Meet Our Team
Leadership
Dr. Michael Sweet
Dr. Michael Sweet
Director of Design and Integration
Dr. Sweet (he/him/his) earned his Ph.D. from University of Texas Austin in Educational Psychology. His research and professional work have centered on learning processes in student groups and he has published in Educational Psychology Review, Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, Decision Sciences, Journal of Innovative Education, To Improve the Academy, and New Directions for Teaching and Learning. He was an invited guest editor for a special issue of Educational Psychology Review and was lead editor of the volume Team-Based Learning in the Social Sciences and Humanities: Group Work that Works to Generate Critical Thinking and Engagement.
Dr. Sweet presents nationally and internationally on critical thinking and team-based learning, served as the 2009-2010 President of the international Team-Based Learning Collaborative and 2014-2016 Executive Editor of Publications. Furthermore, the online resources he developed to support critical thinking instruction and team-based learning have achieved international adoption.
Dr. Sweet has taught classes in Learning and Motivation, Group Communication, Critical Thinking and in various internet and data networking topics.
Our Team
Dr. Mary English
Dr. Mary English
Associate Director
Dr. English earned a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from George Mason University. Her professional work has centered on instructional systems design for interactive multimedia training and online asynchronous education. Dr. English’s research focuses on teacher motivation and implementation fidelity issues related to PBL, as well as creating environments to support student self-regulated learning. She has presented nationally on these topics, and has been published in several journals, including the Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning. Dr. English is currently an advisory board member of the Advanced Manufacturing PBL project, which is an NSF-funded initiative of the New England Board of Higher Education. She is also an adjunct professor.
Prior to her career in higher education, Dr. English served in diverse teaching, consulting, and research roles in various private, non-profit, government, and educational institutions in the Washington, D.C. area. She has taught classes in student motivation, PBL, teaching online, applying user-centered design principles to courses, and implementing and evaluating learning technologies.
Dr. Alexia Ferracuti
Dr. Alexia Ferracuti
Senior Associate Director
Dr. Alexia Ferracuti (she/her/hers) develops and facilitates programming and services that promote reflection, inquiry, and inclusive pedagogy. She is especially interested in the integration of contemplative practices in higher education, intercultural pedagogies, and embodied forms of learning. Alexia joins Northeastern from Columbia University, where she served as Assistant Director at the Center for Teaching and Learning. Previously, she was Assistant Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Yale University, where she focused on the mentorship and professional development of doctoral students and oversaw the Graduate Teaching Fellows Program.
Alexia earned her Ph.D. with distinction from Yale University in Italian and Renaissance Studies with a research focus on the multivalence of sexual ambiguity and imitation in early modern comedy, art, and performance. She has taught courses at Yale University and Wesleyan University in Italian Language and Literature, Theatre Studies, and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Dr. Suzanne Horwitz
Dr. Suzanne Horwitz
Research and Data Analyst
Dr. Horwitz joined CATLR as a Research and Data Analyst in December 2018. Prior to joining CATLR’s Research and Assessment team, Dr. Horwitz earned her Ph.D. from Yale University in Psychology and completed Postdoctoral Training at the Yale School of Management.
Her previous research examined people’s implicit, subconscious attitudes and how these subconscious attitudes shape behavior. Drawing from different areas within psychology, she has studied how social group attitudes develop during childhood, how social group attitudes affect interpersonal interactions, and how implicit attitudes shape consumer behaviors.
She has published her research in journals such as Developmental Science, Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, Socius and PLoS ONE.
Dr. Gail Matthews-DeNatale
Dr. Gail Matthews-DeNatale
Senior Associate Director
Dr. Matthews-DeNatale earned her Ph.D. from Indiana University in Folklore with minors in Anthropology and American Studies. Her research focuses on engaging students as storytellers and creators within multimodal online learning contexts. She came to CATLR from Northeastern’s Graduate School of Education, College of Professional Studies, where as Associate Teaching Professor she founded and led the school’s eLearning and Instructional Design M.Ed. program, served as a doctoral thesis advisor, and chaired the Faculty Academic Council’s Academic Programs Committee. Prior to Northeastern, she held positions at Simmons College, George Mason University, and The University of South Carolina.
