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Educators, Educated. Ed.D Graduates First Class
Tri-County Technical College and Anderson University Announce New Transfer Program
Three Years After Launch, AU’s Ed.D Program Sees its First Graduates Complete Their Journey
It’s become an annual tradition: Anderson University, amid a prolonged season of incredible growth, launching a new academic program.
Even better? When that first enrolled class earns that first degree.
That’s why, among the more than 1,000 new graduates participating in Commencement last spring, the Anderson University College of Education celebrating its inaugural Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) graduating class was extra special.
“We are so excited to celebrate this inaugural class of Ed.D. graduates,” said Doctor of Education Director Dr. Julie Smart. “Three years ago, we began this doctoral journey in the College of Education and have had the privilege to walk side-by-side with these graduates through all the ‘firsts’ of this program. We are proud of their commitment to quality and rigor in educational research and their dedication to leadership in the field of education.”
The spring doctoral graduates were Shannon Goodacre, Marylee Kneisley, Meaghan Gregory McAfee, Melissa Miller, Rosalyn Pitts, Alexis Redman and Jody Webb.
“It is incredibly gratifying to arrive at this point where we are graduating this first group of scholars from our Ed.D. program,” said Anderson University College of Education Dean Dr. Mark Butler. “We are grateful to these students for placing their trust in Anderson University to lead them through this process. Personally, I am grateful to Dr. Smart for her leadership of this program, to Dr. Watts for his role as the Associate Dean overseeing this program, and to all the dissertation chairs, faculty, and committee members who have invested their time and talents into our doctoral students.”
Dr. Meaghan Gregory-McAfee
Dissertation Title: Middle School and High School Teachers’ Attitudes and Beliefs about Instructional Technology in the Classroom
Dissertation Chair: Dr. Julie Smart
Dr. Meaghan Gregory-McAfee teaches eighth-grade English at Boiling Springs High School in Spartanburg District 2.
McAfee did her master’s research on technology use and how it affected students and teachers in the classroom, which she said “blossomed” into her doctoral research topic.
Her research explores attitudes toward technology used in the classroom, which has taken on a more significant role since the COVID pandemic. She feels that her research opens the conversation for educators and administrators about what they can do to address various technology barriers facing teachers at all grade levels.
“I think that it is beneficial for teachers, not only just in middle and high school, but throughout K-12 in general, to see different attitudes and beliefs of teachers about technology since that’s so prevalent in our world today,” she said. “I really think this would be beneficial to teachers to read… It shows, from this research, here’s what we could do as educators or here is what district officials could do as well… Seeing what some of the barriers that teachers face throughout the district that this is taking place in, teachers can see that maybe they’re not alone, that other teachers are facing different technology barriers as well and district office officials can see different barriers so that they can hopefully put into place some solutions to those barriers.”
She enjoys teaching for now and is considering the possibility of either a technology-related job at the school district level or becoming an education professor someday.
McAfee is grateful to her dissertation chair, Dr. Julie Smart.
“She’s helped me so much through this process,” McAfee said. “She’s always been available for questions, and if she doesn’t know the answer, she’s going to figure out how to help me find the answer.”
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Written by Ed Welch