Dr. Bob Spencer

Associate Professor

Centre for Distance Education
Athabasca University

B.A. University of Kansas, Psychology and Human Development, 1972

M.A. University of Kansas, Human Development, 1974

Ph.D. University of Kansas, Developmental and Child Psychology, 1978

 

Tel: (780) 675-6238 or (800) 788-9041 ext. 6238
Fax: (780) 675-6170
Email: bobs@athabascau.ca

Hi. Having been employed with Athabasca University (AU) since 1979, I consider myself to be one of the "oldtimers". I have worked at AU in a variety of positions over the years (research associate, instructional designer, instructional evaluator, and Director of the Centre for Distance Education and Program Director for the Master of Distance Education program). I currently spend most of my time working in the Master of Distance Education (MDE) program as its director. I also teach one of the core courses in the MDE program and serve as program advisor and thesis/project supervisor for numerous students.

As an undergraduate student, I became disillusioned with education largely due to large, impersonal classes. In my third year as an undergraduate, I took a course which was taught using the Keller Plan or what became to be known as the Personalized System of Instruction. This course caught my attention and as a result I ended up going to graduate school to focus my research (thesis and dissertation) on innovative approaches to post-secondary education. While in graduate school, I also became involved in a community education outreach program and correspondance instruction.

After graduate school, I went to Boston and worked as a psychologist in a State Mental Hospital. There was little in the way of jobs in innovative post-secondary education at the time. After nine months in Boston, I was hired by Athabasca University to work on a reseach project entitled, "Research and Evaluation of Distance Education for the Adult Learner" (REDEAL). After the REDEAL project was over, AU offered me another job and I immigrated to Canada and have been with AU ever since.

My main research interests have to do with variables that effect learner success in distance education. I am also quite interested in management of distance education, systems for distance education, and instructional materials and systems. Lately, I have become interested in collaborative/group-based learning. While I have not done any research in collaborative learning, the potential for this type of learning in distance education with the onslaught of the the world wide web is now much greater and it intrigues me.

In addition to my management, teaching, and research interests, I'm also interested in training and professional development of individuals involved in distance education and training. Besides being actively involved in the MDE program, I have also been co-principal investigator for a project entitled, Training the Trainer (funded by Employment and Immigration Canada), worked on an international development project in Thailand (funded by Canada International Development Agency), and have conducted numerous workshops on individualized systems of instruction and distance education.

On the more personal side, my wife (Marion) and I have two children; Erin (25) and Dale (7). We live at Island Lake, approximately 30 km. northwest of Athabasca. I enjoy most sports (basketball is my favorite), gardening, travelling, and the game of Bridge. I coach the local (Athabasca) highschool senior boys basketball team on a volunteer basis and I'm the Club Manager of the AU Bridge Club, a ACLB sanctioned club.

 

CDE - Last Updated by MK December 03, 2010