Why a Doctorate

I have been interested in improving my teaching and seeing better student learning outcomes for many years. I have introduced active learning as well as technology into all of my courses, usually overhauling my courses every two years. Several years ago I attended a faculty workshop on campus that included Professor Bob Burns of the School of Education. After a number of discussions with Bob, I realized that getting an EdD in Learning & Instruction was incredibly appealing and just what I was looking for in terms of improving my teaching. Having been recently divorced and with both of my children out of the house and off to college, I decided to enroll into the doctoral program - and I am glad I did. No regrets!

Professional Life

I teach Quantitative Business Analysis (analyzing problems using spreadsheets) and a course called Systems in Organizations (a cross between Operations Management and Information Systems). I have recently been given new responsibilities: my dean has asked me to bring the other business faculty (kicking and screaming if necessary) into the 21st century in terms of using technology in the classroom. Examples include having professors teaching our freshman use web 2.0 tools such as Facebook and and have faculty learn how to effectively use wikis and blogs for their students. I am also in charge of the business school's website (http://www.usfca.edu/sobam).

Who I am

Hi. I am Stephen Morris and I am a fourth year doctoral student in the School of Education at the University of San Francisco. I am an Assistant Professor at the University of San Francisco in the School of Business and Management and have been teaching at USF for 16 years.