When he came to Maine in 2015, Ming-Tso Chien was a Fulbright foreign language teaching assistant in the University of Maine Department of Modern Languages and Classics, where he taught classes in Mandarin Chinese.

Today, as a doctoral student in preK–12 education with a concentration in literacy, Chien was recently awarded a 2020–21 Chase Distinguished Research Assistantship by the 91���� Graduate School.

“Actually, the Fulbright program is partly responsible for my current research interest,” says Chien, who hails from the city of Taichung in central Taiwan.

“The program is not just for us to teach the language and share our culture, it’s also for us to learn about American culture,” he says. “I was taking a class about the history of immigration to the U.S., and that’s when I became interested in the experiences of migrant and immigrant communities in this country.”

In another class, Chien met Maryia Labree, then a doctoral student in education, who taught a class in literacy and language development. Chien became interested in topics covered in the class, so Labree introduced him to her adviser, associate professor of literacy Susan Bennett-Armistead. After the meeting, Chien decided he wanted to stay in Maine and pursue his Ph.D. with Bennett-Armistead as his adviser.

For his dissertation, Chien plans to study a group of Chinese international students in a high school, focusing on their experiences in different communities of practice. A community of practice refers to any social or academic groups to which the students belong.

“For example, AP classes, student clubs, athletic teams, international student groups, groups that form in the dorms,” Chien says. “I want to explore what their experiences are like in each of these communities, and how those experiences relate to their identity development and language socialization.”

“Not a lot is known about these students’ perspectives,” Chien says — a gap in the knowledge base he hopes his dissertation will address.

“I’m very thankful for the Chase assistantship, because it will allow me to focus all my time and energy on data collection for my research, and on the analysis and write-up afterward,” says Chien, who hopes to complete his dissertation in 2021.

In addition to the Chase award, Chien also has received two grants through the College of Education and Human Development’s Linda N. Lancaster Professional Development Fund, which was established to support and enhance the research of doctoral students in the college, as well as to expand their professional networks and experiences.

In 2017, Chien used a Lancaster grant to travel to the TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) International Convention in Chicago, where he presented a poster on critical literacy.

This year, he will use another Lancaster award to attend the American Association for Applied Linguistics conference, where he’ll present on “Identity Development and Language Socialization for International Students in Secondary Schools.”

Throughout his doctoral program, Chien has been involved in a variety of diversity initiatives within the broader 91���� community. For example, he serves on the 91���� Graduate Student Government’s Advocacy and Accessibility committee, and a few years ago he was a member of the university’s Diversity Leadership Institute cohort. He also worked with 91����’s Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning to establish a community of practice for international teaching assistants (ITAs) such as himself.

“Studying here as a student who is part of a racial minority and a linguistic minority, I’ve become more attentive to the needs of minority students,” he says. “In the ITA community of practice, we share resources and personal experiences with the goal of being more effective, equitable and inclusive teachers.”

Chien credits several 91���� faculty members for helping him along the way. In particular, he says Bennett-Armistead has been a very supportive mentor, along with Timothy Reagan, professor of applied linguistics and foreign language education. In addition, Tammy Mills, Rebecca Buchanan and Leah Hakkola, all assistant professors in the College of Education and Human Development, have provided tremendous support and influenced his thinking and research.

He hopes to be a faculty member at a college or university himself one day. However, he says he also can envision himself working for nonprofit or nongovernmental organizations, maybe doing outreach work on literacy with immigrant or migrant children and their families.

“I really enjoy all of the connections I have made since coming to 91����,” he says. “Even though I’m far from home, it’s such a welcoming and supportive place that will always be special to me.”

Contact: Casey Kelly, 207.581.3751, casey.kelly@maine.edu

Sherry Pineau Brown has received awards from the Linda N. Lancaster Professional Development Fund three times as a doctoral student in the PreK-12 Education program’s prevention and intervention studies concentration. She has used the funds to travel to state, regional, and national education conferences, where she presented her research on teaching high school students about the concepts of trauma and resilience, as well as how working with students who have experienced trauma can affect educators. Brown also earned her bachelor’s degree and a Certificate of Advanced Studies from University of Maine. She is tentatively set to complete her doctoral studies in 2020 or 2021. Read more about Sherry below.

