Kathleen Marrs, Ph.D – Resume/CV

Designed and developed supportive data-driven websites for courses in Multimedia Scripting (ActionScript), Enhancing Websites with PHP, and Data Structures and Algorithms (Java). The main feature was a help ticket application where students could submit their works in progress to get timely troubleshooting help and feedback prior to assessment. Other features included tutorials, a weekly newsletter (also disseminated via email and as a course announcement), and links to webinar recordings. Students who used these resources found them indispensable resulting in a high level of satisfaction and improved assessment scores.

Developed a macro-driven automated grading tool in Excel using standardized rubrics for project-based courses resulting in improved grading consistency, fairness, and expediency. The tool allowed more time for and improved timeliness of facilitating discussions, writing personalized feedback, and responding to student inquiries.

Designed and developed a Prezi demonstration of the The Accounting Cycle to help bridge the knowledge gaps of online Accounting Concepts students resulting in improved assessment scores. Designed and developed a series of supplemental Prezi demonstrations on Traditional vs. ABC Costing, How to Calculate Standard Costs, and Standard Cost Variance Analysis resulting in improved assessment scores.

Created a supporting website for on-campus students enrolled in Principles of Accounting to provide them with a one-stop place to remotely access course materials resulting in an increased level of student satisfaction and increased student engagement.

Designed and developed a Captivate multimedia application to help students make the transition from Principles to Managerial Accounting resulting in an increased level of satisfaction and engagement along with improved assessment scores and retention. Other support sites that produced similar results were created for Introduction to Multimedia Using Flash, Markup Languages, and Basic HTML.

Developed an undergraduate course entitled Enhancing Websites with PHP. Students learned how to write PHP scripts that process web-based input and output, troubleshoot programming code, connect a form to a database, and create scripts to display records in the browser in an aesthetically pleasing way. Project included writing course and lesson outcomes, designing project-based and quiz assessments, and developing the rubrics to assess student mastery of outcomes.

Wrote and facilitated a 6-week a course for Education to Go entitled Introduction to Freehand targeted to non-degree seeking adults. Students learned how to use the application’s vector-based tools to create brochures, book covers, newsletters, and technical illustrations. Example projects were provided allowing students to learn at their own pace and self-assess their understanding. Student support was provided through active facilitator participation using an asynchronous discussion board.

Wrote and facilitated a 6-week course for Education to Go entitled Imaging for the Web targeted to non-degree seeking adults. Students learned how to create dynamic web graphics including buttons, rollovers, image swaps, animations, and graphical menus through application of color theory, compression algorithms, and appropriate optimization techniques. Student support was provided through active facilitator participation using an asynchronous discussion board.

Developed a dynamic website for Kristine Kowalski, an attorney using a PHP and MySQL platform and an HTML5 frontend. Backend dynamics were designed so the owner could modify content at will without technical assistance.

Developed a dynamic website for Todd Green, a stuntman using a PHP and MySQL platform and an Adobe Flash and XML-based frontend. Key features included event scheduling and automatic geo-mapping of events using the Google Maps API.

Developed a dynamic website for Yamaha Triples, a Yamaha motorcycle enthusiast community group. Built during the pre-Google Maps era, the front-end displayed hand-crafted graphical maps. Users could register their contact and location information and filter the display by continent, country, state, or province to connect with fellow members interested in riding within their planned traveling proximity.

Led projects involving computerization of manual transactional systems. Projects required collaborating with internal stakeholders and external experts. Expertise in redesigning business processes and ensuring data integrity were essential to success as were the abilities to minimize the disruption by addressing staff resistance to change. This was accomplished by encouraging users to participate and by designing training programs that empowered users to perform their duties more efficiently and confidently.

Supervised the accounting department for a $125 million retail chain of convenience stores. The 20 person staff was responsible for $7.5 million in assets including over 50 depository bank accounts and for the payroll records of about 3,000 employees. As a team, the department implemented cash control procedures designed to deter deposit floating resulting in about $100,000 annual loss prevention.

Implemented accounting procedures to convert a $10 million research and development venture to a commercial manufacturer of oxygen generating equipment in collaboration with industry regulatory experts and external auditors.

Audited supervisor-specified recipients of $17+ million in grants issued by the Washtenaw County Comprehensive Employment and Training (CETA) program covering three fiscal years. Required researching regulations, using statistical sampling procedures to select relevant transactions, expanding the scope in cases where discrepancies were found, and reporting noncompliance.

Completed dissertation entitled An Investigation of the Factors that Influence Faculty and Student Acceptance of Mobile Learning in Online Higher Education. Using SPSS, quantitative analyses were performed to determine the predictive strength of the mobile learning acceptance model (MLAM) by analyzing data from 417 participants. The dataset was reduced to the smallest number of factors that explained the maximum amount of variance using exploratory factor analysis. The goodness of fit of the model and the significance of each factor were determined using multiple regression analysis.