Senate Plenary to Explore Digital Technology in Education, Research, and Service

The University of Pittsburgh Senate will hold its Spring 2014 Plenary, “The Research University in the Age of Digital Information,” from noon to 3 p.m. on March 19 in the William Pitt Union’s Assembly Room. 

Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg will deliver opening remarks, and Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor Patricia E. Beeson will deliver the closing remarks. 

University Senate President Michael Spring, a professor of information science, School of Information Sciences, will serve as moderator. 

The event is free and open to the public, and a complimentary buffet lunch will be served immediately prior to the plenary.

Faculty presenters and their topics follow. 

David Birnbaum, professor and chair, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, digital humanities;

Peter Brusilovsky, professor and chair, Information Science and Technology, adaptive tutoring systems; 

Heidi Donovan, professor of nursing and director, Office of Community Partnerships, symptom management and psycho-educational interventions to improve outcomes for patients with cancer and family caregivers;

Tony Gaskew, professor of criminal justice and director of the Criminal Justice Program, Pitt-Bradford, instructional use of live crime-scene video;

Cynthia Lance-Jones, associate professor of neurobiology and assistant dean for medical student research, School of Medicine, Integrated Studies Course and related technology use in medical education;

Christian Schunn, professor of psychology and a senior scientist at the Learning Research and Development Center, Panther learning and peer- review systems in instruction; and 

Chandralekha Singh, professor of physics and director of the Discipline- Based Science Education Research Center, cognitive issues in learning physics and the development and evaluation of research-based curricula.