Hometown:
Waterville, Maine

Hobbies/interests/activities:
When not working on my doctoral studies or teaching high school English, I love to read, hike, kayak, and sit on the back deck of our grass-fed beef farm with my husband and daughter.

Education:
Bachelor of Science in secondary education (English concentration), University of Maine; Master of Liberal Studies, University of Denver; Certificate of Advanced Studies in literacy education, University of Maine.

What doctoral program are you in at 91���� and when do you expect to graduate?
Ph.D. candidate in prevention and intervention studies, hoping to graduate in the 2020-2021 academic year

In which years were you a Linda N. Lancaster Professional Development Fund awardee?
I applied and received funding in the 2017-2018, 2018-2019, and 2019-2020 academic years.

What were you able to do with the money?
For the first year, I was able to present the Maine Resilience Building Network’s 2^nd biennial conference Building Thriving Communities. The second year, I was able to travel to Portsmouth, New Hampshire to present at NEERO (the New England Education Research Organization) on a pilot study that I conducted involving teaching resilience through trauma using Khaled Hosseini’s “The Kite Runner.” Most recently, the funds allowed me to travel to Baltimore to present on teaching resilience through trauma using ELA texts at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) annual conference.

How has the fund supported and enhanced your research, professional contacts and experiences as a doctoral student?
The Lancaster fund has been a wonderful opportunity to connect with professionals across the country who share my passion for both my area of research interest and research in general.

Describe your doctoral research:
I have two main areas of interest for my research. The first is teaching high school students about the concepts of resilience through trauma using curriculum that they already use in their classrooms. My second area of interest is understanding the impact that working with students who have experienced childhood adversity can have on educators.

Why 91����?
I am a Mainer through-and-through and a Black Bear for 25 years! I love the natural beauty of the campus and the multitude of opportunities that the school has to offer.

Have you had any mentors or advisors during your time at 91���� who have helped you grow academically and/or personally?
I have had so many faculty that have helped me on my journey thus far. Jim Artesani, Catharine Biddle, Sid Mitchell, Susan Bennett-Armistead and Craig Mason, to name just a few. Each of them have helped me look at my areas of interest in research in a new way, and I am grateful to them.

Hometown:
Milbridge, Maine.

Hobbies/Interests/Activities:
Reading, hiking, painting, writing poetry.

Education:
Bachelor of Science in elementary education, Houghton College, Houghton, New York; Master of Science in literacy education (birth-grade 6), Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York.

What doctoral program are you in at University of Maine and when are you hoping to graduate?
Ph.D. in literacy education, with a tentative completion date of spring 2022.

In which years were you a Linda N. Lancaster Professional Development Fund awardee?
2017 and 2018.

What were you able to do with the money?
In 2017, I presented at the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers conference in St. Petersburg, Florida on poetry for enjoyment in elementary classrooms. The presentation was based on a paper published in The Reading Teacher that I co-authored with William Nichols, Tim Rasinski, William Rupley and David Paige. I also attended the ALER conference in 2018 in Louisville, Kentucky, where I presented on the role of fluency instruction in early childhood education.

How has the fund supported and enhanced your research, professional contacts and experiences as a doctoral student?
The Lancaster Fund allowed me to travel to both ALER conferences, which I would not have been able to attend otherwise. I was able to represent 91���� by sharing current research with other literacy researchers and educators, as well as network with professionals further afield. Through these conferences, my learning was enhanced and enriched by introducing me to topics I might not have previously considered researching, and I was also able to better focus my own dissertation journey. Additionally, I was able to practice presenting to unfamiliar audiences.

Describe your doctoral research:
I am exploring humor in the elementary classroom, particularly in the kindergarten to second grade age groups, and how it relates to literacy education and its pedagogical implications in classroom contexts.

