trena m. paulus

curriculum vitae

abstracts of published work

selected works

utk faculty page/contact info

I am an Associate Professor in the Educational Psychology and Counseling department at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. I work with the doctoral program in Learning Environments and Educational Studies and the Master's program in Instructional Technology. My research interests include qualitative inquiry methodologies (particularly discourse analysis and narrative inquiry), transforming large undergraduate lecture courses, and online/blended collaborative learning environments.

My first formal teaching experience was as an English teacher in Lesotho, Southern Africa as a Peace Corps Volunteer from 1992-94. One of my favorite parts of the experience was learning to speak the Sesotho language. When I returned to the States I studied applied linguistics at Ohio University where I received my Master of Arts degree. While there I completed and later published a thesis entitled Revision Strategies and the Effect of Peer and Teacher Feedback on Student Writing, which is my most-cited publication to date. I have taught English as a second language at Ohio University, where I won the outstanding teaching assistant award, and as an intern for the English Language Center at Michigan State University. In 2003 I received my Ph.D. in Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University. My dissertation investigated collaboration and the social construction of knowledge in an online learning environment.

I also have experience designing, developing and implementing professional development programs, including at South East European University in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and for the University of Alabama in Quito, Ecuador. I enjoy experiencing different cultures (Appalachian to Zimbabwean and everything in between) and the challenge of learning anything new.

After work and on weekends I live to be outdoors (on land, not water), particularly hiking, backpacking, and mountain biking. I am an Appalachian Trail maintainer and coordinate a monthly hiking group for women, the Second Saturday Striders.

courses I teach (syllabus linked to semester)

EP631 (formerly EP531): Discourse Analysis in Educational Environments (Fall 2010; Fall 2009; Fall 2007)
IT532 (formerly EP532): Introduction to Computer-Mediated Communication (Fall 2010; Fall 2008)
CSE560/EP555: Introduction to Qualitative Research in Education (Spring 2010, Spring 2009)
CSE661/EP661: Qualitative Research in Education Settings (Spring 2011; Fall 2008)
EP633 (new course): Discursive Psychology (Fall 2011)
IT632 (new course): Online Learning Environments (Fall 2011)

resources

professional associations

last updated on july 27, 2009
trena m. paulus @ university of tennessee