FA C U LT Y a t t h e F O R E F R O N T
Gale Sinatra, along with colleagues Abby Beck and Douglas Lombardi, received the International Award for Excellence from the International Journal of Climate Change: Impacts and Responses. They earned the award for their paper, “Leveraging Higher-Education Instructors in the Climate Literacy Effort: Factors Related to University Faculty’s Propensity to Teach Climate Change,” which was selected from the highest-ranked papers in the 2012 journal volume’s peer review process. • Kimberly Ferrario, Corinne Hyde, Brandon Martinez and Melora Sundt co-authored “An Honest Account of the Humbling Experience of Learning to Teach Online,” an article in LEARNing Landscapes on transitioning from traditional to blended synchronous and asynchronous online teaching. In the article, they draw from the experience of more than 120 instructors who made the transition, to offer details on five ways that teaching in an online environment was different than expected. • Five Rossier researchers are developing an engaging, free curriculum that uses Mattel Hot Wheels toys to teach science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), with support from the Mattel Children’s Foundation. The groundbreaking new partnership will be led by faculty members with expertise in STEM curriculum and learning, including Frederick Freking, Angela “Laila” Hasan, Julie Marsh, Morgan Polikoff and Gale Sinatra.
Gale Sinatra
New Faculty Rossier welcomed two new assistant professors of clinical education in July: • Artineh Samkian has served as an adjunct assistant professor for USC Rossier since 2010, and has also taught education graduate students at Claremont Graduate University and Cal State Los Angeles. Samkian has worked as an educational research analyst for the Los Angeles Unified School District and for First 5 LA, and her expertise is in qualitative methods, evaluation, and Armenian immigrant acculturation in the U.S. • Claudia G. Pineda comes from the University of California, Irvine, where she was a researcher and taught adolescent and social development. Her research interests are in the influence of context and culture on the psychosocial and educational development of disadvantaged and immigrant youth. She has taught at Northeastern University and Harvard University, and was a Visiting Scholar at the Cornell University Latin American Studies Program.
Artineh Samkian
Claudia G. Pineda USC Rossier School of Education
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