Gail was the recipient Northeastern University’s 2014 CPS Award for Teaching Excellence and the Sloan-C Online Learning Consortium’s 2013 Learning Effectiveness Award. She is a founding board member of the Association of Authentic, Experiential, Evidence-Based Learning (AAEEBL). From 2011-14 she led Northeastern’s involvement in Connect to Learning, a FIPSE-funded national network that developed the Catalyst for Learning framework of effective ePortfolio practice (http://c2l.mcnrc.org). In addition to authoring many publications, she provides editorial review for the Online Learning Journal and Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education.
Gail’s teaching experience includes the development and instruction of courses on models for learning design, open learning, oral history, digital storytelling, learning analytics concepts and theories, and how people learn.
Vincenza Parella
Vincenza Parella
Assistant Director of Communications
Ms. Parella (she/her/hers) is the Assistant Director of Communications at CATLR and Educational Innovation and began working with the center in November, 2018. Ms. Parella began her career as the Communications Specialist at the Five College Consortium in Amherst, MA. There, she helped teach accurate Indigenous history during a National Endowment for the Arts summer intensive, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. During her time there, she also interviewed indigenous peoples and historians to compile a resource database for K-12 teachers. Prior to coming to Northeastern, Ms. Parella was the Marketing and Communications Specialist for an ed tech start-up whose goal was to connect high school students, school counselors, and college admissions officers. She earned her B.S. in Journalism, with a minor in Indigenous Studies, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
While at Northeastern, Ms. Parella worked directly on the SAIL initiative, which aims to integrate learning experiences across all aspects of a learner’s life, and then help them better apply those skills to future endeavors. Currently she manages marketing and communication efforts for CATLR and Educational Innovation.
Dr. Rachel Plews
Dr. Rachel Plews
Associate Director
Dr. Plews (she/her/hers) earned her Ed.D. in Adult Learning & Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University. She holds a M.Ed. in Teaching, Learning & Technology from Lehigh University. From 2015 to 2020, she worked in Switzerland at the Center for Teaching Support at the University of Teacher Education Vaud and in faculty development at the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne. She has also worked on projects and contributed to educational development programming for the University of Applied Sciences & Arts Western Switzerland (HES-SO), the School of Management & Engineering Vaud (HEIG-VD), the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Sommet Education, Glion Institute of Higher Education, Les Roches, and Cesar Ritz Colleges.
Dr. Plews’ areas of research interest include technology-enhanced learning, online learning, self-directed learning, and the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning. She has presented her work internationally at the International Consortium for Educational Development Bi-Annual Conference (ICED), the International Transformative Learning Conference, the European Association for Practitioner Research on Improving Learning (EAPRIL), and the Association pour l’Utilisation Pédagogique des Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication (AUPTIC).
Dr. Plews has over a decade of experience teaching in higher education in hospitality and education programs, as well as courses in educational technology. She is a graduate of the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University and worked in hotel sales and marketing and event planning before moving into teaching.
Dr. Laurie Poklop
Dr. Laurie Poklop
Senior Associate Director
Dr. Poklop’s doctoral research focused on the implementation and design of electronic portfolios, and this is another area in which she provides faculty development opportunities and consulting. She was a member of Cohort VI of the Inter/National Coalition for Research on Electronic Portfolios through which she completed a three-year study examining the effects of e-portfolios on the teaching of audience in first-year writing courses.
Dr. Poklop earned her Ed.D. from Northeastern University. She served as an instructional designer in Northeastern’s former Educational Technology Center for ten years and was a lecturer in the M.Ed. program in Instructional Design at UMass Boston for 15 years, teaching courses in instructional design, media-based training development, project management and research. She currently teaches for Northeastern’s Graduate School of Education. Prior to working in higher education, Dr. Poklop directed the consulting business of a technical training company.
Dr. Edna Pressler
Dr. Edna Pressler
Associate Director
Dr. Edna Pressler’s (she/her/hers) entire career has been focused on two goals: helping people to develop their own potential and deepen their empathy toward others. By providing guidance and support in the design of equitable and inclusive courses, she has the satisfaction of knowing that she is facilitating individual success and advancing social justice. She comes to her position at CATLR from the Center for Instructional Innovation at Regis College.
