Today is my first day of school for the Fall 2026 semester!
After a few semesters off to work on my merchant mariner license renewal, I’m glad to be back to school at Ball State University (GO CARDINALS).
As part of the Master’s program in Curriculum and Educational Technology, I am taking an Evaluation of Educational Programs course. Our first assignment is a personal introduction:
This is my sixth course working towards a Master’s in Curriculum and Educational Technology. My undergraduate degree is in English from the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio.
I am not in education in the traditional sense. I have been in the commercial maritime industry for 20+ years. Currently, I am a Course Approval Specialist for the United States Coast Guard’s Training and Assessment Branch at the National Maritime Center. In that role, my primary job function is evaluating courses for schools that teach merchant mariners. (Fun fact: I am a licensed ship captain!)
My experience in the maritime industry gives me a wealth of niche knowledge in my position. However, my formal education and training in the education space has been fairly rudimentary prior to starting this program. This course specifically is at the root of what I do: evaluate school courses and programs. I’m looking forward to learning more about program evaluation theory, improving my own evaluation processes, and sharing some of my findings with my team at work.