A Guide to Curriculum Mapping is now available!

Jennifer M. Harrison has worked in higher education for over 30 years and is currently UMBC’s Associate Director for Assessment in the Faculty Development Center. She teaches for the First-Year Seminar program, the Psychology Department’s Certificate in Teaching and Learning Science, and for the English Department. Dr. Harrison has expertise in accreditation, institutional effectiveness, student learning assessment, critical pedagogy, curriculum development, educational technology, and online and face-to-face active learning. She specializes in interdisciplinary educational development. An experienced speaker, she has created hundreds of workshops, programs, and presentations for a range of higher education audiences, including national, regional, and local conferences. At UMBC, she consults with faculty and staff to strengthen student-centered learning assessment practices and offers programs and workshops to support faculty development. She was a key contributor to UMBC’s successful re-accreditation efforts and continues to work with faculty, staff, and leaders to support authentic assessment.

Dr. Harrison holds an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Language, Literacy, and Culture from UMBC, a master’s degree in English Language and Literature from University of Maryland, College Park, and a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in art from Washington College. Her two sons earned degrees from University of Maryland and are software engineers. Her current research focuses on authentic assessment, including inclusive curriculum mapping and design; graduate, co-curricular, and interdisciplinary assessment; assessment technologies; and the benefits of contextualizing learning analytics with direct learning evidence. Dr. Harrison’s research and teaching centers on intersectional social justice education.

Vickie Rey Williams, an educational psychologist and learning scientist, has worked in a variety of clinical settings, including hospitals and K-12 schools. In addition to being the national expert on horizontal alignment and effective ways to integrate, measure, and improve multiple cross-disciplinary standards, her background includes degrees in human services psychology, community psychology, and education. As a social justice educator, Dr. Williams has devoted her career to studying diverse classrooms in multicultural communities and cultivating these skills in the next generation. In addition to teaching education courses to future educators, she serves as a featured professor of cognitive psychology in UMBC’s Psychology degree program, and a mentor and leader in the First-Year Seminar program at UMBC. As Director of Student Services for Teacher Certification and a faculty mentor for residential life, Dr. Williams advises and supports many students through their academic journeys, relying on curriculum maps to guide students to their next steps. A member of the Department of Education at UMBC for over 20 years, and an alum of the university, she uses curriculum mapping for courses and programs. More recently, being a grandmother of four beautiful children is the highlight of her life.