studied educational
measurement and technology. I also hold
an M.S. in statistics from Stanford University
and a B.A. in mathematics from Cornell
University.
Cassandre Giguere Alvarado is a Clinical
Assistant Professor in the Department of
Educational Administration at The University
of Texas at Austin, and also serves in
the Office of the Executive Vice President
and Provost, directing initiatives in student
success and enrollment management. Dr.
Alvarado’s teaching, research and professional
practice focuses on college readiness
and student retention and success. She currently
directs the PACE (Path to Admission
through Co-Enrollment) Program, an
innovative co-enrollment program with
Austin Community College. She is the College
Readiness Special Advisor to the Texas
Higher Education Coordinating Board
(THECB) and frequently works with national
organizations on issues of readiness
and retention. Her current research focuses
on understanding college readiness, including
the development and testing of readiness
assignments designed to introduce students
to the content knowledge and cross-disciplinary
skills needed for success. A 20-year
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