Hi! I'm Yen,
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ABOUT ME |
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Teaching is a passionate act of love for humanity. In my career, I've designed curriculum, mentored preservice teachers, trained faculty, evaluated and managed programs. Being an entrepreneur is the hardest thing I have ever done, but it gives me the greatest joy and satisfaction. MY EXPERIENCE I received my bachelors degree in Evolution and Ecology at the University of California at Davis and ended up as the lab manager for the International Lab of Molecular Biology in Davis, California! Later, I pursued my teaching credential and taught biology, physical science, life science, and biotechnology for six years at Vacaville High School. I co-founded the BioTech SYSTEM Consortium — a partnership between three high schools, Solano Community College, Genentech, and U.C. Davis to promote biotechnology education. From this work, I was recruited to be the program chair for the Biotechnology program at Fortis College in Landover, Maryland. It was the opportunity of a lifetime! I had the opportunity to design the certificate and A.S. biotechnology degree program, and the certificate for the Pharmacy Technology program. As a program chair, I saw how education gave people second chances at life. I was so blessed to serve such an amazing community. However, I felt that I needed to make an even greater impact on the world, and pursued my Ph.D. in Teaching and Curriculum at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. During that time, I mentored preservice teachers and managed the Students Tackling Relevant Authentic Science (STARS) program at East High School. I was also the program evaluator for the Noyce Scholars Program and the Critical Mass of Engineering Technology Scholarship (COMETS) Program at the Rochester Institute of Technology. At this time I continued to teach online classes in program evaluation and education. For my thesis, I developed the Interactive Spatial Learning (ISL) theory to explain how people learn in digital spaces. We use this theory in our work with teachers and in the design of our online courses through Qi Learning Research Group and the STEAM Café. QI LEARNING RESEARCH GROUP This journey began when my sons started elementary school, and their teachers needed science. I quickly realized that I could take the great labs that I developed in high school and teach them to elementary! What’s more, I fell in love with youngsters’ incredible curiosity and innovative thinking. They always think outside the box, because for them, they don’t even know that boxes exist, yet! As I became more involved in elementary science, I learned so much from teachers. Just like their students, teachers hungered for activities that fostered critical thinking and self-directed learning. So much of school is about trying to cover all the facts and information in such an impossible amount of time. But we all know that life isn’t just about facts — it’s about living, and science is a way of knowing, understanding, and living the world. That’s why my company, Qi Learning Research Group, is about STEM for everyone. I created STEAM Café as a place where educators can go to empower themselves with STEM education by getting all the support they need to do their jobs. After all, when we influence one life, we are changing the world. Our goal at STEAM Café is to empower you with quality STEM training and tools to make your jobs easier as you continue to change the world with your amazing talents and abilities. |
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© 2020 Yen Verhoeven
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