July 2023 Spotlight

The July SoTL Spotlight highlights a collaborative research project in progress. Marcela Knapp, Kimberly Werking, Joan Lawrence, and Anna “Andi” Johnson completed SoTL’s THINK Tank  in April 2022. Interestingly, Joan and Andi teach in CHSS and Kimberly and Marcela teach in COE, making this the first time most of the four met each other. 

As the four discussed their research interests during THINK Tank! it became clear that they had a shared interest: student success! The team successfully completed Think! , have completed data analysis, and are now enrolled in INK ! and are writing up their manuscript for publication! The title of their manuscript is: “Swimming Against the Current: Early Detection of Students Most Likely to Struggle in an Accelerated Online Course”

Marcela Knapp, Online Full-Time Faculty, College of Education

Marcela Knapp is an Online Full-Time Faculty in the College of Education at Grand Canyon University. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education with a Bilingual Endorsement, Summa Cum Laude from Arizona State University, and a Master of Education in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from Grand Canyon University.

Marcela was born and raised in Mexico, where she began her journey as an educator almost 30 years ago. Marcela has been a faculty member at GCU since January of 2018. At GCU, she enjoys teaching education courses. She is also a Student Teacher Site Supervisor and works closely with teacher candidates conducting evaluations. She is also a PIP facilitator and supports students prepare for their student teaching experience.

In 2019, Marcela and two colleagues wrote the SoTL snapshot: Two-way instructor to student communication using Remind, which was published in JIR. In 2022, she joined a THINK Tank! group and started conducting research. She is currently in the process of writing up the results for this study in INK. Marcela has a passion for education and researching best practices in order to effectively support her students’ academic success.

Kimberly Werking, Online Full-Time Faculty, College of Education

Kimberly Werking is online full-time faculty in the College of Education at Grand Canyon University. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Education Elementary Education, Summa Cum Laude, in the College of Teacher Education and Leadership. She also has a Master of Education Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Teacher Education and Leadership.

She has 20 years serving students in education, ten of those years have been here at Grand Canyon University in the College of Education.  

In 2019, Kimberly helped write a SOTL snapshot: Two-way to student communication using Remind. She has always been interested in learning how to do research. There was an email that came through GCU asking if she would love to join a THINK Tank! group. She took this opportunity in 2022 and completed it. Her research interests are helping struggling students, late policy, best practices for online students, and effectiveness of building relationships with online students.

Joan Lawrence, Online Full-Time Faculty, College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Joan Lawrence is an Associate Professor in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. She has been an online full-time faculty member in school counseling and clinical mental health counseling since November 2020. She earned a Doctor of Education in Counselor Education and Supervision from Argosy, Sarasota; a Master of Education in Counseling and Guidance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro; a Master of Science in Academic Psychology from East Carolina University; a Bachelor of Arts in English Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill;  a Post-Master’s Certificate in Advanced School Counseling from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro; and a Post-Master’s Certificate in Play Therapy from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Supervisor in North Carolina, a Licensed Professional Counselor in Texas, a certified school counselor in North Carolina, a Registered Play Therapist, and a National Certified Counselor.

Her research interests are counselor supervision, online instruction, school counseling and play therapy. She has engaged in THINK! Tank and is currently writing up results for a study in INK! with Andi Johnson, Kimberly Werking and Marcela Knapp. 

Anna Johnson, Online Full-Time Faculty, College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Anna M. (Andi) Johnson, Ph.D., MAC, LADC, LPCC completed her doctoral education in Counselor Education and Supervision (CES) at Capella University in 2018. She has enjoyed being an online full-time faculty in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program since 2020. She thoroughly enjoys conducting research and is working on the following research projects: 1) the development of competence as perceived by counselors-in-training with 3 GCU students, 2) the use of mind mapping in online teaching, 3) the development of competence as perceived by addiction counseling trainees, 4) the impact of synchronous instruction in an online counseling program during a group counseling course, and 5) the current SoTL project. The current SoTL project began in January 2022 with the introduction of four researchers from 2 different colleges during the Think tank process. Each of us responded to an initial email sent by CIRT and through initial discussions decided to work on a project that has morphed into the identification of a struggling student in an accelerated online program. We gathered a significant amount of data and worked collaboratively to understand how to complete a quantitative study. There were ongoing collaboration meetings and involvement in the INK program to generate a manuscript. I can honestly say that without INK, our manuscript would continue to be incomplete. We received great direction from both Helen Hammond and Jean Mandernach on the completion of our project and I continue to be excited to work with all of these ladies on our next project capitalizing on our findings.