Prior to her transition into the field of education development, Dr. Pressler served as a clinical psychologist in the University of Massachusetts Boston Counseling Center. In addition to directing and delivering mental health services, Dr. Pressler was involved in training clinical psychology doctoral students.
Dr. Pressler earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Michigan; an M.Ed. in Instructional Design from the University of Massachusetts Boston; and a graduate certificate in Executive Coaching from the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology (now William James College). She is a licensed psychologist and health service provider in the State of Massachusetts and holds advanced certification in Universal Design for Learning.
Dr. Pressler has taught undergraduate courses in Psychological Trauma; Psychology of Women; Relationships, Marriage, and the Family; and Human Sexuality. She has presented at regional and national conferences on topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in college mental health, trauma-informed pedagogy, and the Universal Design for Learning.
Dr. Katherine Simeon
Dr. Katherine Simeon
Senior Assistant Director
Dr. Simeon earned her Ph.D. in Communication Sciences & Disorders from Northwestern University and her B.A. in Cognitive Science from Johns Hopkins University. Her previous research examined how auditory experience impacts spoken language processing in children and individuals who use cochlear implants. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and has been published in Frontiers in Psychology and Language, Cognition, & Neuroscience. Prior to joining CATLR, Katherine was a teaching consultant for STEM instructors at Northwestern University’s Searle Center for Advancing Learning & Teaching.
Katherine has taught courses on speech science, language development, and the R programming language. Additionally, she has facilitated workshops on active learning in STEM, classroom communication strategies, and data visualization. As an avid R user and educator, she has presented on best practices for teaching data science at national conferences.
Kristine Stigas
Kristine Stigas
Associate Director of Operations and Planning
Ms. Stigas (she/her/hers) joined the Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning Through Research (CATLR) in June 2017. She earned her M.A. in Higher Education Administration and B.S. in Business Administration from Boston College. Prior to joining the team, Kristine worked in the Provost’s Office at Northeastern, where she administratively supported various Undergraduate Education and Experiential Learning initiatives. Most recently, Kristine earned her Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Science in Finance (MSF) degrees from Northeastern University. In her current role, Kristine helps lead CATLR’s operations in order to help the Center’s programs and projects succeed. In addition, she assists CATLR leadership with project management, marketing and communications, program planning, budget allocation and management, hiring, data management and analysis, and long-range planning.
Dr. Roben Torosyan
Dr. Roben Torosyan
Senior Associate Director
Dr. Torosyan’s (he/him/his) studies ranged from civil engineering and studio art to a Ph.D. in Philosophy and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. His research focuses on critical thinking, consciousness development, and transformative facilitation, in publications including To Improve the Academy, New Directions for Teaching and Learning, and Learning Communities Journal and trade books including The Colbert Report and Philosophy.
With two decades of prior experience at Bridgewater State University, Fairfield University, The New School, and Pace University, he has helped dozens of colleagues generate peer-reviewed research submissions on disciplinary and transdisciplinary pedagogies. He has taught 29 courses, in philosophy, psychology, and education, 12 of them new curriculum designs. He has also given over 100 presentations, 50 of them invited, at institutions including Harvard, Yale, Brown, Columbia and New York University. He is especially interested in integrating assessment with experiential learning, student-faculty partnership, and making the most of diversity, conflict and resistance.
Dr. Nicholas C. Wilson
Dr. Nicholas C. Wilson
Associate Director
Dr. Wilson earned his Ed.D. in Learning Technologies from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University, and was a Postdoctoral Associate at Stanford University’s Center for Teaching and Learning. His professional work centers on the implementation of educational innovations into classroom settings, and on student engagement and agency. His research examines social and educational practices surrounding technology use in the classroom, as well as on collaborative learning in STEM-based learning environments. Dr. Wilson’s work has appeared in the Journal of the Learning Sciences and Educational Technology Research & Development. He has presented internationally at the International Conference of the Learning Sciences, the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, and the International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, among other venues. Prior to joining CATLR, Dr. Wilson was Senior Associate for Research & Evaluation at the Boston University Center for Teaching & Learning, where he facilitated programming related to teaching and learning scholarship. In addition, he has taught courses in Creativity, Technology, and Learning; Computer-Mediated Communication; and Online Tools for Teaching and Learning.