Why 91����?
It’s relatively close to where I teach first grade in Steuben. It’s also got several excellent professors, professionals who truly embody sound pedagogical practice in their classes and in their interactions with all manner of students. These professors are also top-notch researchers, with many as forerunners in their areas of expertise. Plus, it’s in Maine—hello gorgeous accessible outdoors!

Have you worked with any mentors or advisors during your time at 91���� who have helped your grow academically and/or personally?
Many professors have bolstered my thinking and growth during this dissertation journey. Dr. Dee Nichols, my advisor, has been particularly patient and kind as I work out what exactly it means to construct a dissertation.

As a research assistant with University of Maine’s Immersive Mathematics in Rendered Environments (IMRE) lab, Camden Bock helps develop virtual reality software for teaching math to kids. As a Ph.D. student in STEM Education, he’s researching how these new tools are used in in PreK-12 schools across Maine.

Last school year and the year before, Bock received funding from the College of Education and Human Development’s Linda N. Lancaster Professional Development Fund in order to attend academic conferences in France and Indianapolis. The Lancaster Fund is available to doctoral students in the College of Education to support and enhance their research, professional contacts and experience. The fund was created in memory of Linda Lancaster, a promising doctoral student in counselor education, killed by a drunk driver in 1989.

In this Q&A, Bock talks about his work with the IMRE lab and how the Lancaster Fund helped his scholarly and professional growth.

Hometown:

New Boston, New Hampshire.

Hobbies/interests/activities:

Hiking with my dog, Wix, a yellow lab.

What is your undergraduate degree in and where did you earn it?

I went to Bates College, where I earned a B.S. in mathematics, with a minor in teacher education [secondary mathematics certification].

What graduate degree are you pursuing at 91���� and when do you expect to graduate?

I’m working on a Ph.D. in STEM education with a concentration in mathematics. Right now, I’m doing the Master of Science in Teaching program through the RiSE Center, which is the track for students who enter the STEM Education Ph.D. without a master’s degree. I should finish the MST program in December 2018. I’m not sure when I will finish the doctoral program.

What have you done with the money received from the Lancaster Fund?

I have used awards from the Lancaster Fund to travel to present co-authored brief research reports at the 13th International Conference on Technology in Mathematics Teaching in Lyon, France in July 2017 and the 39th annual meeting of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education-North American Chapter in Indianapolis, Indiana in October 2017.

How has the fund supported and enhanced your research, professional contacts and experiences as a doctoral student?

The Lancaster Fund has helped me to develop a professional network with other leading researchers in the field in both domestic and international contexts. This has helped to broaden my reading in the literature and to refine my conceptual frameworks and research designs. The connections made at these conferences have continued to support my growth as a researcher, including connecting with the Autumn School on Digital Tools and Mathematical Modeling in Mathematics Education hosted by Didactics of Mathematics in Wurzburg, Germany.

Describe the Immersive Mathematics in Rendered Environments lab and your work with it.

At the IMRE lab we develop spatial environments for the exploration of mathematical and astronomical ideas. Our current research focuses on immersive spatial displays, emerging display technology where the student is fully immersed in an interactive, three-dimensional virtual space. Within the lab, I lead the software development of HandWaver (geometry education) and Geometer’s Planetarium (astronomy/geometry) and research how pre-service elementary teachers use the software to make mathematical meaning of solid and plane figures.

Why did you choose 91���� and what do you like about the school/area?

I chose University of Maine for graduate study in mathematics education for the opportunity to collaborate with schools across the state. In the IMRE lab we have brought our equipment and software to schools from across the state, getting valuable feedback from students and teachers, which helps to ground our research in the community. The RiSE Center has also provided exciting opportunities to work with local in-service teachers in intensive summer professional development.

Have you had any mentors or advisors during your time at 91���� who have helped you grow academically and/or personally?

My advisor, Justin Dimmel, assistant professor of mathematics education and instructional technology, has been essential for my growth as a researcher, investing in collaborative and ambitious projects while maintaining high standards for both quality of research and authentic treatment of mathematical concepts.