Faculty and Student Monthly Highlight
Faculty Highlight:
Student Highlight:
Faculty Highlight
Dr. Colleen Wiessner
Dr. Colleen Aalsburg Wiessner, Assistant Professor of Adult Education in the Department of Adult and Higher Education, passed away in August. A remarkably accomplished researcher and caring teacher, Dr. Wiessner joined the faculty in the College of Education in 2002 after receiving her Ed.D. in Organization and Leadership/Adult Education Guided Intensive Study from Teachers College Columbia University in 2001. She exemplified the College's commitment to LEAD & SERVE and will be sorely missed by her colleagues here at NC State and throughout the U.S.
"Inclusive, affective, collaborative, participatory, critical, and developmental are six words that describe my approach to teaching," wrote Dr. Wiessner. "I seek to create learning communities with my students, settings in which we can question, reflect, laugh, challenge, and grow in our roles as educators. I enjoy infusing the arts and other creative approaches in my learning designs. As Paulo Freire, I believe teachers are also learners and learners are also teachers." She developed a passion for both education and social change/community advocacy at an early age, and accordingly, her primary research interests were in developing effective ways of teaching and learning and in creating personal and social change. Dr. Wiessner also worked in the field of religious education on the local, regional, and national levels, and one of her favorite projects was coordinating the Multicultural Writers’ Workshop, a grant project to develop curriculum writers from a variety of cultural backgrounds, with the goal of making religious education curricula more inclusive of varied perspectives.
Publications in press at the time of Dr. Wiessner's passing include Multicultural Writers’ Workshop, The Dreams and Schemes of Joseph (Grand Rapids, MI: Faith Alive Resources) and Wiessner, C. A. and Maodush-Pitzer, D., Radical Encouragement: Studies in Lives that Make a Difference (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformed Church Press). Though Dr. Wiessner is no longer with us, her extensive contributions to the literature and practice of adult education will continue to influence the field for years to come.
Student Highlight
Nicole Mack
Junior, Math Education & Statistics
Hometown: Goldsboro, NC
This summer I participated in the Biostatistics Summer Undergraduate Research Education program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The purpose of my research was to find the best time interval to screen women over 65 years old for osteoporosis, and also within that time interval, what factors or attributes would be the best predictors of osteoporosis. Much of my research involved manipulating large sets data and creating a mixture of statistical models. The findings from this research will eventually be used as a guide and reference for doctors’ recommendations to patients who may be at risk. I had a wonderful time learning about the field of biostatistics, networking within my field, and exploring public health in general. I was fortunate enough to attend a conference on how public health and education are inherently intertwined. This conference allowed me to see how I can bridge my interest in public health and my interest in the field of education.
While I am highly interested in public health, my first love has always been education. I have always loved helping others to understand and learn. I want to show children that they can learn anything, even a field as “difficult” as mathematics. I have thoroughly enjoyed my education classes as they have challenged me to try to understand the ways that students understand not only mathematics but life. My classes have challenged me to see the world from their point of view, which is not always the easiest task.
I think the most important factor in my success as a student has been maintaining balance between school and other activities. Although a hard worker, I love to participate in many extra-curricular activities such as being a College of Education student ambassador, parliamentarian of the Association of African American Student Educators (AAASE), president of the Student Diversity Advisory Council (SDAC), and volunteering at the local Boys and Girls Club. On my down time I enjoy reading. exercising, and learning to play the guitar.
