Biography

Dr. Deborah Taylor shares her passion for promoting student success in online learning by developing and facilitating workshops for the Online Learning Consortium, teaching graduate classes at Baker University for teacher recertification, instructing undergraduate online biology classes at a local community college, and presenting at conferences. Deborah is a faculty affiliate at the University of Kansas in Undergraduate Biology (retired), and her lab manual is still being used in the physiology labs. 

Deborah holds a MA in Biology (Neurobiology) and uses her knowledge of the learning sciences to guide her teaching and faculty development workshops. Deborah examined student interactions in fully online classes to identify which type of interactions had a greater likelihood of promoting students’ success in undergraduate full-semester classes for her PhD in Educational Technology at the University of Kansas School of Education. Her research in using learning analytics to guide the design and delivery of online classes that promote student success has led to the use of adaptive learning tools that “even the playing field” for students, thus providing equity for the underprepared student. Deborah was the primary author for Chapter 2: Adaptive and Personalized Learning, in Innovative Learning Environments in STEM Education - Opportunities, Challenges and Looking Forward (2021). Dr. Taylor served as a peer reviewer for more than ten years and has presented at many conferences sharing with others her expertise on how to develop and deliver online courses that provide effective and valuable learning opportunities for students. Deborah has received numerous teaching awards and is a proud graduate of the 2014 EDUCAUSE Learning Technology Leadership Institute.