With more than a decade of language teaching experience under her belt, WeiHsuan瞧 is eager to expand her knowledge base to best support her 学生s. 作为一名博士.D. 学生 in the 北科罗拉多大学’s Technology, Innovation and Pedagogy program, (现在的 教育技术计划), she’s researching ways teachers can use technology in their curriculum 设计. In the research-intensive program, 学生s build a deep theoretical base in critical and innovative pedagogy and develop technology application skills.

Lo is a 台湾 native who speaks four languages — Chinese, English, Japanese and 台湾. She specializes in learning practices for Chinese language teachers, including game-based learning and project-based learning. 她说死记硬背和机械 drilling, typical activities in language classes, fall short of best practices.

“I learned so many ways people learn and how knowledge is constructed. 人们需要 to undergo experiences, relate those experiences to themselves and find a way to express their feelings and thoughts to learn,” Lo said.

A few semesters ago, in a game design class, she and another UNC doctoral 学生 developed a problem-solving card game for teachers called FIXIT. 在她的决赛中 year of the program, the game has evolved, and plans for a digital version are forthcoming.

Lo’s dissertation focuses on determining whether the game helped 学生s improve 他们的中文能力. It’s more than an academic exercise for the longtime 教育家. It will impact her work as an educational technology instructor and graduate teaching assistant at UNC, where her 学生s are future K-12 teachers. 作为 her work at UNC, she taught and led a course improvement program and built an asynchronous 在线课程. She’s a Chinese language instructor at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, where she designed a curriculum and teaches synchronous 在线课程s throughout the year and in-person immersion classes during the summers. 之前，她教过 Chinese language courses 在 College of the Holy Cross, Hunter College and the 明尼苏达大学双城分校.

Heng-Yu Ku他是博天堂官方的教授 教师教育学院 在 College of 教育 and Behavioral Sciences她是罗的研究顾问. His insightful questions helped her see flaws even when she thought her research design was perfect.

“He encouraged me to do more research, go to conferences and present, get to know more people, and then look at how they do research. Dr. 顾先生也找到了机会 and resources like the teaching assistant position and scholarships,” she said.

She took Ku’s advice to heart, joining numerous language and teaching associations. She presented 在 Association for 教育al Communications and Technology in 2020年、2021年和2022年. She also presented 在 National Chinese Language Conference and the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages this year.

Ku has found Lo to be a dedicated and eager 学生 who has masterfully combined theory 与研究.

“Since the game can apply to all different fields, I think it will improve teaching 和学习. So, I believe it’s a powerful tool,” Ku said. 我还记得 electronic portfolio she developed for showcasing her teaching, research and professional service activities during her oral comprehensive examination. 委员会成员 thought it was innovative and were impressed.”

她搬到了美国.S. 她16岁的时候. Before coming to UNC, she graduated from Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Science in 业务 Administration. 她赢得了 a Master of 艺术 in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language from the National Taiwan Normal University, a partner institution to UNC.

“Before learning ed tech, I could only be a language instructor, but now I have the option to be a curriculum design consultant to teachers who need help to make their lessons and incorporate more educational technology into them,” Lo said.

 ——布伦达·吉伦著